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Blog Showcasing Singer Songwriter Talent

Connor Bettencourt’s ‘House of Cards’ Stacks Emotional Intensity on a Shaky Foundation

Posted on 20 February 2025

With the fervour of acoustic folk punk and the raw magnetism of Americana, Connor Bettencourt’s latest single, House of Cards, bridges folk intersections while shattering the illusion of stability with frenetic strings and a vocal performance that drags vulnerability into the spotlight. His jaggedly chopping fretwork slices through bluesier angular notes, creating a duality that mirrors the push and pull between emotional defiance and confession.

While plenty of artists latch onto the concept of resilience, few acknowledge how brittle it can be. Bettencourt doesn’t try to spin triumph from hardship; he lets the cracks show, making House of Cards one of the most relatable folk releases of the year. Each note and lyric submerges you further into its storm while holding a mirror to the turbulence within.

The weight of Bettencourt’s honesty, paired with the kinetic energy of his guitar strings, ensures House of Cards leaves an imprint. His talent knows no bounds, and neither does the resonance of this track. Fans of artists like Frank Turner and Shakey Graves will find plenty to sink their teeth into here. House of Cards is now available to stream on all major platforms.

House of Cards was officially released on January 31; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dandelions by ST4RR: A Sundrenched Bloom in Indie Pop

Posted on 18 February 2025

With all the dreamy reverie of coming-of-age infatuation wrapped up in the warm, hazy hues spilling from the jangle pop guitars and her organically hypnotic vocal lines, ST4RR will leave you as lovestruck as the lyrics with her single, Dandelions.

Allowing you to imagine The Smiths and Sabrina Carpenter intertwining their sounds, the track effortlessly appeals to both new wave indie faithful and contemporary pop fans. Her songwriting chops, effortlessly seraphic sonic signature, and ability to envelop listeners in an aura of emotion result in a sticky-sweet earworm born through an effortless amalgamation of style and substance

Behind the ST4RR moniker is Trinity Rutledge, who has nurtured her devotion to music since childhood. After finding her voice in choruses and mastering guitar and piano, she is well on her way to achieving her lifelong dream of appearing on major stages and reading audiences across the globe.

As the opening single on her debut EP, Circle of Love, Dandelions positions ST4RR in prime territory to reach the top of the indie pop charts. Every note lingers in your mind, retaining a mellifluous spark that sets her apart from the standard singer-songwriter formula.

Stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lost Foxes Rips Through Rhythmic Convention in His Electrifyingly Frenetic Indietronica Earworm, ‘Sirens’

Posted on 17 February 2025

‘Sirens’ doesn’t settle into the background of Lost Foxes’ sophomore LP—it crashes through it with the weight of unresolved emotion clawing at the bones of To Get Used to You Gone, an emotionally turbulent tour de force that holds no prisoners in the name of candour.

Duncan Therrell, the creative force behind Lost Foxes, has never played by the rulebook, and in his latest release, he doesn’t just ignore convention—he grinds it into the dirt beneath syncopated beats that rip through the mix like a live wire.

Opening with an alternative slant on Slowdive’s cuttingly angular guitars, the track teeters on the edge of familiarity before wreaking havoc on the rhythmic pulses. From there, Sirens swells into a new-wave synth anthem, its oscillating layers stacked with enough textural depth to pull listeners under, all while Therrell’s indie-pop-adjacent vocal lines bleed melancholy over the frenetic percussion.

More of an avant-gardist than an assimilator, Lost Foxes chips away at expectation with every unflinchingly unfeigned note. Then, the hypersonic middle eight obliterates all restraint, leaving only rubble in its wake and the mark of a true innovator.

Sirens is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pam R. Johnson Davis’ Up & Down: A Lesson in Love’s Unforgiving Rhythm

Posted on 16 February 2025
Pam R. Johnson Davis

While most artists rely on assimilation to reach the same affecting heights as their influences, that isn’t the case for Pam R. Johnson Davis; she shows the capacity for true originality within the organically expressive fluidity of her sound. Her latest single, Up & Down, produced by Mico Davis, is a testament to her ability to tease genre-fluid artistry into raw emotion.

With a standing ovation-worthy vocal performance, she tempers the rhythmic complexity of the instrumentation beneath her, pouring every note straight from the soul. There’s a reason her music has travelled across 120 countries and amassed over 122,000 streams—whether performing original compositions or classics spanning Aretha Franklin to Garth Brooks, her presence commands attention.

As a singer, songwriter, poet, and historian, her work has already earned two Global Music Awards, and Up & Down only cements her reputation further. The track traverses the highs and lows of a perpetually precarious relationship with unparalleled grace, carried by husky powerhouse vocals and jazz-tinged progressions.

Whether she’s behind the mic or not, Pam R. Johnson Davis carries a room-lightening energy, and through Up & Down, that presence becomes almost tangible. Your speakers won’t just pulse with the smooth syncopated grooves—they’ll radiate. For anyone who has ever suffered from romantic whiplash, this is a lesson in healing that should be mandatory.

Up & Down is now available to stream on all major platforms. Find your preferred way to listen on the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Baz Edmondson Bridges Nature and Nostalgia in ‘Ladybird Red’

Posted on 16 February 2025
Baz Edmondson

 When the digital haze clears and the static of modernity subsides, Baz Edmondson’s latest single, Ladybird Red, stands as a reminder of the wonder that still exists beyond screens. The Dorset-based singer-songwriter, whose evocative sound places him in the lineage of artists like Damien Rice and Ben Howard, melds folk, classical, rock, and cinematic composition into a spellbinding indie-folk ballad that carries the weight of traditional storytelling artistry.

Filtered through neo-classical grandeur, the delicate folky intimacy of Ladybird Red is juxtaposed with its sweeping crescendos, creating a sonic experience that feels as though it materialised in the very moment inspiration first sparked. The instrumentation—where intricate guitars meet elegantly restrained piano and soaring string sections—moves with an organic force, grounding the song in nature’s rhythms while lifting the listener into a cinematic reverie as Edmondson’s vocal performance shifts between vulnerability and sheer power, mirroring the ebb and flow of emotion embedded within his poetic lyricism.

In an era when connections are fraying, Ladybird Red stitches them back together with its seamless interweaving of naturalistic awe and romanticism. It’s a song that pulls you outside of insular introspection, urging you to breathe in something real. The anticipation for Edmondson’s debut EP, set for release later this month, only grows stronger with every note of this latest release.

Ladybird Red is now available to stream on all major platforms. Find your preferred way to listen via the artist’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

A Sonic Rapture: AILEN Channels the Divine in Catharsis

Posted on 15 February 2025
Hummingbird by AILEN

Delivering everything it says on the titular tin through the sonorously enriching tones of every sonic spectre in the single, Catharsis demands your surrender, compels you to sink into the evocatively weighted production and allow the progressions to abstract the weight from your soul. With divinity oozing from the piano keys into the ethereal grace of her vocal lines, AILEN doesn’t just compose—she conjures.

Drawing influence from Pink Floyd, Queen, and Steven Wilson, the London-based alternative and progressive rock artist has made her mark alchemising hybrids of 70s prog, symphonic rock, and cinematic grandeur. Her thought-provoking lyricism and larger-than-life arrangements dissect existential loneliness, social corruption, and the fragile threads of human identity.

Catharsis is a consoling panorama in sound which artfully cuts above AILEN’s contemporaries. The prog rock inclinations wait until you’re off guard, finding the perfect time to cut a mournful electric guitar solo through the euphonic bliss of the single before a percussive build heightens the tension. AILEN’s vocals, which follow, are enough to bring you to the brink of tears, grounding the composition’s transcendence with raw, unwavering emotion.

Catharsis is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Agaaze Sends Synths Soaring with ‘Run Free’ – A Neon-Soaked Slice of Sonic Liberation

Posted on 13 February 2025

There’s no mistaking an Agaaze production when it lands—his signature sound carries the warmth of sun-scorched nostalgia while still pulsing with an electrified sense of the future. ‘Run Free’ is no exception. Built on staccato pseudo-reggae rhythms and synths torn straight from the neon-lit corridors of the 80s, the track doesn’t just stick in your head—it hijacks your psyche.

Even as the instrumental euphoria threatens to sweep you away entirely, the rhythmic cadence of his rolling vocal melodies keeps you hooked as they surf over the synthesised soundscape. Blasts of funk, nostalgia, and eccentricity make this track impossible to pin down, but that unpredictability is exactly where the ingenuity of the monolith of an infectious perennial pop earworm lies.

The Rochester-born artist, producer, and DJ has already gained recognition for his boundless creativity, and with a fearless approach to independent artistry, he’s proven that no sonic territory is off-limits.

With ‘Run Free’, Agaaze doesn’t just invite you into his world; he allows you to escape your own. Liberate yourself and hit play on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nathan Leong’s DOG DAYS – A Shock to the Pop Punk System

Posted on 10 February 2025

A major shift in the evolution of rock was overdue, and Nathan Leong delivered more than we bargained for with DOG DAYS. Tying trap into pop-punk hooks, Leong orchestrates an electro-rock riot of adrenalised euphoria. Instead of relying on scuzzy guitar riffs, he lets the synths do the heavy lifting, flipping the script on pop punk while still delivering the infectious appeal of a pit-ready anthem.

Leong’s equally energised vocal lines bounce over the polyphonic-layered instrumentals, solidifying his place as an artist dragging pop-punk into the future; as much as it kicks and screams. The exhilaration of hearing the Beatles for the first time may be something today’s music fans will never experience, but DOG DAYS might just come close.

The Hong Kong-based artist, known for his unfiltered lyricism and genre-blurring approach, has been building his presence fast. With 28,000+ monthly Spotify listeners and Instagram covers racking up views in the hundreds of thousands, Leong is proving there’s still a hunger for angst-driven, high-energy rock. Taking cues from Machine Gun Kelly, Green Day, and Paramore, his sound balances nostalgia with a refusal to conform, making him a vital voice in a genre that has too often been left to stagnate.

The future of pop-punk is here—stop looking back and experience it with DOG DAYS, now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jaisy Blurred the Boundaries Between Reverie and Reality in ‘can’t get enough of you’

Posted on 8 February 2025

 The boundaries of romanticism and obsession blur in Jaisy’s ethereally dreamy, reverie-slicked release, can’t get enough of you, which exhibits her as the ultimate alchemist of contemporary alt-RnB. It’s hard to know where the kaleidoscope of hazily hued instrumental tones ends and where the lush natural reverb which spills from her harmonies starts.

To describe can’t get enough of you as hypnotic is an understatement at best; rather than being a release you consume, the single consumes you so that by the time the rock riff-licked crescendo hits, you’ll be beyond susceptible to the semi-lucid spell Jaisy cast.

The Toronto-based artist, producer, and dancer has been steadily building her name in the alt-pop and RnB scene, refining her craft at Seneca College’s Independent Music Production programme. With over 15 shows under her belt—including a headlining gig that attracted over 100 fans—Jaisy’s music is as much about emotional depth as it is sonic ingenuity. Each track she creates dares to test new extents of vulnerability, speaking to the overwhelming emotions that come with progressing into adulthood, balancing the desire to be taken seriously with the lingering nostalgia of youth.

We’ve heard countless new entries into the RnB arena already this year, but as far as making an everlasting mark goes, few have done it better than Jaisy. With can’t get enough of you paving the way for her upcoming EP, To: You, she is set to speak to even more listeners through her intoxicating sound.

can’t get enough of you is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BE became the airwaves’ answer to antifreeze with her modern jazz-soul single, ‘Mr Winter’

Posted on 6 February 2025

Some voices are made to console, to smooth the edges of existence with nothing more than a phrase, a note, a breath. BE has one of those voices. In Mr Winter, she employs her timelessly graceful vocal lines to command attention and allow intensity to ebb and flow through effortlessly euphonic harmonies

The single instantly settles you into its easy, sublime smooth grooves of easy-listening soul. If you’re looking for a single to console you through the winter and touch your soul with warmth, look no further than this modern jazz-tinged masterstroke, which ensures that there’s no time for complacency. The transitions in tempo and the evolving intricacies within the time signatures ensure you stay enduringly arrested by the expressive instrumentation, which shines alongside the vocal centrepiece of the record.

Every progression is a revelation within Mr Winter, one that will cradle you within the cinematic sepia-tinged vignette of winter blues. With artful flourishes by the smorgasbord and endless virtuosic touches in the instrumentation, the only question the track will leave you with is when will BE become the household name she deserves to be.

BE’s artistry is shaped by a passion for connection, authenticity, and empowerment—values she carries into her work beyond the studio. A seasoned collaborator and a creative force in her own right, she has worked alongside artists such as Emeli Sandé and Priya Ragu, led songwriting retreats that have been hailed as profound and transformative, and even taken her artistic journey to the wild, embarking on solo expeditions that blur the lines between personal challenge and creative expression.

With her recent rebrand, she steps further into experimentation, bridging her natural, earthy sound with an adventurous, expansive presence.

‘Mr Winter’ was officially released on January 17th and is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergas