
Persona and Modern Music in 17 Songs
Persona, the “I” of the song, has evolved and expanded to more fully represent a diversity of experiences and emotional, political, and cultural orientations.

Persona, the “I” of the song, has evolved and expanded to more fully represent a diversity of experiences and emotional, political, and cultural orientations.

Yeule has come a long way from their early years traveling distant galaxies. Ćmiel’s melodies are exemplary pop, and their vocals exude an incorporeal flair.

Self Esteem steps into a more grounded and rangy perspective. She’s overcome numerous challenges. She’s learned to live in the world and her own skin. She’s free.
Circuit des Yeux’s work, including her singular voice, conjures the grand epics, the metamorphoses that the ancients whispered and sang about.
Spirit of the Beehive offer their most rangy yet integrated album, each track striking a notable balance between sonic exploration and hook-leaning songcraft.
Revelator captures Phosphorescent’s endeavor to encounter life as it is, practicing vulnerability, empathy, and a degree of self-effacement.
Though buoyed by Arlo Parks’ resilience and desire for authentic union with a partner, My Soft Machine is over reliant on predictable sonics and vague melodies.
Democratically curated and enthusiastic, Boygenius’ The Record is a testimony to friendship, the power of aesthetic commonality, and the magic of teamwork.
100 gecs’ 10000 Gecs succeeds as a cultural correlative, an audial reflection of modern-day life, as much as, perhaps more than, a purely aesthetic offering.
With her third album, Black Belt Eagle Scout dazzles us with lush atmospheres, seismic rhythms, and a voice that unfurls from another and perhaps a better world.
Rina Sawayama’s second LP, Hold the Girl, suffers from a lack of risk and is self-consciously conservative in terms of execution. It’s a bewildering anticlimax.
While Renaissance occasionally sports more style than substance, Beyoncé emerges as the re-coronated Queen of Pop and the reigning regent of eclecticism.