Singer-songwriter Sam Rodewald’s latest album contains ten songs each inspired by a different horror movie. He fully leans into his eccentric side, bringing pop-sensible ditties that encompass a broad range of styles including folk, baroque and electronica. Rodewald has fun immersing himself in each concept here, getting theatrical and showcasing his versatility as his operatic voice shines. Spooky season may
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Electronic producer Blaze Orange’s latest single is out via High Five Music Records. It’s a house banger that gradually introduces more and more embellishments as it ascends, including various vocal samples and stylish bass drops. Whether you’re fist pumping, jumping up and down or hopping from wall to wall, Blaze Orange’s “Lunatic” is sure to get you in motion. Check
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Hard rockers Cat Call Killers released a new album in October. Bringing ten songs of fierce attitude and rebellious nature, this album takes influence from a wide range of 20th century rock and roll with power anthems and progressive slow-burners and punkish bangers alike. You can tell that the band knows exactly what they want to do with their approach,
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Art pop act Peeper & Le Play returned with a new single on Halloween! This tune brings the quirky sensibility and idiosyncratic theme that you know and love from Peeper & Le Play, detailing a party taking place at a cemetery and getting your soul swept up by spirits. With funkadelic rhythm and loveable charm, Peeper & Le Play get
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Painted Caves released a new single earlier this month. The Middle East-inspired psych act bring their poetically alluring synergy for a tune that swells with unconditional love. Accompanied by soaring flute from Holly Haebig, Ali Lubbad gently sings of comforting one in pain as the rumbling melody that crescendos as he and Haebig harmonize. Painted Caves deliver new sounds for
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Psych project VBIV has returned with a new single. Building a voluminous atmosphere marked by pulsating rhythm, gliding guitars and dusky vocals, the soundscapes here wash us away with oceanic might. VBIV’s approach to psychedelia and electronica has a wealth of reverberant texture, heroic imagery and fleeting feelings akin to daydreams on desert roads, and “Tears in the Rain” is
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Punk rockers Chinese Telephones are out with their first new music in 15 years. The four-song EP certainly reflects the excitement to be back as the band blazes a trail laden with high-flying riffs and catchy-as-hell hooks that will invigorate any room. Getting the adrenaline going, the nimble, rebellious melodies will thrill longtime fans while enchanting new ones. The final
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Shontrail has the visual out for his song “When I’m Alone I Get Real High” off recent album “LOST IN LIMBO.” Directed by Dario Camarena, the scene finds Shontrail and his guitarist energetically performing the emo-indie rock banger in a blank white space while snippets of him running and riding around after dark weave in and out. Captivating the intensity
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Singer-songwriter Nalani’s latest single dropped earlier this week. With a dreamy, breezy atmosphere, Nalani sings to someone here wishing to get to know the real them and be there for them every step of the way. Considering the cover art and the title, the song could very likely be a love letter to Nalani’s younger self, but the lyrics could
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Singer-songwriter Anja Elise released a new single earlier this month, which is the first we’ve heard from her since 2020. Co-written with Elise’s mother Lisa Friegang and local musician Dallas Brown, this song is dedicated to family members who tragically passed from cancer in a short period of time. Its confrontation of loss is taken by the hand by the
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Art rockers Lightninging released a new EP last weekend. Consisting of three tracks, this body of work is a byzantine installation of eccentric, phantasmic soundscapes. Led by divine, gentle vocals from Ira George, Lightninging demonstrate baroque cohesion with trust and composure, progressing each composition into a tremendous, enterprising panorama. Featuring acoustic and electronic instrumentation while exploring themes of nostalgia, relaxation
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After over ten years of being a band, Gauss have decided that sadly, it’s time to conclude the project – but not before releasing their long-awaited final album, which came out last Friday. Incorporating their eclectic blend of post-punk, prog and post-rock, Gauss bring their masterfully artisanal sound to life one last time, combining patient poeticism with textural, melodic whimsy.
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YMN recently performed at the Palestine benefit put on by Cactus Club, moving the crowd with his emotive and eclectic performance. Palestinian himself, YMN’s latest single calls for a Free Palestine in light of the atrocities being committed in Gaza. The song takes on a gentle acoustic melody that lays the foundation for YMN’s poignant vocals – a deviation from
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Hip hop artist OTR Melly dropped his latest album at the end of September. He brings ten songs here, taking on an overall melancholy feel as he delivers raps of heartbreak, loneliness, numbing himself and getting back on his feet. Melly really showcases his versatility with this project; he’s capable of ensnaring the room with raw, sentimental honesty just as
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DJ-turned producer BG GOOD dropped his debut single at the end of last month. Enlisting LA-based pop artist Brieanna Grace on vocals, the tune’s theme is being there for somebody no matter what. With a stomping EDM beat and empyrean presence from Grace, “Cold Outside” has the capacity to summon a packed, fist-pumping dance floor to the Saturday night club.
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Singer-songwriter Ellie Jackson released two singles a few weeks back. “Dinner with a Friend” is a breezy, layered folk pop tune where Jackson contemplates the push and pull between vulnerability and comfortability in relationships, incorporating a sweet hook and affectionate bridge to gracefully convey feelings around the trial-and-error of connection. “Dream Girl” finds Jackson rejecting patriarchal expectations placed upon her,
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Depeche Mode arrived in Chicago at United Center on Monday as part of their “Memento Mori” tour. Opening for them was DIIV. While Depeche Mode had played in Chicago earlier this year in April, DIIV were playing their first show in town since 2019. DIIV is a Brooklyn band consisting of vocalist/guitarist Zachary Cole Smith, guitarist Andrew Bailey, bassist Colin
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The Fall Sound released a new EP at the end of October. Described as “songs about love and frustration”, this project is five tracks that channel plenty of modern age angst with animate pop punk sensibility. Whether it’s social disconnect (“For Nowhere”), infatuation (“Parasocial Love Song”) or the question of whether hope is real or existential (“Dreaming”), The Fall Sound
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Country-punk (“y’allternative”) act RAT BATH released their highly anticipated sophomore album on Friday. It’s a murder country rock opera – in other words, ten theatrical songs of blood, knives, vampires and retribution. The running themes of slaying what haunts you, avenging those you love, bravery in the face of fear and unleashing the beast within you are conveyed via fiercely
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Hip hop artist Adventuresofque dropped a new album in September – the follow up to his 2022 project “4AM In The Booth.” Que brings 14 tracks that are mostly around the two-minute mark, letting his assertive flow shine from song to song with bars about keeping himself focused despite the distractions he contends with. Whether there’s a woman interested in
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Hip hop artist Lean Mayweather – also known by his producer name LeanBeatz – dropped a new single last month. He’s having fun at the mic with this one, chopping up his flow with sharp repetitions. Mayweather is rapping about hustling for one thing after another all the time with “After”, relentlessly in pursuit of staying ahead while trying not
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Hip hop artist Joshua Jenkins collaborated with Famous Motion & Photography on the visual for his latest single. He’s found out in the nature preserve having a day to himself, with his positivity shining as bright as the sun. Jenkins raps about not letting intense feelings get in the way of focus; he lets himself breathe as he moves with
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Psych pop act Culture Garden released their sophomore single and video. The tune gently sails along a visual that depicts two lovers embracing each other in a dreamscape, accompanied by a hovering orb glowing with memories. It’s about renewal within a changing world, seeking beauty as you go. Follow the signpost to better days with Culture Garden’s “Caught In The
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Blackened death metal act Illusion of Fate released a second single of the year last month. “Shapeshifters Among Us” evokes ghastly ambiance rife with ancient rituals and demonic lore. The howling guitar solos, unrelenting snarls and barraging rhythm taunt mortals who cannot fathom what haunts them. We can imagine that this tune and previous single “Realm Seeker” are the signs
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Hip hop artists and producers .Wav and Delly teamed up for a new album. The massive 19-track project brings plenty of surreal sensibility, featuring periodic, eccentric raps buried in psychedelic textures that make you feel like you’ve stepped into a dreamy virtual world and are having transient conversations with people. There’s a great deal of zany imagination and idiosyncratic structure
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