I only discovered this artist after their untimely passing. I heard the news not knowing much of what they made, but I gave it a shot since of the impression it had on the underground music scene. "I keep calling..."  by wifiskeleton was a stand out song for me on their 2024 album suburban daredevil. The song takes a classic R&B instrumental and incorporates a fun modern delivery with infectious harmonies that blends 2 different eras of music. I enjoyed the effortlessness of the sound. It sounded like the artist had a lot of fun making it which always spills out of the music once its played.

I'm actually quite familiar with this album. It brings me back to when I was a freshman in High School and I attended a school across town that had a pretty abnormal schedule that required me to catch the bus from my dad's job. I spent about an hour or so on the bus every Monday for that year of my life and I recall playing this album all the way through on my old iPod. I occasionally revisit some songs from this album, one of which being 'Grown Up Calls'. The instrumental brings me back, but one part in particular that I truly adored was the hook that occurs in the latter half of the chorus the falsetto, the keys, the synth bass solo, and the background vocals are layered so well. Superb song!

Although I'm not totally familiar with their album, I was captivated by this song one day while I was out shopping for some new clothes. It had such a familiar sound that I couldn't quite put my finger on despite it having the elements of popular R&B music of the late 90's, but it sounded like I've heard this particular song before so I paused for a moment and grabbed my phone to ID the song. This was a few years back when this happened, but I loved the song ever since and I keep it in my song rotation quite often when I want to relax and reminisce.

It has been a recent habit of mine to listen to music as I'm going to sleep. It's really relaxing for me especially if it's easy listening music like old j-pop or soul music, but one night, I can't quite remember the time, but I was laying in bed and I heard these beautiful warm chords and these ambient textures playing alongside it. It totally caught my attention from the very beginning. There was so much about this song that triggered feelings of optimism and peace. I love this song dearly. It reminds me of a new day. (And I have been looking for the CD for this album ever since.)

Sugarcoat from KISS OF LIFE's self-titled EP is a solo performance from k-pop idol NATTY. A friend of mine introduced me to this song. It's a modern song with an unmistakably 90's sound quite reminiscent of the likes of Aaliyah. Despite the language barrier, the vocal performance is incredible. It sounds very glamorous and definitely my favorite track from the group.

Perhaps one of my favorite artists and one of which I had been listening to evolve for quite some time now. I believe that universal nature of Ace Hashimoto's writing is what strikes me as compelling. It's vulnerable and it's relatable which I find are great ingredients for a timeless song. I'm quite fond of this album, but I find that I play 'Bad Habits' on nights out which is ironic considering the song is about having bad habits. It has a pop music delivery which serves as a great song to belt the lyrics to on a night drive. I suppose in an ironic sort of way it's a reminder that people aren't bad, but we certainly have bad habits.