Yusuke Terauchi and Hideki Hoshi make “Wholehearted” a song about stepping out from under self-reproach without pretending the past has stopped hurting. Terauchi’s vocals and guitar provide the foundation, while Hoshi reshapes them through an arrangement that keeps softness close…
Christian Cohle makes “Venus” a song about love as a force that can keep its hold long after the moment that created it has passed. Drawing on Venus as both divine and predatory, Cohle gives desire a double nature: beautiful…
In conversation with Kristjan Ruus Kristjan Ruus makes “OF ALL WARM THINGS” a one-minute music film about a summer that is already disappearing while it is still happening. The feeling of summertime sadness sits at the center of both music…
Paulo Rego brings Brazilian music and chamber instrumentation as he is a saxophonist, flutist, composer, and arranger with a degree in Music from UFRJ. He has worked with the group No Olho da Rua since co-founding it in 1997. His…
Tricky FM turns “Gridlock” into a small act of superiority, built from the narrator’s awareness that someone does not like her and her insistence that this does not matter. “I know you’re not the biggest fan of me” returns as…
Bombix makes “Silkworm” a song about reaching the life you were trying to reach and discovering that part of you is still somewhere behind. “Reality is kicking in” arrives beside the admission that the narrator spent years trying to escape,…
Lord Fascinator and Spiral Drive make “RAD” a song about cycling as a form of escape, with four repeated syllables, “Fahr, Fahr, Fahr, Far away,” doing most of the lyrical work. The track belongs to REISE, a five-part collaboration built…
Phree Direxion approaches “Lucky Soul” through the kind of emotional house music that gives reflection a pulse. The New York-based project describes its aim in simple terms, making the music it wants to hear, while its broader work sits between…
A Very Special Episode makes “Too Cool” a comedown where the glamour of the night starts to look less convincing under sober light. The lyrics move through lipstick, disco balls, bathroom stalls, sleeplessness and sweat, but the details keep accumulating…
Kvarken turns “Dansa” into a refusal to let the weight of ordinary life dictate the night. The lyrics move through small towns and big cities, shame, guilt, mistakes, narrow beds, stomach aches, happiness and quiet grief, returning each time to…