JUNE 2025
Ava Maybee embraces her vulnerability on debut EP Orange Drive
From surf rock to TikTok: Sun Room redefine SoCal rock ‘n’ roll
Sadie Jean and her evolution through young adulthood
C N T E N T S
TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - 9
ON YOUR RADAR - 10
Artists that you should know. No, really.
SADIE JEAN - 12
Dating in your 20s is never easy, and Sadie Jean has had her fair share of heartbreak.
SUN ROOM - 18
This SoCal rock group have harnessed a raw and refreshing approach to rock ‘n’ roll.
MATT MALTESE - 22
Since achieving a wave of viral success, Matt Maltese has kept up with a consistent musical output of work.
15 MINUTES OR 15 YEARS - 28
In the age of TikTok the idea of a one-hit wonder hasn’t disappeared, it has simply been rebranded.
UPCOMING TOURS - 30
Just when you think you’ve heard of them all, there’s more being announced.
AVA MAYBEE - 34
With the release of her debut EP, Ava Maybee shows a new side of herself to listeners.
OFF THE SHELF - 38
Hot off the press, we’ve picked out some albums you should check out next.
JUN 2025 ISSUE 015
DESIGN + EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Victoria Goodwin
COVER PHOTO
Jaden Russell @jadenrussellphoto
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Avery Heeringa
ASSISTANT DESIGNER
Bethany Bluhm, Sarah Space
FIND US melodicmag.com @melodicmag
CONTRIBUTORS
Ann Korwan, Avery Heeringa, Babak Khoshnoud, Brittany Muldoon, Caity Krone, Carl Markland, Cedric Joshua, Erin Crowley, Ezra Kendrick, Hannah Croteau, Jaden Russell, Jaxon Whittington, Justice Petersen, Kaden Morris, Lauren Tepfer, Rachel Briggs, Reagan Denning, Shawn Brackbill, Sarah Peter, Sarah Space, Whitney Otte
THANK YOU
Matt Maltese, Sadie Jean, Sun Room, Ava Maybee, Oriel Company, 2B Entertainment, Open Management, Grandstand Media
Calling All Crows, More or Less (with Jess), RCA Records, Columbia Records, Republic Records
Alec Benjamin performing to a sold-out crowd during his 12 Notes Tour in Prague.
Photo by Brittany Muldoon
How creating safer shows lead to a safer world
by Maggie Arthur, Director, Here for the Music
Critics have dismissed the concept of safe spaces as naively utopian—an impossible pursuit of an environment free from discomfort or conflict. But this criticism ignores a core truth about music festivals: they are, by nature, temporary utopias.
For a weekend, we create alternate realities where strangers become community, music blasts from every corner at all hours, and weekday stressors dissolve under kaleidoscopic lights. When we’re building these temporary worlds of collective joy, we have the power, and responsibility, to design them so that everyone can fully belong.
Every day, we face pressure to maintain the status quo, even in situations where harm is occurring. To build safer scenes, we must root ourselves in our values and embrace discomfort as a necessary part of growth, resisting the urge to simply “go with the flow.” The first step is to develop a toolkit of simple, effective interventions to stop violence before it escalates: be direct, create a distraction, delay engagement, or delegate by asking for help.
Some of these tools will come easier than others, but each option respects your personal boundaries and ensures you never have to push beyond your comfort zone to intervene.
Often what we witness of gender-based violencecatcalling, band members grooming young fans, grabbing peoples’ bodies in the crowd, and the like - is just the tip of the misogyny iceburg. Underneath the surface lie layers of build up that got us here including songs about grooming young women
Tackling this big of an issue can certainly feel overwhelming; however, here are a few simple actions we can all do to make our scenes immediately better:
SUPPORT venues and festivals with violence prevention policies and contributing to artists and fellow fans in need
AMPLIFY artists who speak out against discrimination and advocate for better scenes
INVEST in change by calling friends when they cross the line
LISTEN and adapt to feedback your friends and fellow fans share about how you can better show up for one another
In a time where our rights are being demolished in new and inventive ways, safer spaces don’t sanitize but rather they embody music’s rebellious spirit. According to Joe Strummer, “In fact, punk rock means exemplary manners to your fellow human being.” Borrowing from the most powerful artists of our lifetimes, we create catalysts for both individual healing and broader social change. Through sustained, persistent, effort, we will create a music scene where safety from harassment and violence isn’t a special accommodation, but rather a foundational element of the space.
Photo of graffiti at Bonnaroo Music Festival 2022 by Wendy Fetterolf for Calling All Crows
Real Friends opening for Silverstein on their 25 Years of Noise Tour in Knoxville, TN.
Photo by Carl Markland
Beartooth performing an intimate set in Knoxville, TN in between performing with Shinedown.
TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Carl Markland
Carl is a Tennessee-based photographer who balances a full-time factory job with a nonstop creative drive. After working second shift and feeling the weight of unfulfilled hours, he picked up a camera and hasn’t looked back since. His mind is always chasing the next great shot.
One of Carl’s proudest moments so far in music photography? Joining Melodic Magazine in 2024, a decision he calls “the best I ever made.” With the support and encouragement of the team,
@GoodOleBoyPhotography
he’s been able to pursue his dream of concert photography, with hopes of one day going on tour with a headlining artist. His favorite show to shoot so far has been Nothing More.
Outside the photo pit, Carl’s playlists feature a powerful mix of rock and guitar driven music from Darren Kiely, The Fray, Fame on Fire, Beartooth, Hollywood Undead, Michael Marcagi, Badflower and even Christina Aguilera.
a photo Carl took of beartooth in may during their stop in knoxville
Photo by Carl Markland
After going viral with his 2021 single “Cherry Wine,” which soon became goldcertified by the Australian Recording Industry Association, Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter grentperez has consistently remained one of indie music’s most unique names. With passionate vocals that he overlays over soft electric guitars, grentperez maintains an artistry that is both enigmatic and deeply relatable. Following the release of four extended plays since “Cherry Wine,” grentperez released his debut full-length project, Backflips in a Restaurant, in March of this year. In light of the album’s release, the “Clementine” singer is now on the road for his Backflips In A Restaurant Tour, playing across the U.S. and Canada. After experiencing significant virality and praise over the last few years, including winning an APRA Award in 2024 for Emerging Songwriter of the Year, grentperez won’t be leaving our radars any time soon.
GRENTPEREZ
FFO: Rex Orange County, beebadobee, Dayglow
LISTEN: “Cherry Wine,” “(Only) About Love - Demo,” “Clementine”
Pop group The Marías are one of current indie music’s most prominent stars. Renowned for performing music in both Spanish and English, The Marías possess an artistry that is utterly unique as they blend together Latin American influences with jazz and heavy guitar compositions. Initially, The Marías were aiming to make music for TV, but a potential plan to do so hadn’t worked out. These songs were soon featured on the band’s 2017 debut EP Superclean Vol. I. The EP’s second chapter, Superclean Vol. II, came out the following year. In 2020, the band signed with Atlantic Records and the next year, they released their debut LP Cinema. Their sophomore full-length record, Submarine followed in 2024. Following an extensive world tour after the album’s release, the group is now gearing up to embark on The Submarine Tour (Extended) this summer with scheduled appearances at Lollapalooza, Shaky Knees and more.
THE MARÍAS
FFO: Clairo, Men I Trust, Faye Webster LISTEN: “No One Noticed,” “Heavy,” “Sienna”
On April 25, pop singer-songwriter Lyn Lapid dropped her highly anticipated debut album BUZZKILL. Filled with coming-of-age tales that are strengthened by a multitude of pop music influences, Lapid’s inaugural full-length project is as confessional as it is cathartic. Said to be her most vulnerable body of work to date, Lapid hopes BUZZKILL can offer the peace and relatability we all hope to find in our early twenties. The record also conveys magnificent growth from the multi-instrumentalist, who initially went viral on TikTok in 2020 for her ukulele hits “Producer Man” and “When She Loved Me.” At just 17 years old, it was evident Lapid was destined for greatness. Now, Lapid looks upon her debut LP with over four million TikTok followers and nearly three million monthly listeners on Spotify. Celebrating the release of the album, Lapid is currently on the North American leg of her Buzzkill World Tour, where she will share her signature softspoken yet emotive pop music with the entire world.
LYN LAPID
BEACH HOUSE
FFO: Slowdive, Cigarettes After Sex, Still Corners
LISTEN: “Space Song,” “Silver Soul,” “Master of None”
Since their formation in 2004, Beach House have cemented themselves as one of indie music’s most interesting acts. Known for vocalist Victoria Legrand’s ethereal vocal prowess and the band’s signature dream pop sound, Beach House have inspired a variety of artists – ranging from Kendrick Lamar to The Chainsmokers to The Flaming Lips – through their emotive artistry. Not only do Beach House have a wide discography, including eight full-length studio albums, but the group has also made their way into film scoring, working on several projects for arts production company Meow Wolf, composing trailers for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and providing the score the Netflix film Along for the Ride (2022). Over the years, Beach House have toured extensively across the world and are currently on a tour across North America and Europe. Following a select number of shows in the United States, Beach House will make their way over to Europe, where they will play several shows and make appearances at Primavera Sound Festival.
FFO: Laufey, mxmtoon, Claire Rosinkranz
LISTEN: “In My Mind,” “When She Loved Me,” “poster boy”
THE WALTERS
FFO: Coyote Theory, Conan Gray, Mac DeMarco
LISTEN: “I Love You So,” “Sweet Marie,” “Fancy Shoes”
Chicago natives The Walters found instant recognition in indie music following their 2014 formation. That year, the band released their debut EP Songs For Dads, which landed them a place on Spotify’s “United States Viral Top 50” chart and the attention of Canvasback Records, where the band released two 2015 singles: “Hunk Beach” and “I Wanna Be Good.” Following the release of their sophomore EP in 2015 and embarking on their first national tour in 2017, The Walters suddenly announced the band was breaking up. However, things changed in 2021 when “I Love You So,” the band’s debut single featured on Songs For Dads, went viral on TikTok, sparking The Walters to reunite that same year. This year, the band celebrates the release of their debut full-length project, Good Company. In light of the album’s release, The Walters have recently announced a fall tour for the record and will tour the U.S. this fall to celebrate both their debut LP and nearly 10 years together as a band.
and her evolution through young adulthood
article: Clare Gehlich
photos: Lauren Tepfer
Dating in your 20s is never easy. Singersongwriter Sadie Jean has had her fair share of heartbreak over the last few years, and has gone through the motions of what it means to be young and in love while trying to figure out who she is. By opening herself up and leaving her heart on her sleeve, Jean has experienced the highs and lows of young love. But with a little more than three years in the industry, she has gone from a viral breakout star to a gold-certified artist, carving out her own path in the alt-pop genre along the way and making herself a relatable friend to listeners.
When she was younger, Jean wrote music alone in her room, not knowing anyone in the music industry and “feel[ing] on the outside of it.” It’s not surprising that the singer has always had a knack for songwriting and eventually went on to briefly attend New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, where she embraced her music and artistry before dropping out of school to pursue music full-time.
At 19, Jean began her sophomore year in New York and wrote what fans now know as the RIAA goldcertified single “WYD Now?,” which was released in 2021 went viral on TikTok. To date, the song has been used more than a quarter of a million times on the platform. Now with several releases under her belt, Jean is finally on the inside of things. “It’s cool that I could go from being so on the outside of everything and so inexperienced to having like every label calling in, like a day,” Jean says. “It was
so crazy, but also so overwhelming. It took me a long time to feel adjusted and that’s why I waited like 10 months to release my second single.”
Her road to success began at 19, just as Jean was starting her sophomore year at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. At the time, she didn’t have any music out and still felt like an outsider in the crazy music industry, despite having studied it in school. “I didn’t have any music out yet, didn’t know anything about the music industry,” she says. “Still, even though I was studying in school, it’s very different. You still feel like on the outside of it. It was so random and unexpected.”
She had just written “WYD Now?” and, feeling excited, posted it online the very next day –unaware that things were about to change. But she says the song quickly took off and led to a viral open verse challenge that also blew up on social media.
“Since then, and even before then, I’ve just been writing about my experiences trying to date in my early 20s, and being single in LA in my early 20s,” she says. “And kind of the struggle and the torturous experience that that is, and that’s kind of like the whole vibe.”
A major transition for Jean came when she released her second single, “Locksmith,” the following year. At the time, Jean was feeling significant pressure to follow up the success of her debut
“I’ve just been writing about my experiences trying to date in my early 20s… and kind of the struggle and the torturous experience that is, and that’s kind of like the whole vibe.”
single after it amassed over 187 million streams on Spotify. “Locksmith” tracks Jean falling out of a relationship with an ex she still has feelings for, and admits that she still has a soft spot for them.
While “Locksmith” was ultimately the second song she released, Jean says she was originally set to release a different song, the previously announced “After All,” which remains unreleased. With whispers in her ear about how “viral” her second song would have to be after the release of “WYD Now?,” she ultimately scrapped “After All” and posted the now also viral “Locksmith” on social media, which has amassed over 190 million streams on Spotify.
“I posted it, and it went super viral. Then I was like, ‘okay, everything happens for a reason,’” Jean says of her decision to go forward with “Locksmith. “It was definitely a different experience than ‘WYD Now?,’ because I had already had it one time. It meant something different to me.”
release — has been shaped by that harsh and universal transition between being a teenager and becoming a young woman in her early 20s. With heart-wrenching, deeply personal and reflective lyrics, Jean lets listeners into her world and makes space for listeners to be as vulnerable as she is.
“Nice Knowing You,” which was her final single of 2024, became a love letter to New York City. Jean now lives on the other side of the country in Los Angeles, and the song describes a relationship that “just didn’t work out and he ended up meeting someone new.” The song marked the closing of a previous musical chapter and was written on the day she found out about her ex meeting someone new. Despite this shift in tone, Jean has retained her signature acoustic sound that makes listeners feel like they are peeking through the curtain and into the room in which the songs come from.
“I love to give the full context of what happened and I feel like I overshare my real life behind the song.”
Her EP Simple Like 17 followed the success of her first two singles and represented Jean’s life between 2021 and 2023. Heavily inspired by her first love and first heartbreak, the songs mourn her relationships and childhood as she fully embraces her 20s. As we all quickly learn, growing up is never easy, and neither is accepting the passage of time.
Much of Jean’s music — from Simple Like 17 to her upcoming debut album slated for a September
These days, Jean is growing up within her relationships, proving that she’s no longer the 17-year-old girl she used to be. As a result, she’s showing that the speed of falling in and out of love can be painful (and is often, unfortunately, relatable). “The song is basically saying, ‘I’m happy for you, even though I’m sad, and I wish you the best and goodbye forever,” she says of “Nice Knowing You.”
Jean’s music is crafted in such an intimate way that each lyric sounds like a piece of her heart is on the line. A masterclass of the bedroom pop genre, she shares her honest and vulnerable stories
as a teenage girl, and then as a 22-year-old, with listeners through every note. From experiencing unreciprocated love to obsession, Jean has been through it all.
While Jean faced lost love and regret in the ballad “WYD Now?,” her recent single “The One That I Want (But I Don’t Know Why)” roots for a happy ending that will only fail her because of a guy who clearly didn’t deserve it in the first place. At the time of writing the song, Jean went over to her next-door neighbor’s house to rant about a boy. Her friend, fellow singer-songwriter Grace Enger, who also attended the Clive Davis Institute, picked up a guitar and soon enough, a song about being in love with someone Jean calls “a loser” emerged — which would eventually become “The One That I Want (But I Don’t Know Why).”
Between the what-ifs, the has-beens and the situationships that feel all too real, Jean’s music is raw and hits hard when it feels like those feelings are all-consuming.
Jean has been adamant about sharing her stories with listeners and has even opened up to fans through a new Gmail list. She says the list gives her “something to look back on,” and allows her fans to really feel like they are a part of the writing process. She hopes that in 15 years — whatever she may be doing in 15 years — she will be able to read stories and emails she sends out now and reminisce about how she got to where she is.
Later this year, Jean will take the stage across Europe on the Early Twenties Tourture (stylized to put the “tour” in torture”), which kicks off in Oslo, Norway on Nov. 4. But she is not new to touring and sharing her stories live, previously opening for Canadian singer Johnny Orlando and Irish singer Cian Ducrot on their respective tours. Her upcoming European and U.S. tours come after Jean’s sold-out headline European run last year and subsequent sold-out North American headline run.
“I am such a lyrics person when I listen to music, and I love knowing the context of songs so that I can really feel them from that person’s perspective,” she says. “So in my shows, I love to give the full context of what happened, and I feel like I overshare my real life behind the song.”
Between tears of sadness and dances of love, Jean is letting her fans into a world of music spanning her earlier ballads to her EP Simple Like 17 to the upcoming debut album that bridges the gap between her melancholic ballads of the past and the playful, upbeat tracks of her future.
The confessional alt-pop singer has a knack for breaking listeners’ hearts time and time again, and remains her most vulnerable and honest self as her sound shifts. In this next chapter of music, Jean is continuing to leave her heart on the line within her romantic relationships and in her music, and continues to pursue love regardless of how it may crumble — sometimes before it feels like it even starts.
“My main goal is that fans feel validated in whatever crazy feelings they’re feeling,” she says. “I hope that fans listen and don’t feel like their feelings are irrational or crazy or unreasonable. I hope that people relate and get to see a new side of me and my songwriting, artistry and the beginning of my album and artist process.”
AWOLNATION performing in Washington D.C. a part of The Phantom Five Tour.
Photo by Sarah Peter
NO RULES, JUST ROCK
photos: Kaden Morris article: Justice Petersen
From surf rock to TikTok: Sun Room redefine SoCal rock ‘n’ roll
No band sonically captures the blistering summer heat and the burning of the Southern California sun quite like Sun Room. Since their formation during quarantine in 2020, the SoCal rock group have harnessed and maintained a raw and refreshing approach to rock ‘n’ roll, one that combines garage, surf and punk all into one sonic wave.
Initially founded by vocalist and guitarist Luke Asgian during the pandemic, Asgian was soon joined by guitarist Ashton Minnich and later bassist Max Pinamonti and then-drummer Gibby Anderson. Not long after their formation, Sun Room released their debut EP Sol Del Sur. The following year they dropped their sophomore EP Somewhere Tropical which earned the group great exposure and a growing fanbase stemming from TikTok.
The next couple of years saw Sun Room opening for Irish rock group Inhaler on two separate tours as well as Louis Tomlinson on his 2022 world tour. After opening for Tomlinson, Sun Room set out on their debut headlining tour. In 2023, Sun Room released their garage rock-infused EP Outta Their Minds before once again touring alongside Inhaler on their U.S. Cuts and Bruises Tour. Following the release of Outta Their Minds, Sun Room embarked on their sophomore headlining tour, and Anderson was replaced by drummer Thomas Rhodes.
Sun Room released their fourth EP At Least I Tried also in 2023, which maintained their signature surf rock musicality while leaning more towards punk influences. Their latest release, their 2024 EP Can’t Explain, found the band incorporating post-punk sounds. Now, after five years together as a band, Sun Room are still riding the waves of success while embracing constant growth and change. Currently gearing up to tour in support of Flipturn on their upcoming Burnout Days Tour this summer, Sun Room are looking forward to sharing new music with fans. “I think that’s what keeps the live shows really fun for us, is being able to test out new songs and see how it goes,” Asgian shares with Melodic Magazine over a Zoom call. “I think we’re going to some places we’ve never played before too, which is cool. I think we’re playing Montana, which we’ve never played in. So that would be cool. And we also just don’t tour that much during summer. So I think it would be fun to get out there during summer.”
Initially unfamiliar with Flipturn, Asgian says the best way to get to know a band is by seeing their live shows. “I think we were all kind of unfamiliar [with Flipturn], but I know a bunch of people who love them,” he says. “I think a really cool way to experience a band for the first time is seeing them live. And I think we played with a lot of bands like that, where we didn’t really know about them or we didn’t know their music until we saw them live. And it’s kind of a cool introduction. It’s a lot more fun to experience than checking out someone’s Spotify for the first time. I gotta remember when we toured with [Inhaler] and we didn’t really know that much about them. And then we saw their show and now they’re our best friends and we listen to them all the time.”
Accustomed to being both the opener and the headliner, Asgian says headlining shows are the best way to go in terms of long-term goals for the band, but he also enjoys the challenge of being the opening act. “I always think opening [act] is really fun because you kind of have this goal to win over the audience, and there’s really low pressure because no one really has any expectation of you,” Asgian says. “So you have the opportunity to try to blow them away with a really good live set, which is really fun. It’s more like a challenge as opposed to a room where most of the people already at least know a song or two. So it’s cool, especially when no one really knows what to expect. And we have a pretty loud live set, so I feel like we’re a good opener because you kind of wake up the audience a bit.”
While opening for Flipturn, Sun Room will be able to share new tracks with fans, including the group’s latest single, “Jackknife.” An anthemic, buzzedout rager, the song takes on a more soaring sound akin to that found in Y2K indie rock groups like The Killers or Jet. With an upbeat energy, “Jackknife” is a track that is meant to fill arenas, which is just what Sun Room are aiming for. “My favorite videos [to watch] growing up were the live sets at Glastonbury, or those huge festivals in the U.K. and Europe, and these rock bands that would play these shows and have these huge songs that they’d be playing to 50,000 people, and they would write big enough songs carry that,” Asgian reminisces. “And we just wanted to write something really big-sounding and something that we feel like we could play at a big festival.”
“As an artist, you just got to follow what’s fun, what inspires you and what you think matters to you.”
In a current music world where so much content is produced and smoothed-over to appear perfect, Asgian says “Jackknife” was recorded live to capture the grittiness that a lot of today’s music no longer has. “I feel like music has lost its edge a little bit in terms of everything is very exact into a click track and all the little mistakes are edited out and punched in, and I think we wanted to make a song and just play it a lot,” he says. “We recorded it live… and I think that captures this energy that people haven’t heard in a while, where it’s not perfect, and it’s a little bit more chaotic. Because our live shows have always been so chaotic and fun, and we try to get people moving, and then you go in the studio and it’s this sterile environment. So we kind of wanted to just record it live so that you kind of got that feeling when we do play it live, which is a lot more fun than when you’re in a studio and trying to do everything perfectly.”
Throughout their career, Sun Room have always maintained this raw artistry, keeping their music down to earth both lyrically and sonically. “Even if you don’t know anything about music or recording music, I think people still pick up on if something’s real or not,” he says. “Especially in terms of recording. I think people still get the sense of if this was played live, if this feels natural or if it was made by all these fancy producers who took out all the little mistakes and now it’s just this perfect, pristine and unnatural thing. I think you don’t need to know about music to be able to tell the difference, and I feel like people these days are kind of missing that, and I think that’s why so many people love so many old bands…I think there’s something to be said about what they were doing differently that music is missing these days.”
While the SoCal rockers have become renowned for their signature breezy sound, Asgian doesn’t necessarily consider them a surf rock band. Rather, they’re just a rock ‘n’ roll band. After gaining attention on TikTok with Sol Del Sur, Asgian admits the band initially did feel the pressure to stick with a heavy-leaning surf rock sound. “When I was writing, if I had a good idea but maybe it didn’t fit in with this very niche thing that was working for us, I would just kind of throw it out,” he admits. “It finally just got to the place where it was just like, I don’t care to write surf rock songs or anything like that. I care to write good rock ‘n’ roll songs. And if that song happens to have a little bit of surf influence, or if it happens to have some early 2000s influence, I’m just at this point in my writing where I’m just following a good song and not trying to stick in this little niche that worked once for us...As an artist, you just got to follow what’s fun, what inspires you and what you think matters to you. So that’s where we’re at in our writing right now, and it’s the best it’s ever been.”
Asgian initially only saw Sun Room as a project he took on during quarantine, not a potential long-term career. However, lockdown did grant Asgian — then in his second year of college — the opportunity to really think about how far he wanted Sun Room to go. “I guess the biggest difference between now and then is I think we’re more confident as musicians and know what we want,” Asgian says. “And I’m also at a point too in my life and career where I’m taking this more seriously than I ever have. I think it’s really easy when you get attention early on to take it for granted as a musician. But it’s the fact that people want to come to your shows and the fact that I’m able to make a living doing music is insane. And I never want to take that for granted. And I owe it to myself and my bandmates and every other person who’s trying to be a musician to really take the position we’re in seriously and work really hard.”
Although Sun Room found great recognition in their early years through TikTok, something Asgian says is a great tool for aspiring musicians, he also says the band has always prided itself on a more authentic approach to music. “Right out of the gate, we were very intentional about doing it the old-fashioned way,” he says. “Yes, we use the tool of TikTok because it’s here. But I think the way we’ve made most of our fans isn’t through social media. It’s through touring really hard, and we’ve played so many shows the past few years…I think that’s how we’ve made most of our real fans, because I think someone who finds you through TikTok is a lot different than someone who saw you in a rock club in Vienna and found out about you that way.”
Sun Room possess an artistry that is equal parts grounding and invigorating. With songs that demand to be blasted over energized crowds and beer-soaked floors, Asgian says the music is only getting better as time goes on. “I think that’s the best thing you can do as a musician, is not think about your audience when you’re writing and just write stuff that means something to you, and hopefully it’ll connect with your audience,” Asgian says. “I think the second people start writing for their audience, it can feel fake or forced, and we’ve not been perfect with that at all. But I think we’re getting better with it now, of just making the music that we love and making music that we’d want to hear. We wrote ‘Jackknife’ because that’s a song I would have loved to have heard, and it didn’t exist yet. We always hope our music resonates and connects, but I think it’s always a goal for us to block that out when we’re writing and not worry about how people react.”
is ready to take on what’s next
“I’m ready to not put out another record next year,” Matt Maltese admits on a late morning in early May. “In the last seven years I’ve done like six [records], and I think one thing I can say with some certainty, [is that] there won’t be another six in the next seven years.”
For any artist, that kind of steadfast output can undoubtedly grow tiresome. But Maltese’s hesitancy to jump back into the next album cycle isn’t driven by a lack of interest in music or a creative roadblock. Rather, as he says, “I want them to be really good and just have a bit more time to be made, and to just face the reality that I have a lot of other stuff I’d like to do.”
article: Avery Heeringa photos: Jaden Russell
It’s true that the London-based singer-songwriter has been quite busy over the last few years — not to mention, nearly the last decade. Maltese’s official debut arrived in 2015, but it was his 2017 single “As The World Caves In” that most know him from. The song possesses a kind of piano-led melodrama distantly reminiscent of an Elton John number and captured a massive audience on TikTok four years after its initial release.
Although thousands of videos have been made with Maltese’s original rendition, it was artist and TikToker Sarah Cothran’s cover of the song that ushered in a massive resurgence in 2021. To date, Cothran’s version has amassed 52.1 million views and 6.2 million likes on the platform. The roundabout way that the song got broader exposure ultimately drew more curious listeners to Maltese’s own work. By the time “As The World Caves In” hit its viral peak in 2021, Maltese had already released two LP’s, 2018’s Bad Contestant and 2019’s Krystal.
Since achieving the wave of viral success four years ago, Maltese has kept up with a consistent musical output of work that often combines understated melodrama with cinematic curiosity and sharptongued wit. His latest release, Hers, out May 16, cascades between gloomy recollections (“Buses Replace Trains”), 007-worthy drama (“Happy Birthday”) and Beatles-esque showmanship (“Everybody’s Just As Crazy As Me”).
When Maltese hops on the phone this late spring morning, the release of Hers is just over a week out, and the singer is experiencing the final rush in the lead up to the record before listeners will make it their own.
The cover of Hers captures Maltese in a cream sweater with his back against a blank wall, a female figure’s legs outstretched against the wall’s surface with the singer’s arm around her hip. The record was largely inspired by one subject in Maltese’s life — who he, naturally, chooses to remain tight-lipped about. What he will say on the album’s inspiration is that, “a lot of the record was about one person. And I think that there was a realization myself that a lot of the record was a dedication to that person and time with them. I think I liked the idea of drawing a more simple, tangible line to that with the title.”
The jump-off point for the record was “Always Some MF,” a song that meanders with soft-spoken intimacy and flexes Maltese’s signature English wit on lines like, “You ain’t a fly on the ass of my love for her.”
“Writing ‘Always Some MF’ was a real memorable moment for me in the sense that it felt like the beginning of something,” Maltese says. “Between album campaigns, you’re kind of rolling around in the dirt trying to make something that feels compelling enough as a place to start from, or
compelling enough to be the center of a whole body of work. I think with ‘Always Some MF,’ that was the moment for me where I was like, ‘Oh, this is a bar to try and live up to.’”
As a sort of test to measure the value and effectiveness of the songs he was writing, Maltese says he’d often ask himself, “how many times do I want to go listen to that song after I’ve demoed it?” before deciding if a track made it to the album’s final tracklist or not.
In the past, he says he’d collect songs and whittle down a final product from there, but took it to new extremes on Hers. “I had a bit more of [an attitude] like, ‘I’m going to write loads of songs and whittle it down’ type [of] process, than I’ve had in the past even,” he says. “I just was really brutal and I just wanted each song to really be compelling and not just be there to fill out a record. I’m not saying I was consciously doing [that] before, but I think even more this time, I just wanted it to be a special record.”
Another key difference between Hers and Maltese’s previous LP’s is his level of involvement in crafting the campaign for the record. “I think each fraction of your world, whether that’s like the merch you’re making, or how the tour is going to look and feel, I think having a hand and an eye in all of it is just really important to me,” he says. “A lot of the job is making stuff, for sure, and being creative. But also a
lot of the job is trying to apply your taste everywhere and that’s a really time consuming dump in itself.”
In the age of singles crafted perfectly for TikTok, artistic vision and creative continuity can often feel like a dying craft. Maltese’s hand in cultivating a more traditional album rollout and campaign — one that begins with a succession of singles, music videos, merchandise, performances and possibly a tour announcement over the course of several months — harkens back to an era when musical success was not measured by how many times a snippet gets used online or streamed. But make no mistake, Maltese has the numbers to back his work up. Two of the album’s singles, “Pined For You My Whole Life” and “Anytime, Anyplace, Anyhow,” have already earned over two million and three million streams respectively. On TikTok, his 2023 single “The Earth is a Very Small Dot” has been used over 40,000 times and gained virality earlier this year despite being released two years ago. (Just another example of the curious way Maltese’s work often earns delayed appreciation.)
Amid the busy couple of years Maltese has had (including an album of covers he released in March of last year), he carved out time to dedicate to the creative process for Hers in England. “I do feel like the essence of what I am and what I do is in the U.K.,” he says. “London definitely informs so much
of it. I made this record in London and I wrote most of it in London. I think it’s quite an important part of who I am…my sense of space and the home there.”
As if it were not obvious from his witty lyricism and detectable accent (at least to stateside listeners), Maltese is British through and through. The dry wit of British humor both reminds the singer of home and also finds its way into the music. “I think being around it all the time probably also really informs my work. I just really love British people,” he says. “I’ve [taken] trips to LA where I’ll write a bit or produce a record there when I was a lot younger, and write for other artists there and all that… [but] I think being at home is really important for me and it also lets me treat it more like a like a day job sometimes, which is quite good.”
“I don’t think anything amazing happens unless you put yourself in a routine of, like, working a lot and making things a lot,” he says. “I think it’s easier for me to do that at home than when I’m traveling, or when I’m on tour…I love to just put my put my ass on the seat for eight hours, and be like, ‘I’m going to make something every day, and I’m going to live my normal life here and have the work be a reflection of that.’”
Maltese wants his music to reflect everyday life and capture the good, bad, exciting, mundane — all of it. In an industry that often favors pendulum swings between audacious, bold styles and hushed, intimate confessions, relatability is a quality that alternates between being in vogue and not. Maltese isn’t exactly the kind of artist that one should expect to make a sharp 180° turn to stadium pop or hard rock (although, never say never), but it’s his knack for melodrama that has earned him a regular spot in the contemporary music landscape.
Some of the inspiration for the more dramatic moments on Hers can be attributed to the media Maltese was consuming during the creation of the record — specifically cinema. “I love dramatic films,” he says. “It’s a bit [like the] chicken and the egg: am I dramatic because I’ve watched dramatic films or am I just dramatic anyway?” His passion for dramatic films is palpable in both the album’s lyrical content as well as instrumentation. He makes it no secret that he’s a fan of the drama, so to speak, admitting that, “I do think songs should kind of have drama to them.”
On album opener “Arthouse Cinema,” Maltese’s interest in filmography is most apparent (hence the title). “What little movie will you watch today?/ Such a cliché I became/Frequenting theatres every single day/Knowing arthouse cinema won’t save you,” he sings in the song’s first verse. He name checks several directors including Belgian-born
French filmmaker Agnès Varda, Spanish director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar, Chinese-born American filmmaker Lulu Wang and American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. With such a wide range of taste, one can only imagine what Maltese’s Letterboxd profile looks like. (Though tempted, I decide not to ask what his handle is.)
But with the last two years going into the creation of this new record and enough films watched to earn AMC A-List status, Maltese is now looking forward to the period that’ll come after the LP’s release and before he hits the road later this year. “The record has been my life for like, two years now,” he says. “I think there’s always a bit of a book-ending period where you’re very open to what could be next. It is quite nice to sit in that for a minute.”
Maltese may not be in a rush to get back into the studio and get another record ready for release next year, but his schedule for the rest of the year will no doubt keep him occupied. He’s hoping for some nice weather in his native London this summer as he gears up for his tour that kicks off in September. The tour, cheekily titled Tour For You My Whole Life (a nod to track eight on Hers, “Pined For You My Whole Life”) will take Maltese across the world until the end of the year. But perhaps what he’s most looking forward to after such a long period of creative gestation is getting back the privilege of being nearsighted and not having to focus on piecing an album rollout together.
Although the audience (and streams) he’s earned from TikTok virality and the internet at large have gotten him to where he is today, he maintains that he doesn’t allow the thought of commercial success to infiltrate his work, even if the thought of it might be nice. “I think any artist is lying if they’re [not] hoping that it’s going to be heard by people, or if they’re hoping that they’re going to be able to make a career out of it,” he says. “I’m an entertainer. Even though I kind of hate that word, I have an openness [that] I am trying to make a career.” His next studio album might not be locked and loaded for release at the top of next year, but music is undoubtedly still at the forefront of his mind. Afterall, as he says, “Yeah, I still want it to pay my rent.”
“I do think songs should kind of have drama to them.”
15 YEARS or
a look at being a one-hit wonder
In 2019, a cowboy hat, banjo with 808 beats and a TikTok video made Lil Nas X a household name overnight. But for every Lil Nas X, there are dozens of artists whose virality fades faster than a 15 second trend. Artists behind songs you know by heart like “Macarena” (Los Del Rio), “Barbie Girl” (Aqua), “Mickey” (Toni Basil), along with countless other musicians were some of the first notable artists who captured fame so quickly, only to vanish from mainstream memory with any new releases.
This phenomenon is colloquially known as a “one-hit wonder,” and while that term gets thrown around a lot, it’s taken on a new shape in the streaming and social media era, particularly TikTok. Platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and even Instagram Reels have redefined how we discover music, and in doing so, have rebranded the one-hit wonder into what we now call a “TikTok artists” (despite which platform they may be popular on). These artists aren’t necessarily lacking in talent, just simply caught in a whirlwind pace of 15 second trends, where success is measured in seconds and the algorithm.
Used to describe an artist who makes one commercial hit and largely disappears from the zeitgeist afterwards, the origin of one-hit wonders didn’t begin in music. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was first used in the early 20th century to describe a one-hit baseball game thrown by San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Ramon Manzanares, who was labeled a one-hit wonder himself due to his limited success beyond that one game. Nowadays, Billboard defines a one-hit wonder as an “artist that cracks the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and never makes it back to that position.”
Some artists may have been one-hit wonders musically, many continued their careers behind
the scenes. Los Del Rio may have never matched the global success of “Macarena,” but they have continued to perform live to this day, performing in Spain and Latin America. Aqua, though released more music following “Barbie Girl,” like “Doctor Jones” and “Turn Back Time,” never saw the same heightened fame as before. Toni Basil never had another chart hit after “Mickey,” but instead built a successful career as a choreographer for artists like David Bowie and Tina Turner.
So the question lies, are musicians who experience a one-hit wonder still a thing? The answer in short is yes. In the age of TikTok the idea of a one-hit wonder hasn’t disappeared, it has simply been rebranded.
While many people associate one-hit wonders with big hair and synths of the 1980s, data shows they became most prevalent in the 1990s, and with good reason. The decade saw rapid industry expansion rapidly, thanks to cheaper and more accessible ways of exploring and sharing music, such as CDs and MP3s, early internet platforms such as Napster and Limewire and the rise of the internet making it easier for musicians to record and distribute their work. Music Television, or known to the average consumer as MTV, revolutionized music consumption in a new never before seen way with 24/7 music and music videos, transforming how audiences discovered music. Novelty songs and dance trends became bigger than ever creating the perfect condition for shortlived successes. Novelty songs also saw a surge, often engineered for mass appeal but difficult to replicate. Tracks like “Macarena” and “Achy Breaky Heart” dominated the charts briefly, then faded fast. Culturally, these acts were often dismissed as fads.
Fast forward to today, and the music landscape of music discovery and promotion has shifted
completely. With the introduction of TikTok in 2014 (originally called “Musical.ly”) revolutionized how music is shared, promoted, and consumed, it forced artists to adapt to the platform’s fast-paced, algorithm-driven culture. It’s short-form format offers unprecedented exposure, making it possible for unknown artists to gain millions of streams from a single 15-second clip. But the rapid rise can be a double-edged sword, offering the potential for instant fame, but that fame can often be fleeting.
Some artists have managed to leverage these 15-second clips into full-fledged careers. Lil Nas X is a perfect example of this. His hit song, “Old Town Road,” was reminiscent of the novelty hits of the ‘90s, featuring a playful TikTok dance and a funky western theme that made it easy to replicate in trend format. Since then, he’s released other successful songs such as “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” and has become a well-established musician and broken the cycle of being a one-hit wonder.
However, occasionally, an artist’s breakout hit can contribute to their downfall. GAYLE, who rose to fame through her viral TikTok song, “abcdefu” is a prime example. Praised for its clever and creative songwriting, the song became so successful that it was quickly overplayed and people grew tired of the track. GAYLE also became the face of a broader TikTok trend, incorporating nursery rhymes into raunchy and angry songs about exes to ride the coattails of “abcdefu”’s success. Since then, she hasn’t had another major hit on the Billboard Hot 100, though she has released new material and opener for Taylor Swift on several stops of her Era Tour, suggesting that a new hit could one day be on it’s way.
TikTok’s greatest strength of instant visibility, is also its biggest weakness. It can make an artist “famous” in 15 minutes, but replace them just as
article: Sarah Space
quickly. There’s always something new to talk about, a new trend to follow, and a new song to make dances to. If yo’ure not constantly trending or building a loyal fanbase, you’re yesterdays algorithm.
The concept of one-hit wonder, and the stigma that comes with it, is very much still alive. However, the main difference is that the verbiage surrounding it has changed. Rather than “one-hit wonder”, artists have become “TikTok artists” or commonly have their most popular song, “TikTok song.” The implication is the same, implying that they’re nothing more than their sole hit song. It is seen as an insult, particularly to fans who listen to them, suggesting that their musical taste is only influenced by what they hear on TikTok.
Ultimately, the evolving phenomenon of one-hit wonders to “TikTok Artists” makes us reconsider the value of these artists beyond the hits that brought them their initial fame. Whether they are a one-hit wonder due to changes in the industry they couldn’t keep up with, fleeting opportunity for them to build lasting careers, or even if because their desires have shifted remains a question that there may never be a real defining answer to. But one thing is clear, artists we classify as one-hit wonders have left some sort of impact on the music industry or we wouldn’t still be talking about them.
UPCOMING TOURS
Forget FOMO
These upcoming tours are the ones you need to clear your calendar for.
Peach Pit + Briston Maroney bnny
Throughout May and June, Peach Pit and Briston Maroney embark on their co-headlining Long Hair, Long Life Tour. The North American tour will follow each artist’s new projects: Peach Pit’s deluxe release of Magpie and Maroney’s newest release, JIMMY
May 20 - June 26
MAY
May 25 - Sept 30
sombr
Devon Gabriella
Singer-songwriter, sombr has announced dates for his upcoming Late Nights & Young Romance Tour throughout North America and Europe. In between two tours supporting Daniel Seavey and Nessa Barrett, sombr will embark on his own headlining tour throughout May, June, September and October.
The Kooks lovelytheband
Following the release of their seventh studio album, Never/ Know, English indie rock group The Kooks have began the North American leg of their All Over The World Tour. With lovelytheband as support, The Kooks will make their way throughout Canada and the U.S. over the next month.
May 27 - Jun 21
May 28 - June 20
Recently finishing opening up for Gracie Abrams, Ashe wasted no time hopping into her very own headlining tour, The Trilogy Tour, with Bo Staloch supporting. Her first headling tour since cancelling her 2023 Fun While It Lasted Tour, the singer says these upcoming shows come from a “giddy and emotional place.”
Ashe Bo Staloch
Finn Wolfhard The Slaps
Following the release of his debut solo album Happy Birthday, famed Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard will embark on The Objection! Tour. Making his way throughout the West Coast, fans of the musician and actor won’t want to miss his upcoming June tour with The Slaps as support.
Lana Del Rey
In June, Lana Del Rey will embark on her sold-out stadium tour throughout Ireland and the U.K. Announced in November 2024, the tour sold out rather quickly, even after adding a second show at London’s Wembley Stadium. Del Rey will play in stadiums across Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland.
The Lumineers
The Lumineers’ upcoming world tour is not one to sit out on. Featuring several iconic openers, including St. Vincent, Vance Joy, The Backseat Lovers and more, The Automatic World Tour will make its way through North America over the remainder of the year – and it won’t be one to forget. June 5 - June 12
23 - July 4
JUNE
June 7 - Aug 17
Glass Animals
Sofia Isella, Orla Gartland
In continuation of their Tour of Earth, English rock group Glass Animals will make their way throughout the U.S. this summer. Touring with Sofia Isella and Orla Gartland as support, the tour follows the 2024 release of Glass Animals’ fourth studio album I Love You So F***ing Much.
JULY
23 - Aug 27 July 9 - Aug 10
Gracie Abrams Role Model
Following the release of her hit album The Secret of Us, Gracie Abrams is currently on the road for The Secret of Us Tour. Touring through Europe before returning to the States in July and August, the second North American leg of Abrams’ tour will be supported by Role Model.
Valley
Following the 2024 release of their fourth full-length album, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden, Canadian pop group Valley will tour North America this summer. Valley will return to the States and play a number of headline shows throughout this summer before joining AJR this fall.
Maris in Boston opening for Maude Latour’s Sugar Water Tour.
Photo by Erin Crowley
embraces her vulnerability on debut EP, Orange Drive
article: Justice Petersen
photos: Whitney Otte
Up-and-coming star Ava Maybee possesses an addictive vulnerability largely missing in today’s pop music scene. Bringing forward a hard-hitting sonic sensibility to her artistry, Maybee walks the line between infectious pop and alternative rock. With the release of her debut EP Orange Drive, Maybee shows a new side of herself to listeners as she explores both romantic and platonic relationships.
Growing up in an inherently musical household, Maybee didn’t start songwriting until she was 16 years old. Combining her singing and theater talents with her journaling, Maybee soon graduated from high school and began studying at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in New York. When quarantine began in 2020, Maybee moved back to her home city of Los Angeles and decided to hone in on her songwriting.
That year, Maybee released her debut single “Lay Low” and continued to steadily release songs in the years that followed, including fan favorites like “Colors” and “Self Doubt.” In 2022, Maybee took on one of entertainment’s biggest stages when she appeared on the twentieth season of American Idol. Earning herself a spot in the top 10, Maybee continued to stand out through her unique song choices and vocal talents. Soon, Maybee’s single releases and American Idol run landed her a spot in Lollapalooza’s 2024 lineup.
Now, Maybee is in the midst of an exciting year — perhaps the most important of her career. On May 16, she released Orange Drive, her debut EP, on which she passionately explores her life and experiences collected between 2020 to 2023. After navigating friendship breakups, exes and dealing with the struggle of figuring out your early twenties, Maybee now shares her charming and emotive debut project Orange Drive, which is just as cathartic and personal as a diary entry.
The singer is also currently on her debut headlining tour to coincide with her EP release. The Gold Star Sticker Tour will find Maybee playing her way across the U.S. and include a number of festival dates, including Bottlerock, Summerfest and Warped Tour. “I’m super excited because I’ve never played these festivals before,” Maybee says over a Zoom call ahead of the Orange Drive release. “I think I’m most excited to play Warped Tour because, as a pop artist, I think that it’s going to be a challenge to win over this audience — and I love a challenge.”
This year marks the epic return of the famous rock festival, and Maybee is looking forward to experiencing Warped Tour for the first time. “Obviously, there are people that are going to be there on the lineup that you know and love,” Maybee says. “But I think that the heart
of [Warped Tour] is discovering new artists and building the community even more and making it even stronger. So I’m really excited. I have a lot of my friends who are also playing it, so we’re just going to have one big party.”
Maybee’s upcoming festival dates fall within her inaugural headlining tour, and the “Gold Star Sticker” singer is infectiously optimistic about the tour. Between her debut EP and a debut headline tour, Maybee recognizes that 2025 is a huge year of firsts. “I feel very grateful and very honored that my team felt I was ready to do my own thing,” she says. “I haven’t toured too much of the West Coast, so I’m stoked for that. I’ve played L.A., San Francisco, Portland and stuff like that, but I haven’t [played anywhere else]. I’m playing like three shows in Colorado, so I’m excited to see a lot of Colorado fans. New Mexico [too]. We’ll see, it’s very exciting. I’m stoked.”
On tour to promote Orange Drive, Maybee says the EP tells more of the singer’s story, and she hopes listeners will find relatability and catharsis within the project.“I think that I was stuck in this mentality of feeling like, based off of the amount of traction I was getting, that I would only put out singles,” Maybee reflects. “And then I kind of just said, ‘fuck it,’ because I wanted to tell a story and I couldn’t get that across in one song. It’s really hard to even tell a small story in one song. So I really
am excited to put out the project, for people to understand a part of my story as a whole.” “I wrote a lot of it about relationships, both platonic and romantic breakups, which I think a lot of people in their twenties are struggling with, so I hope it’s relatable,” she says. “I hope that people can cry to it and dance to it and laugh with it and not take anything too seriously.”
An apt description for the album, Orange Drive is balanced by both a bittersweet relatability and a healing tone of excitement. “Gold Star Sticker,” the album’s opening track, is anthemic both lyrically and sonically, with Maybee’s passionate vocals paired with an electric, upbeat chorus. Other songs on the album, such as “Mean,” explore the anger that follows a breakup. A deeply personal track, it should be no surprise that it stands out as Maybee’s favorite on the record.
“I like ‘Mean’ because it’s me at my most vulnerable,” Maybee says. “We wrote it in parts because it was too hard to write all at once. It was a little too emotional. I think I’m proud of myself for getting to the point where I could be that vulnerable, knowing that it could potentially have a lot of eyes on it…It’s still hard to listen to, but it is my favorite.”
For an introductory body of work, Maybee holds nothing back on Orange Drive. Fueled by deeply
“I think my vulnerability is the best part of myself because it’s me at my truest form...”
reflective lyrics and personal subject matter, Maybee adamantly believes that her honesty is the best aspect of her artistry. “I think my vulnerability is the best part of myself because it’s me at my truest form,” Maybee says. “It’s my most authentic, and I feel so lucky to be able to be in the public eye and still be my authentic self, which I think takes a lot of courage, and I feel not everyone can do it, so if I can do it, I should.”
A self-described “highly emotional person,” Maybee says that she sought to embrace the extremes of her emotions. “I think as a woman, you can sometimes get faulted for that and [told] that you are overreacting or being too dramatic,” she says. “To that, I say ‘fuck them,’ and that’s my best part about myself. I think why people listen to music and love artists and why fandoms are created is because you both see a part of yourself in that person, you feel a sense of community and you feel seen.”
Many songs on Orange Drive tackle the vulnerable subject of friendship breakups, something Maybee says is more painful to talk about than a romantic separation. “I wrote a lot of the EP about friendship breakups that I’ve gone through in college, specifically,” Maybee says. “I think college, for me, was the first time you get to really choose your friends, and then when it doesn’t work out, it’s so painful. I think that friendship breakups are way harder than romantic breakups because... female friendships are so deep, so empowering, so fabulous and you feel so seen. And when they don’t work out, it’s a real loss.”
When it came to such an important project like Orange Drive, learning not to overthink the process was crucial, according to Maybee. With such heartfelt subject matter, Maybee says the top priority for the creation of the record was to find great collaborators.
“Once I found these boys, Alex [Agresti] and Jake [Nuffer], who I love, who made this entire EP with me, then it was about a schedule,” Maybee says. “I was very late to the game with writing. I didn’t start writing songs until I was about 16, and then I didn’t put music out until I was 19. So, I was already in college and I was flying back and forth from L.A. to New York and only working with people in L.A., and then taking three months off and wouldn’t write. And writing is like a muscle. So I was putting so much pressure to write a single in like two sessions, which is impossible. It’s really hard and also completely inauthentic. So it was really about finding my right people, staying consistent and not giving up when the song doesn’t turn into what you think you want it to sound like.”
An artist who is as intentional with her music as she is with her visuals, Maybee is known for both her eclectic musicality and style. Regularly donning her signature beret and wearing thrifted pieces in her music videos, she maintains a distinct aesthetic to her artistry. “I pull inspiration from everything everywhere all the time,” Maybee says. “My ‘PUKE’ music video was based off of a Blink-182 album cover. My ‘Lay Low’ music video was literally just about the fact that I had green hair at the time, and I was all about light and colors and when they mix together, how much of each color was put to make that new color…And then for [the Orange Drive] cover specifically, I thrifted everything. I’m wearing my mom’s shoes, but everything else is thrifted. The beret a fan gave me on a different tour, which ended up being my favorite beret ever.”
In this era of her career, Maybee is only just getting started. Through her relatability, retro-inspired aesthetics and passionate musicality, Maybee aims for her artistry to provide a safe space for listeners when it comes to tapping into the deepest parts of themselves. “I feel like every emotion is kind of addressed in this EP,” she says. “The majority of my audience are women and in their twenties, so I hope that we grow together and that it’s relatable. And I hope that people feel taken care of and less alone when they listen to it. But also dance and throw ass, because that’s the point. And to dance like no one is watching. That’s a requirement, especially at my shows.”
Grab your record player
Even In Arcadia Sleep Token
Review by: Ann Korwan
One of the most highly anticipated albums of 2025 has arrived with Sleep Token’s Even In Arcadia. Since the overnight sensation of Take Me Back To Eden, the band has taken the world by storm with a sold out show at the O2 Arena and topping the charts with their three latest singles, “Emergence,” “Caramel,” and “Damocles.” It is clear that the abrupt rise to fame has brought more pressure, but Even In Arcadia has reached above the high expectations of fans, ushering in a new era for the band. Even In Arcadia truly offers something for everyone — it is intense, introspective, and a truly haunting collection that will leave fans ready for another listen.
Hers Matt Maltese
Review by: Ezra Kendrick
Between tour stops and festival visits, British Canadian SingerSongwriter Matt Maltese has crafted another ode to heartbreak and desire in his
sixth studio album, Hers. With an already extensive discography, Hers balances intimate band sounds with full orchestration as Maltese lets himself drown in everyday imagery tinged with feelings of hunger, longing and desire. There is no other way to precisely describe this album other than the perfect soundtrack to play on the late night drive home. As the track list progresses, a sense of paranoia and anxiety over love and relationships elopes the listener with standout songs including singles “Buses Replace Trains” and “Anytime, Anyplace, Anyhow” along with “Happy Birthday” and “Tangled.” Hers is yet another well crafted dissertation on the human condition by singer-songwriter Matt Maltese with its shifts between strings, woodwinds and small bands, each song feels like another admission to guilt over love and pining. Hers is an experience within itself and is out now on all platforms.
he’s still just not that into you!
Amelia Moore
Review by: Cedric Joshua
Alt-pop provocateur Amelia Moore turns missed texts, emotional chaos, and late-night lust into seven tracks of sparkling, screamable heartbreak. On her feverish new EP he’s still just not that into you!, the long-awaited part two to last year’s he’s just not that into you! mixtape, Amelia Moore doesn’t just bare her heart — she rips it out, stitches it with beeping synths, and hands it to you, still pulsing. The pop rule-breaking diva delivers seven tracks packed
with flirtation, frustration, and a diaristic sense of emotional chaos that feels like scrolling through the cracked screen of someone’s iPhone Notes app. Amelia Moore doesn’t just know what you’re feeling, she’s already written a hook about it. he’s still just not that into you! is a timestamp of what it means to want too much, feel too hard, and look really good doing it. She’s not waiting for his reply — she’s got a show in L.A., a set at Outside Lands in August, and a fanbase ready to scream every lyric back to her.
If That Makes Sense Spacey Jane
Review by: Sarah Space
Spacey Jane’s brand new album If That Makes Sense is complete with the raw, self-indulgent sound and poignant, poetic lyrics that the band is known for. The Aussie indie standouts have improved dramatically since their last album, Here Comes Everybody, nearly three years ago, with each track complementing new musical experimentations and explorations. The thoughtful and poetic lyrics that Spacey Jane is known for are masterfully elevated by the matured production. This album is a spectacular exploration of the regrets, falters, guilts, and lessons that can only be learned along the tumultuous yet beautiful journey into adulthood.
Bishop Briggs on the final stop of her Tell My Therapist I’m Fine tour in Boston.
Photo by Erin Crowley
JIMMY
Briston Maroney
Review by: Clare Gehlich
Sometimes it’s not about a name but an ideal. Knoxville-based altsinger Briston Maroney comes to terms with an amalgam of people and places that shaped his identity on his third studio album, JIMMY In a world that is very different after your parents’ divorce as a kid, Maroney gives us two worlds — one that is laid-back and raw and one that is more structured and ultimately privileged. On JIMMY — an ideal of someone rough around the edges, wild and raw but also loved — Maroney explores the great expectations of being split within his identity and leans into heavy punk rock vibes that differ from his more indie sound. Thus, “Jimmy” was born.
More Than Enough
Jonah Marais
Review by: Clare Gehlich
Singer-songwriter and Why Don’t We alum Jonah Marais has been through it all -- from heartbreak to struggle and even coming to terms with his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
It can feel like you’re all alone, and fitting in can seem like a world away. It can feel impossible to see the other side. But what happens when you finally reach that breaking point? Do you overcome it or just let the pain fall apart? Marais is sharing his story in a raw way on his new EP, More Than Enough, and it’s like he’s become your closest friend.
Music For People Who Believe In Love
Joe Jonas
Review by: Reagan Denning
Joe Jonas confidently ventures into a new creative chapter, reintroducing himself to the world on Music For People Who Believe In Love. The record, his first solo project since his 2011 solo release Fastlife, showcases a bold evolution light years ahead. Signaling a significant leap in his artistic journey, he explores the thrill of new love, painful breakups, and becoming the person you’ve always hoped to be. The fourteen track album highlights Jonas’ vocal versatility with each song offering it’s own unique sound. The GRAMMY-nominated singer has curated the perfect soundtrack to all your summer moments including standouts “Honey Blonde,” “My Own Best Friend,” and “Constellation.”
D R E A M S I C L E
Maren Morris
Review by: Hannah Croteau
Three years after releasing Humble Quest, Maren Morris returns with her highly anticipated fourth studio album, D R E A M S I C L E, and she’s never sounded better. Blending her signature countrypop style with bold new sonic textures, this album feels like both a fresh chapter and a confident culmination of her artistry. Morris has never been one to stay in a single lane. Since breaking through with her GRAMMY-winning hit “My Church,” she’s carved out a space in country music that’s uniquely hers, fearlessly blending pop, rock, soul, and Americana while keeping one foot planted in her Nashville roots. Over the years, Morris has become known not only for her powerhouse vocals, but also for her bold songwriting and boundary-pushing artistry. With D R E A M S I C L E, she takes her biggest leap yet, embracing a glossier, more pop-forward sound that feels both intentional and entirely her own. It’s a record that signals evolution, not departure, and it just might be her most compelling work to date. It’s an album that feels like both a reset and a revelation: unafraid to experiment, but grounded in the kind of honesty that’s always made her music hit hard. From the popforward production to the deeply personal lyrics, this record sounds like someone who knows exactly who she is and isn’t afraid to evolve.
m o r e o r l e s s ( w i t h j e s s ) i s
a p l a t f o r m d e d i c a t e d t o
s h a r i n g t h e m e n t a l h e a l t h
j o u r n e y s o f a r t i s t s , m u s i c
l o v e r s , a n d c r e a t i v e s
a l i k e .
w e i n i t i a t e c o n v e r s a t i o n s
t o c o n n e c t b o t h d i g i t a l l y
a n d I R L , p r o v i d i n g s p a c e s
f o r h u m a n s t o s h a r e
o p e n l y h o w t h e y ’ r e r e a l l y
f e e l i n g ,
m o r e o r l e s s .
