If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Cole Schmidt You're going to have a hard time finding a song as lovely as Kylie V's "Year of the Rabbit." The twenty year old Kylie Van Slyke has released a stripped down and laid bare new song that lands somewhere between indie rock, folk, and a singer-songwriter track. The song focuses on Van Slyke's vocals which are lovely even while strained with emotion at times. The song has some grounds in the modern alt-pop meets indie rock of Lucy Dacus and the 90's folk-inflected indie rock of Neutral Milk Hotel. Even with instrumentation that includes trumpet and a multi-person harmony, "Year of the Rabbit" always feels confessional and intimate. Kylie V says of her latest single: "'Year of the Rabbit' is a song I wrote while healing from a breakup and reflecting on my (incredible) friends/support system and my feelings after the fact. I was inspired a lot by Andy Shauf and Sufjan Stevens in the writing and production of this one and ...

Photo by E. Zwissier Kylie V has that kind of mixture of folk-adjacent indie rock meets pop sound that we just can't seem to get enough of hear. Her latest single, "Lucky Streak," is an emotionally affecting song that starts off as a folky ballad and eventually builds to a dance friendly indie rock song. It does all that without expense to the emotion of the song, as it hits just as hard as it does at the beginning. "Lucky Streak" feels like a catharsis for both the artist and audience. It's the kind of song that's going to have you diving into Kylie V's catalog, and is going to have a lot of appeal to fans of the Boy Genius collective. Kylie V says of her latest single: "I wrote Lucky Streak during the excruciatingly complex process of getting over someone, while everything else in my life seemed to be speeding up and getting better at a surreal pace. When I started this song in my notes, I was one one hand feeling lost and empty, and on the ot...

Clearing the decks... Artist : Kylie V Album : Big Blue Quick Thoughts : This album is incredible, and I hate that I missed it early on. Kylie V has done something truly special here in that it's a unique voice and tone while still feeling as familiar as a lot of recent efforts. This will likely end up on a few year-end longlists, including mine, because it's that good. Songs of Note : "A Story If You Want It," "On My Mind" Artist : Galactikraken and Jonathan Young Album : Starship Velociraptor Quick Thoughts : This will be divisive for most people, but think about if The Darkness did synth rock and you might scratch the surface of what's going on with Galactikraken. It's an absolutely insane album of music that is loud and caphophonic, but is somehow still incredibly compelling. I know this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly mine. Songs of Note : "Glory or Gold," "Settle It With a Sword...