Lav's Music Corner

The EP is a format I've often explored on this channel with the intention of finding breaking artists on their earliest work. While that is also normally mixed in with a handful of more established and polished artists who wanted to dip their toes into the EP pool, I can name dozens of artists I loved who I first covered on this blog with the release of early EPs. This year, however, that wasn't necessarily the case. The theme of this list is more about side projects, artists going solo, collaborations, and just a vibrant and exciting collection of little projects where beloved names do something entirely new. It made the process of listening to all of these projects, ordering them, and writing the list itself a rewarding creative challenge that resulted in a collection of boundary-pushing projects that I'm happy to be recommending.  10. The Other Side  - Ruth Radalet The former frontwoman of Chromatics finally debuted as a solo artist this year, but she isn't necessari...

Icarus  - Cryalot Icarus is the debut EP from Cryalot, the new solo project of Sarah Bonito from Kero Kero Bonito fame. It's essentially a five song collection framed around the story of Icarus which Sarah uses as a metaphor for some of her own experiences in recent years. The main thing I was curious about as the singles unfolded was what made this a true solo Sarah project. She's always delivered quite a bit of personality to the music of KKB which meant the split to a solo venture was either because she wanted to write, produce and create songs entirely on her own, or there was a thematic or stylistic shift that was too drastic to still fall under the band's umbrella. After listening to the EP I'm still really not sure which one it is. While the lead single Hell Is Here  is fine, it didn't really convince me. The track that did win me over eventually was the opener Touch The Sun  whose booming drums and maximal shimmering finale both work as a perfect sonic and t...

Two weeks of early posts, one week late. As it comes, so it goes.  Enjoy <3 5.  Touch The Sun  - Cryalot If Sarah Bonito's second solo single as Cryalot doesn't click with you on purpose, try sticking with it because I had the exact same reaction and it's growing on me. The allegorical comparisons to Icarus start to add up and the hook is much stickier than it might get credit for on first listen. But it's really the song's dramatic sonic build-up to a sun-kissed and heavily distorted finale that sold me on its effectiveness.  Listen 4.  Copening  - Benjamin Clementine There aren't many artists who I was more excited to hear from in 2022 than Benjamin Clementine and what he delivered was a pair of songs that feel very within his wheelhouse. The first is this eerie chamber ballad with echoing piano and gentle but utterly commanding refrains. It may not be as expansive as his best work but it proves exactly why it was such an anticipated return.  List...

More big releases this week so lets not waste any time in sorting through them.  Enjoy <3 5.  We're Not In Orbit Yet...  - Broken Bells After teasing the return of Broken Bells for years, the duo of Shins frontman James Mercer and Danger Mouse are finally back with this meandering five minute piece of spacey indie rock. It's lackadaisical approach makes the drifting through these passages sometimes feel a bit monotonous but when they hit their stride pairing exciting instrumentation with good refrains it makes for some amazing moments. Listen 4.  Hot Shit  - Cardi B (Feat. Kanye West & Lil Durk) Cardi's long awaited and highly anticipated new single is a collaborative effort with features from Durk and Kanye alongside a booming Tay Keith beat and even an Electric Boogie  sample. It's a big swing for one of the biggest artists in the industry but does it work, sort of. Despite all the grandeur Cardi is actually right in her comfort zone with this extr...