MUSIC REVIEWS

Vancouver, Canada’s ACT Americana Trio began their creative journey five years ago. Singer/songwriter and guitarist Andre Chrys, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Chris Lok, and singer/songwriter/musician Taryn Laronge are a sort of low-key roots music “supergroup” with decades of collective artistry between them. Their EP True North features four tracks steeped in the music …

The creative union of a singer/songwriter with a flute playing retired high school music teacher doesn’t bode bright for an exceptionally well-rounded release. Blonde & Grey confounds such superficial impressions from the outset. Neil Friend and Kathy Olsen begin their debut on a confident note with its title song “Face …

Splicing a drill-style vocal attack with a coarse bassline, 148’s “Odds” immediately feels like one of the more assaultive hip-hop tracks you’re going to find on record store shelves this spring. That said, it’s one of nine stellar listens on 148’s debut album Sampati, which is currently getting a lot …

“Time to Die” isn’t a particularly cheerful song, but anyone who loves passionate music will flock to Iva Toric’s latest single. It’s the second release from her looming new album Dead Reckoning and confronts her anxieties about eventual death head-on. She’s crafted an extraordinarily dynamic musical arrangement, as well, and …

The first panic attack of my life smacked me in the mouth eighteen hours after my mother died. I napped on my couch all day after getting home. Sleep eventually became impossible when my back hurt enough and I arose from my cushioned tomb and headed to the bathroom. INSTAGRAM: …

Los Angeles-born and Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Brian Shapiro and his band aren’t interested in entertainment alone. Their latest album It’s Amazing! follows their 2021 debut All That We See in several ways and its desire to leave a lasting impact on listeners rates high among them. Multiple sources fuel that hunger for such a transformative …

Not Ashamed’s single “In Spirit and Truth” is more than a contemporary Christian song. The Irish four-piece embraces their faith without embarrassment, but they’ve likewise succeeded in writing a song that embodies some of the finest human virtues. We long for transcendence, to live beyond the limits our humanity imposes …

Crash Taylor’s 2022 album Retired Outlaw is another release we can thank COVID-19 for. Taylor’s written songs since he was ten and has since recorded many times but didn’t decide to release his first album until the pandemic caused him to consider it. Taylor is a writer as well and his lyrics …

Where a lot of his contemporaries seem to have a problem overthinking the Americana they’re weaving into their music, Pete Miller has no such issue in his new single “A Light out There,” the first release to bear his name in the byline. There are no fireworks here, nor a …

“I wanted you to know / If you choose to know, there is time for a change / It is written in your soul,” pleads Alex Krawczyk in the powerful “Remember,” one of my favorite songs from her new album Le Olam. Krawczyk’s lyrical protagonist is desperate to get through to …