We Talk About Music

After reviewing and loving so much of his music, we finally got the opportunity to sit and speak with Hilary Cousins! Having freshly released his latest single “The Well”, we dug into everything surrounding the song, but also really got to know this artist who’s an endless “well” of creativity. Known mostly for indie, folk, and rock arrangements built around drums and guitars, Cousins takes a slight departure here, delivering a stirring piano and vocal ballad that feels both intimate and quietly monumental.What makes this song so compelling is how it manages to feel deeply personal and completely universal at the same time. On the surface, "The Well" reads like a song written from a very specific place of grief, and in a lot of ways it is. The narrator wrestles with the loss of someone important, holding onto their memory and continuing to search for their guidance even while learning to move forward without them. But Cousins has been thoughtful about keeping the meaning open ended rather than locking it into one specific story.

Within the first 30 seconds, there’s a serious infectious energy to "Freedom," and it hits you right up until the closing moments. The Wilmington, Delaware born singer-songwriter Courtney Elle has crafted a song here that feels made for exactly the moments you'd hope, kicking back, pouring a drink, and letting the party naturally build around it.Elle has always had a gift for blending genres, pulling contemporary pop together with the timeless spirit of funk, disco, and classic R&B, and "Freedom" is a fantastic showcase of that instinct. There's a real theatrical sensibility running through her music too, and it shows up here in how vividly the song comes together, expressive vocals paired with rhythms that feel effortlessly fun.

This artist has quite literally pulled from an entire lifetime of influences and somehow made it all feel completely cohesive. Nath Tavares has accomplished a seemingly possible feat on her new album, "See Attachment." This is an absolute blast of an album, one that comes together to create an incredible range of sounds and stories into something that feels both sprawling and deeply personal.Tavares has lived a genuinely global life, shaped by her time spent across Brazil, Mexico, China, the United States, France, and Portugal. Her borderless upbringing shows up all over this record! Pop and “urban” production collide throughout with Brazilian funk, salsa, mariachi, and merenguetón, while glimmers of musical theatre give the whole project a wonderful narrative. There are moments here that genuinely feel Broadway-esque, especially the opener of the same name as the record. The whole thing is full of storytelling flair and that theatrical feel gives the album plenty of drama and momentum as it moves through its different chapters.

There are tribute albums and then there are albums that feel like a genuine spiritual homecoming, and "Forever Muscle Shoals" from Chrissi Poland is unmistakably the second kind. Out now on all platforms, this record is a deeply personal love letter to one of the most important sounds in American music history, and Poland delivers it with the kind of intensity and heart that makes the whole thing feel completely alive.The story behind this album makes it even more special. Poland's inspiration took root back in 2022, when a stop in Florence, Alabama during a tour led her to visit the legendary FAME Studios. Standing in that room, where so many of the most influential soul recordings in American history were made, sparked something immediate and visceral in her, and that emotional connection clearly stayed with her all the way through the making of this project. Recorded live at both FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the record carries a real sense of place, honoring the songs and musicians who shaped that late 60s and early 70s Muscle Shoals sound, drawing from icons like Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Cher, and so many more. Believe us when we say though that this is still 100% an original record.

There's infinite power in a song that takes something as vulnerable as self-doubt and transforms it into something resolute. Catlea has accomplished exactly that on their newest single, "Someone's Got To." Released worldwide on July 17th, this track is a beautifully crafted anthem of self-discovery, and it makes a genuinely strong case for why Catlea's music continues to resonate so deeply. Even better, we got to interview the artist and learn a ton about what makes this song great.It’s built around intimate acoustic guitar and cinematic strings striking a really lovely balance between poppy accessibility and real emotion. The instrumentation pops in a big way throughout, giving the track a lush feel that never overshadows the vulnerability at its core. That refrain, the simple but devastating idea of loving yourself when someone else won't, lands instantly.