Michael Isaak is LA native based in NYC, a rising artist who blends indie rock, folk and alternative influences with his deeply personal storytelling and Egyptian heritage. His sound is shaped by his love for guitar driven melodies and his Arabic roots, creating a unique fusion that resonates with listeners. In 2024 he released a six-track EP, Forever is a Scary World, that took nearly two years to complete because of its intricate production and heartfelt lyricism. Featuring Arabic instrumentation by Abanoub Samir on “plane thoughts,” the project went on to receive over 100k streams on Spotify, resulting in Isaak’s largest headline show to date at The Moroccan Lounge in July 2024.
Through an email blast shared first to his fans via his The Beautiful Mind Club Forum, GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter/producer Jon Bellion announces his highly-anticipated upcoming album Father Figure, arriving on June 4. Pre-order HERE.
Introducing the project with singles “Wash” and “Kid Again,” which have amassed over 12 millions teams collectively, Jon shares the full tracklist for the album which includes features from Luke Combs, Jon Batiste and Pharrell Williams – all three who are fathers themselves. See full tracklisting below.
Father Figure peels back the layers into modern-day fatherhood, as Jon shares his most vulnerable music to date. From the over pouring of love, pride, and care to the challenges, questions, and mistakes, the project showcases the many facets of what it means to be a loving father and supportive partner.
Alongside the official announcement, Jon also teases next single “Horoscope (feat. Pharrell Williams),” which will be arriving soon.
emerging indie-folk frances mistry unveils her latest single do i belong here? – a beautifully delicate, acoustic-led track that continues to establish her as a new voice to watch in the UK indie scene. Built around shimmering melodies and tender fingerstyle guitar, the track offers a poetic exploration of belonging and finding the places and people that make us shine.
do i belong here? is out now on your streaming service of choice, via APOLLO Distribution.
London-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist CETTY (che-tty) makes a powerful return with her first release of the year – a breathtaking reimagining of Olivia Newton-John’s timeless classic Hopelessly Devoted To You. Stripped back and soul-stirring, CETTY’s version puts her raw, flawless vocals front and centre, accompanied by a stunning organ backing, breathing her own emotion into the beloved ballad.
Hopelessly Devoted To You is out now on your streaming service of choice, via APOLLO Distribution.
Waiting for Smith is the musical project of Harry Lloyd, a British artist whose journey has been shaped by both extraordinary challenges and transformative experiences. After breaking his back at 24 and spending a year in recovery, Lloyd rediscovered his passion for music, picking up the guitar and writing songs with newfound purpose. His eclectic life path – from traveling across the world, learning languages, and becoming a ski instructor, to overcoming mental health struggles and healing in South Africa – has deeply influenced his music. Now based in the Netherlands, Waiting for Smith creates music with a mission: to help others live a happier state of existence, feeling less worry and more love and joy, offering a sense of lightness and hope through his soulful, heartfelt sound.
His latest single, “I Like Life,” encapsulates this ethos, inviting listeners to reflect on the simple yet powerful question, “Do you like life?” As Harry explains, “It’s a question we all feel, and it’s so simple but profound.” The song also introduces the concept of “Love Town,” a place described in the lyrics as “Hey, won’t you come down to the place I call the Love Town.” While open to interpretation, the idea behind it is clear: it’s about choosing to view life through a lens of love, shifting from the mind to the heart, and embracing a positive, more joyful state of being.
“This song came about 4 years ago when I turned up to a writing session in Amsterdam.
I didn’t wanna go that day because I felt kinda unmotivated – Ironically the song that appeared was the most uptempo thing I’d ever created.”
Written with fellow musicians Jara de Werd and Ramon de Wilde over coffee, the three spoke about life, about the books that inspired them, about changing tastes, early bedtimes, philosophy and the power of now. The result is a single that radiates a feel-good vibe with its melodic bassline and toe-tapping rhythm, complemented by infectious harmonies that will have you chanting along in no time. It’s the perfect anthem for lifting your spirits and spreading smiles.
“I Like Life” is the title track from Waiting for Smith’s upcoming EP, which marks a new wave of positivity from the artist. The EP promises to be the soundtrack to everyday moments – from commutes to work to time spent with loved ones. With its genre-blending sound, the record bridges generations and eras, carrying an ancient message of awakening that stretches from 2,500 years ago to the present day. It’s a call for us all to embrace and enjoy our existence, coming together through the universal power of music.
Since debuting in 2019, Waiting for Smith has earned millions of streams and received radio support from stations around the world, including BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, and 6 Music in the UK, as well as KISS FM in Germany, Flux FM, and KROQ in the USA. With over 2,000 syncs internationally, his music has featured in high-profile placements like the Japanese Grand Prix, Netflix’s Vis A Vis, and major commercials like El Corte Ingles in Spain. His achievements have led to sold-out headline tours across Europe, as well as support slots for artists like Xavier Rudd and James McVey. Recently, he’s also received backing from AWAL (Sony Music) and charted across multiple countries, further solidifying his place in the global music scene.
For generations, 20th century Black American artists have ventured from home to find new self-expression among Nordic creative communities in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Here they found”hipper” intellectual spaces for bringing all people together through music. In this spirit, vocalist Candice Hoyes releases a unique arrangement of the Swedish traditional song that was notably recorded by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra with vocalist Alice Babs, released in 1978.
Hoyes’s version is arranged for soprano and jazz octet by GRAMMY-winner Ted Nash and features lyrics Hoyes wrote reflecting on the pivotal importance of Black ancestral history in 2025. Hoyes remarks, ‘My single “Far Away Star’ is a tribute to Ellington, and it is a tribute to free expression and justice that is as eternal as the North Star.”
Hoyes was awarded a 2025 Du Bois Fellowship, and has researched music forged by Josephine Baker, Abbey Lincoln, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and more. Hoyes’s recent performances include Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall (NYC), the Kennedy Center (DC), La Petite Halle (Paris), Boisdale of Canary Wharf (London), Detroit Symphony, and Millenium Park (Chicago).
Magenta Moon (@MagentaMoonParty) is a surf music spaceship co-piloted by couple Elaina Whitesell (lead vocals, bass) and Joey Petrarca (guitar, vocals). Their dynamic and groovy sound transports passengers to a realm of magical delights full of romantic ballads as well as rock anthems. MM’s carefully written songs boast poetic lyrics and accessible sonic complexity. Live, Magenta Moon offers common ground to audiences of all ages, races, and creeds. Rely on The Moon to get your body moving! Magenta Moon is currently parked in Los Angeles, California, USA, Earth.
the emerging pop-soul sensation Marco Giovanni unveils his smooth new single, “Happy Ending.” This expertly crafted track arrives also with contributions from renowned production duo The Audibles, consisting of Dominic “DJ Mecca” Jordan and Jimmy “Jimmy G” Giannos—proven collaborators with music icons such as Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, and Sam Smith.
Kasador has been busy. Over the past two years, the Kingston, Ontario band released their second full-length, 2023’s Youth, toured across Canada and the U.S., and went from a three-piece to a four-piece outfit. They hit major streaming milestones, won awards for their music videos, and scored spots on national Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts—the sort of successes every rock band dreams of.
But as much as they’re interested in success, Kasador—vocalist/guitarist Cameron Wyatt, guitarist Thomas Draper, bassist Boris Baker, and drummer Stephen Adubofuor—are interested in simply being a great rock and roll band in a time when connection, friction, and unpredictability are whittled away in favor of algorithmically dictated sameness. What is left when everything feels and looks and sounds good? Why do we idolize the rich assholes picking our pockets?
That’s the question Kasador asks on “Golden,” their new single which released on December 17. It opens on a heavy, grimy garage-rock groove, then motors through a taut, acidic verse before the chorus bursts open on Adubofuor’s half-time beat: “If everything is golden, what is there to hold on?” Wyatt wonders. The song came from Wyatt’s reflections after spending time in Los Angeles: The city’s famous, fame- and money-obsessed culture left him with a deep, and deeply modern, sense of alienation and desensitization.
“Golden”—undoubtedly the heaviest music Kasador has released to date—is a taste of a new collection of 10 songs to be released in 2025, across two EPs. Recorded at the Bathouse Recording Studio with engineer Nyles Spencer and written with a group of friends and longtime collaborators, the tracks evidence a new era for Kasador: More than ever, they’re committed to loud, catchy, confrontational guitar music as a weapon against corporate power, plutocracy, and our great collective numbness. This is the clearest and most direct they’ve ever been. Uncoincidentally, it’s also the most fed-up they’ve ever been, and they’re not pulling any punches.
At 39 years old, Nick Cain’s life took an unplanned but welcome detour that changed everything he knew about passion and determination. It began at The Gorge in Eastern Washington, at a country music fest – Watershed – that strummed the strings of his heart just as much as those of the guitar he would pick up following the event in 2019. With no musical background to speak of, Nick dove headfirst into the melodies and rhythms of country music, dedicating every possible moment to self-taught sessions that echoed through the basement of his home.
His regular life as a real estate developer was put on a pause by the Covid-19 pandemic, a break that proved to be a silver lining for Nick’s budding musical aspirations. With building permits on hold, his basement became a sanctuary where he nurtured his newfound love for music, strumming and studying with relentless enthusiasm.
The year-long confinement cultivated in him a desire not just to play guitar, but also to sing and craft his own songs. His unyielding resolve led him all the way to Los Angeles, where he had the good fortune of being mentored by celebrity voice coach Roger Love. It was Love who introduced Nick to the acclaimed songwriter Drew Lawrence. “Spending a week with Roger was a pivotal moment. Writing with Drew has been a great match,” Nick reflects on the experience that escalated his journey into the realms of music creation.
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