folk pop

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Is Ambitious and Experimental

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Is Ambitious and Experimental

The Tortured Poets Department‘s songs are calculated, complete, and the most experimental and ambitious of Taylor Swift’s work to date.

Arthur Melo’s ‘Mirantes Emocionais’ Is Much More Than Vintage Vibes

Arthur Melo’s ‘Mirantes Emocionais’ Is Much More Than Vintage Vibes

Even at this young age, Arthur Melo has a careful hand and a grasp on what’s timely as he crafts dreamy new música popular brasileira on his luscious new LP.

Taylor Swift Overcomes Breakup on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift Overcomes Breakup on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift advances the Midnights synth-based and diaristic formula, embracing increasingly sophisticated and minimalistic sonics on The Tortured Poets Department.

Maggie Rogers Turns Inward on ‘Don’t Forget Me’

Maggie Rogers Turns Inward on ‘Don’t Forget Me’

Maggie Rogers’ latest album, Don’t Forget Me, is a soft and breezy return to the musician we met on her debut studio effort Heard It in a Past Life.

Lizzy McAlpine Ages Into Herself on ‘Older’

Lizzy McAlpine Ages Into Herself on ‘Older’

Older hones in on what makes Lizzy McAlpine a compelling artist: astute observations of being young and in love and still learning what those things mean.

Rosali’s ‘Bite Down’ Sounds Classic

Rosali’s ‘Bite Down’ Sounds Classic

Rosali’s Bite Down is a deceptively smooth ride that threatens to pull you under at any moment. Its classic sound draws from Fleetwood Mac and 1970s music.

Kacey Musgraves Returns to Her Roots on ‘Deeper Well’

Kacey Musgraves Returns to Her Roots on ‘Deeper Well’

Kacey Musgraves, like all of us, is just trying to learn how to sway in the face of life’s challenges, and she chooses to gift them to us in the form of songs.

Helado Negro Enables Paths to Grow on ‘Phasor’

Helado Negro Enables Paths to Grow on ‘Phasor’

There is an openness to Helado Negro’s world. His new album Phasor is a dream(y) wake-up call you want to snooze your way back into.

Eliza McLamb Is ‘Going Through It’ with Problems

Eliza McLamb Is ‘Going Through It’ with Problems

This is pop music spiked with something stronger than liquor. Eliza McLamb knows that happiness is an illusion yet she can’t help wanting and rejecting it.

The 15 Best Folk Albums of 2023

The 15 Best Folk Albums of 2023

The best folk albums of the year are an eclectic lot brought to us by long-time notables, indie greats, and artists taking folk music in new directions.

Beirut Returns to His Baroque Pop Origins on ‘Hadsel’

Beirut Returns to His Baroque Pop Origins on ‘Hadsel’

Beirut has turned inward on Hadsel and it’s an affirming, warm kind of music to serve as a soundtrack for the next valley surely coming for us all.

Kentuckian Abby Hamilton Aspires to Be As Good As the ‘#1 Zookeeper’

Kentuckian Abby Hamilton Aspires to Be As Good As the ‘#1 Zookeeper’

Americana’s Abby Hamilton presents her characters’ experiences as valuable simply because of their quotidian relatability. Kentucky is everywhere and everyone.

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