Category: Folk

  • “Just breathe and breathe once again,” sings Chad Hollister during his latest tune, “Breathe.” It’s a lovely little song that can lift your spirits on a bad day. In fact, I was having a bad day after discovering that I accidentally installed Malware with a Chrome or Firefox extension yesterday. This really freaked me out…

    Read more

  • Smoke Season was formed during early 2013 and combines the diverse talents of Gabrielle Wortman and Jason Rosen. Their music is quite the hybrid, combining elements of Americana, folk, rock and electronica. They’ve recently garnered attention with their successful August residency at the Los Angeles venue The Echoplex. Hot Coals Cold Souls is their self-produced…

    Read more

  • I recently had the opportunity to hear Brother, the stunning debut EP of newcomers Mighty Oaks, who stand out from the ever-growing folk crowd by writing wonderful songs with big, catchy choruses, the sort that just sweep you away in their emotion and infectiousness.  Although, to be fair, it might not be entirely accurate to…

    Read more

  • Printer Clips is side-project of Paul Noonan, best known as the lead singer of Bell X1. Interestingly, he did not sit back and create a solo album in his downtime. That would have been too easy. Instead, he did an album of duets with female singers. Although PJ Harvey and Emmylou Harris declined to participate,…

    Read more

  • As the story goes, Angus and Julia Stone were happy with their solo careers and had no plans to make another album together. Ever. They didn’t hate each other or anything like that. They simply went in two different directions musically and didn’t feel they would ever be in the same place, stylistically speaking, to…

    Read more

  • Read more

  • The sophomore album is never an easy thing to tackle. Artists have their whole lives to come up with songs for their debut albums. But when it comes to making the second album, well, you might find it difficult to feel inspired if all you’ve done for the past year is tour nonstop. For Ed…

    Read more

  • Following two much beloved records on the indie label Wichita, Stay Gold is Klara and Johanna Söderberg’s first major label release. The album was recorded at Conor Oberst’s ARC Studios out in Omaha with Oberst’s Bright Eyes buddy Mike Mogis in the producer’s chair. He produced the band’s previously album, 2012’s The Lion’s Roar, the…

    Read more

  • interview by Michael McCarthy Recently, one of the publicists who consistently sends me great music — James at I.M.P. — sent me a press release about Juliette Jules, a young Parisian singer who was celebrating her 16th birthday by giving away her first EP, Black Crow.  Being a big  fan of French music, I immediately…

    Read more

  • Singer/songwriter/guitarist Lexie Roth’s “Lost Memory” is taken from her self-titled album, LEXIE ROTH. While she is not related to David Lee Roth, she is the daughter of Arlen Roth, a legendary guitar god who has played with artists ranging from Simon and Garfunkel to Bob Dylan. To our ears, her music is like a combination…

    Read more

  • First Aid Kit are gearing up to release their third album, Stay Gold, on June 10th via Columbia Records. “Cedar Lane” is the first single and it’s one of their most gorgeous, glorious tunes to date. “This heavy heart of mine / It never fails / To bring you right back,” they sing, the lyrics…

    Read more

  • “Tee Shirt” is Birdy’s second track to be released from The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, following “Not About Angels,” and it’s a tender ballad that we’d easily rank as one of Birdy’s top 5 songs to date. It’s a very simple acoustic number, which isn’t exactly something new for Birdy, but it proves, once…

    Read more

  • The last time I saw Butch Walker — sometime last year, at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts — he did a bunch of new songs and talked about how they were going to be on a new EP he was releasing called Peachtree Battle. I really enjoyed all of the songs and was very much…

    Read more

  • MisterWives must be feeling pretty happy with themselves, their new EP, Reflections, garnering them positive reviews in such publications as Billboard, Interview, Buzzworthy, NYLON and TeenVogue. Then again, the band seemed charmed long before the reviews came in. In February of 2013 the group — Mandy Lee (Vocals), Etienne Bowler (Drums), Will Hehir (Bass) —…

    Read more

  • Occasionally, since starting Love is Pop a year and a half ago, I will go into a panic mode when my favorite artists are releasing new albums because, one, I feel compelled to review them and, two, I dread the idea of possibly having to give one of my favorites a bad review. I experienced…

    Read more