Julia Kate, a 20-year-old sojourner in the land of melodies (a.k.a. a songwriting student at Berklee), just dropped "fake friends," and my initial reaction was… did a sentient Instagram filter write this? Not in a bad way. More in a "wait, is this the matrix?" way. https://open.spotify.com/album/5x6CaYde9gncmDI5KpIKkQ?si=2gYl_dQ4SFm3vAVffdX5Vg The song’s theme slaps you in the face, gently. It explores how, in our curated, perpetually-online existence, actual connection...

Hearing Max Mayer’s single “Someday I’ll Fly” feels a bit like eavesdropping on a very specific, very modern kind of prayer whispered over a crackling phone line. Here we have this London-based musician, grappling with the magnetic pull of ambition against the equally strong tether of a heart miles away. The song lives squarely in that awkward, stretching space between here and there. https://open.spotify.com/track/6Gupo1O4sJok4Ku6qcTQOz?si=4Eu-s9UUTZiZH4Qo8piuUQ It’s country-inspired...