Ori Dagan takes on Peggy Lee´s “Why Don’t You Do Right” with his deep bass-baritone and a relaxed swing. His lower register gives the melody a different weight, while the playful phrasing keeps the performance from becoming too formal. He…
The Kenny Newborn Quartet’s “Mistletoe and Holly” returns to a familiar Christmas standard with a jazz arrangement that keeps things elegant and restrained. At just over two minutes, the recording doesn’t need much room to make its case. The quartet…
Sundozer’s “DYI (Dance Yourself Insane)” finds a steady groove in the middle of a world that keeps coming apart. Christian Luis French builds the track around a warm, funky bassline, then adds percussion, reversed guitars and hazy synths in loose…
Miriam Clancy’s “Janis, You’re Evil!” looks back at an experience in which the people who should have listened to a woman instead made her the problem. She draws on her history from a third-person perspective, keeping some distance from the…
Chuck Lorre’s “Top of Your Head,” performed by Joan Jett, is a cheeky hard rock song built around a very specific bedroom joke. Jett gives a rock delivery that suits its blunt sense of humor, while Lorre gets to indulge…
Sheykh Forever’s “I’m Your History” builds its identity around bright synth melodies and a chopped, four-to-the-floor beat. The production description points to a meeting of synthpop and alternative dance, with clipped snare bursts and shifting hi-hat patterns breaking up the…
Julia Morgan’s “Performing” looks at the habit of shaping yourself around what other people want to see. A young ballerina runs through the lyrics, from childhood ambitions to insecurities. Morgan connects that experience to her time as a young actress,…
Rukmani’s Softies Vibe brings together different sides of her approach to desire, from the excitement of a secret encounter to the confidence of openly claiming someone. Across these two tracks, she explores attraction without losing sight of what she wants,…
Tay Toe’s “Matrix” runs on the confidence of someone who expects to win and isn’t shy about saying so. The competitive mindset behind the track comes from his years playing sports, and that attitude carries into the lyrics. He boasts…
Gregory Ackerman’s “Spooky” brings a fresh take to the Classics IV original, with a backwards guitar solo as its main twist. Recorded with his friend Keenan McDaniel on an 8-track tape machine, the cover keeps the Halloween spirit of the…