Explore how technology is reshaping the music industry, from AI to digital streaming platforms.

The Digital Revolution in Music: How Technology is Transforming the Industry

Explore the latest music industry trends, business developments, and market changes shaping the future of music.

The Evolution of the Music Industry: Trends and Insights

Riley Green's Melbourne concert takes a surprising turn as a fan throws a phone on stage, disrupting the performance.

Riley Green's Melbourne Concert Interrupted by Thrown Phone

Album: Honest Woman by Carly Pearce (2026)
Genre: Country
Format: Album

Description: Carly Pearce grew up on bluegrass, roots and traditional country music, and the hallmarks of those genres have always found their way into her songs, though sometimes subtly. On this fifth album from the critically acclaimed country star, Pearce brings those influences to the forefront for her most assured, dynamic project yet. Co-produced by Pearce and Ben West (Ella Langley, Medium Build), Honest Woman channels an Alison Krauss or Lee Ann Womack record, pairing complex, largely acoustic arrangements with the vivid narrative songwriting for which Pearce has come to be known.

To boot, Pearce and West lined up some of Music Row’s finest players for the LP, including award-winning Jeneé Fleenor on fiddle, Jerry Roe on percussion, Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar and Byron House on upright bass. Collaborators on the album lean to the rootsier side, too, with bluegrass multi-hyphenate and former Union Station member Dan Tyminski playing both acoustic guitar and mandolin on the heartache ballad “Who’s Lying Here” as well as performing on “What If You Loved Me”, which also features vocals, guitar and banjo from newgrass virtuoso Molly Tuttle.

Other highlights include Pearce’s hit Riley Green collaboration “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay”, a clever duet about a struggling situationship, and “He Don’t Like My Dogs”, a feisty, relatable rejoinder to the kind of man even a dog can’t trust.

Related Artists: Kelsea Ballerini, Maddie & Tae, Lauren Alaina, Tenille Arts

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Country Pop movement. Known for Country style.

Tags: Country, 2020s, Album

Carly Pearce grew up on bluegrass, roots and traditional country music, and the hallmarks of those genres have always found their way into her songs, though sometimes subtly. On this fifth album from the critically acclaimed country star, Pearce brings those influences to the forefront for her most assured, dynamic project yet. Co-produced by Pearce and Ben West (Ella Langley, Medium Build), Honest Woman channels an Alison Krauss or Lee Ann Womack record, pairing complex, largely acoustic arrangements with the vivid narrative songwriting for which Pearce has come to be known.

To boot, Pearce and West lined up some of Music Row’s finest players for the LP, including award-winning Jeneé Fleenor on fiddle, Jerry Roe on percussion, Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar and Byron House on upright bass. Collaborators on the album lean to the rootsier side, too, with bluegrass multi-hyphenate and former Union Station member Dan Tyminski playing both acoustic guitar and mandolin on the heartache ballad “Who’s Lying Here” as well as performing on “What If You Loved Me”, which also features vocals, guitar and banjo from newgrass virtuoso Molly Tuttle.

Other highlights include Pearce’s hit Riley Green collaboration “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay”, a clever duet about a struggling situationship, and “He Don’t Like My Dogs”, a feisty, relatable rejoinder to the kind of man even a dog can’t trust.

Album: Good Grief by Sara Bareilles (2026)
Genre: Pop
Format: Album

Description: Since the release of her 2019 album, Amidst the Chaos, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has kept busy: She’s starred on Broadway and on TV, brought the musical adaptation of Waitress to theatres, and picked up Emmy and Tony nominations. But she also experienced the pain of loss: Her former manager Chad Joseph died in 2020, her friend Gavin Creel passed away in 2024 and she had a frustrating experience with IVF treatments. Good Grief is a clear-eyed look at how the heartbreak caused by loss can flip a person’s world upside down.

Bareilles’ lyrics vividly depict grief and its aftershocks. The slow-blooming opening track, “Home”, which was inspired by a podcast conversation between late-night host Stephen Colbert and cable fixture Anderson Cooper, calls for honesty about sadness, while “Nervous Breakdown”, which Bareilles co-wrote with Ingrid Michaelson, matter-of-factly lays out the way anxiety can cause people to push loved ones away. Bareilles’ bell-clear voice, even when totally wracked with emotion, makes the album feel like a call for empathy wrapped in a personal statement.

Related Artists: Ingrid Michaelson, A Fine Frenzy, Colbie Caillat, Kelly Clarkson

Music Scene: Part of the Eureka, CA music scene. Emerged in the 2000s era. Associated with Pop-Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Pop, 2020s, Album

Since the release of her 2019 album, Amidst the Chaos, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has kept busy: She’s starred on Broadway and on TV, brought the musical adaptation of Waitress to theatres, and picked up Emmy and Tony nominations. But she also experienced the pain of loss: Her former manager Chad Joseph died in 2020, her friend Gavin Creel passed away in 2024 and she had a frustrating experience with IVF treatments. Good Grief is a clear-eyed look at how the heartbreak caused by loss can flip a person’s world upside down.

Bareilles’ lyrics vividly depict grief and its aftershocks. The slow-blooming opening track, “Home”, which was inspired by a podcast conversation between late-night host Stephen Colbert and cable fixture Anderson Cooper, calls for honesty about sadness, while “Nervous Breakdown”, which Bareilles co-wrote with Ingrid Michaelson, matter-of-factly lays out the way anxiety can cause people to push loved ones away. Bareilles’ bell-clear voice, even when totally wracked with emotion, makes the album feel like a call for empathy wrapped in a personal statement.

Album: Ultimate Dolly Parton by Dolly Parton (2003)
Genre: Country | Mood: Carefree
Record Label: Mercury Records
Format: Compilation

Description: Ultimate Dolly Parton is a 2003 issued digitally remastered anthology of the Country music queen's best recordings drawn from her recordings on several different labels, giving you one of the most complete overviews of this great singer/songwriter's legendary career.   The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Artist Background: Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. As a songwriter, she has composed over 3,000 songs, the best known of which include "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper for Parton, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", "9 to 5" and "My Tennessee Mountain Home". As an actress, she starr... Part of the Sevierville, Tennessee, USA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Country movement.

Related Artists: Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire

Music Scene: Part of the Sevierville, Tennessee, USA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, Carefree, 2000s, Compilation, Mercury Records

Additional Context: Rating score: 2. Based on 1 votes. Available on Discogs marketplace


Ultimate Dolly Parton is a 2003 issued digitally remastered anthology of the Country music queen's best recordings drawn from her recordings on several different labels, giving you one of the most complete overviews of this great singer/songwriter's legendary career.   The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Album: Jenius by Paul Heaton (2026)
Genre: Pop
Format: Album

Music Scene: Part of the Bromborough,England music scene. Emerged in the 1980s era. Associated with Alternative Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Pop, 2020s, Album


"The Essential Michael Jackson" showcases a masterful blend of pop, rock, and soul, characterized by its polished production and innovative arrangements. The album features a rich tapestry of instrumentation, from the punchy brass sections in "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" to the lush strings in "Human Nature." Each track is meticulously crafted, with layered harmonies and rhythmic grooves that create an infectious energy. The tempos vary, offering both upbeat dance anthems and slower, emotive ballads, all underpinned by tight, syncopated rhythms. The sonic textures are distinctively vibrant, with a dynamic range that highlights Jackson's vocal prowess and the intricate production techniques of the era, making this compilation a definitive showcase of his artistic brilliance.

Album: The Essential Michael Jackson by Michael Jackson (2005)
Genre: Pop
Record Label: Epic/Legacy
Format: album

Artist Background: Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music and dance, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1964, and began hi... Part of the Indiana, USA music scene. Emerged in the 1960s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Related Artists: The Jacksons, The Jackson 5, 3T, Janet Jackson

Music Scene: Part of the Indiana, USA music scene. Emerged in the 1960s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Pop, 2000s, album, Epic/Legacy


Album: Thrasher by Brandon Flowers (2026)
Genre: Alternative
Format: Album

Description: With The Killers, Brandon Flowers has led thousands of sing-alongs of “Mr. Brightside”, “Somebody Told Me” and other millennial anthems—but now he’s trading in stadium rock for something with a lot more twang. THRASHER, his third solo album, is a confident country project that shines a spotlight on Flowers’ long-time reverence for folk, bluegrass, mariachi and panoramic songwriting that’s drawn inspiration from the landscape of the American West for generations.

One look at the credits shows how serious he was about ensuring the authenticity of THRASHER: Folk heavyweight David Rawlings, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes, Margo Price and harmonica legend Charlie McCoy are but a few of the players who lend their voices and instruments to the eclectic album. Price and McCoy join for “One of Us”, a jovial but bittersweet tribute to his late brother-in-law; “The Red Ground” features the brassy might of Mariachi Los Camperos de Jesús Chuy Guzmán, while “Tiger’s Blood” nods to the galloping style of early Springsteen and Flowers’ own rock-star gravitas.

The lyrics of THRASHER paint several tableaus—of small-town love that fizzles (“In a Heartbeat”), of fateful choices that ruin lives (“Angel”)—but the most compelling are those that render self-portraits of Flowers, pensive and taking stock of where he’s at in his life.

He asks tough questions and invokes religion with “Miss America” (“If Jesus really suffered and paid for all this sin/Why do we still feel it again and again?”), and “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?” shares a fascination with kismet that echoes the spirit of earlier Killers hits (“Of all the corners of the universe/We wound up hand in hand”). He sings of home, and how badly he wants to return to it, throughout—and in a way, THRASHER allows him to write himself back into scenes of suburban life, before fame and the nomadic life of a touring musician took him away.

Related Artists: The Killers, One Night Only, Keane, Snow Patrol

Music Scene: Part of the Nevada, USA music scene. Emerged in the 2000s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Alternative, 2020s, Album

With The Killers, Brandon Flowers has led thousands of sing-alongs of “Mr. Brightside”, “Somebody Told Me” and other millennial anthems—but now he’s trading in stadium rock for something with a lot more twang. THRASHER, his third solo album, is a confident country project that shines a spotlight on Flowers’ long-time reverence for folk, bluegrass, mariachi and panoramic songwriting that’s drawn inspiration from the landscape of the American West for generations.

One look at the credits shows how serious he was about ensuring the authenticity of THRASHER: Folk heavyweight David Rawlings, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes, Margo Price and harmonica legend Charlie McCoy are but a few of the players who lend their voices and instruments to the eclectic album. Price and McCoy join for “One of Us”, a jovial but bittersweet tribute to his late brother-in-law; “The Red Ground” features the brassy might of Mariachi Los Camperos de Jesús Chuy Guzmán, while “Tiger’s Blood” nods to the galloping style of early Springsteen and Flowers’ own rock-star gravitas.

The lyrics of THRASHER paint several tableaus—of small-town love that fizzles (“In a Heartbeat”), of fateful choices that ruin lives (“Angel”)—but the most compelling are those that render self-portraits of Flowers, pensive and taking stock of where he’s at in his life.

He asks tough questions and invokes religion with “Miss America” (“If Jesus really suffered and paid for all this sin/Why do we still feel it again and again?”), and “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?” shares a fascination with kismet that echoes the spirit of earlier Killers hits (“Of all the corners of the universe/We wound up hand in hand”). He sings of home, and how badly he wants to return to it, throughout—and in a way, THRASHER allows him to write himself back into scenes of suburban life, before fame and the nomadic life of a touring musician took him away.

Album: you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love by Olivia Rodrigo (2026)
Record Label: Olivia Rodrigo PS
Format: Digital Media

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for folk pop, musical, pop, pop punk, pop rock

Related Artists: Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift

Music Scene: Part of the Temecula, California, USA music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Manufactured Pop style.

Tags: 2020s, Digital Media, Olivia Rodrigo PS


If Olivia Rodrigo has a superpower, it’s that, at 18, she already understands that adolescence spares no one. The heartbreak, the humiliation, the vertiginous weight of every lonesome thought and outsized feeling—none of that really leaves us, and exploring it honestly almost always makes for good pop songs. “I grew up listening to country music,” the California-born singer-songwriter (also an experienced actor and current star of Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) tells Apple Music. “And I think it’s so impactful and emotional because of how specific it is, how it really paints pictures of scenarios. I feel like a song is so much more special when you can visualise and picture it, even smell and taste all of the stuff that the songwriter's going through.” 
To listen to Rodrigo’s debut full-length is to know—on a very deep and almost uncomfortably familiar level—exactly what she was going through when she wrote it at 17. Anchored by the now-ubiquitous breakup ballad ‘drivers license’—an often harrowing, closely studied lead single that already felt like a lock for song-of-the-year honours the second it arrived in January 2021—SOUR combines the personal and universal to often devastating effect, folding diary-like candour and autobiographical detail into performances that recall the millennial pop of Taylor Swift (“favorite crime”) just as readily as the ’90s alt-rock of Elastica (“brutal”) and Alanis Morissette (“good 4 u”). It has the sound and feel of an instant classic, a Jagged Little Pill for Gen Z. 
“All the feelings that I was feeling were so intense,” Rodrigo says. “I called the record SOUR because it was this really sour period of my life—I remember being so sad, and so insecure, and so angry. I felt all those things, and they're still very real, but I'm definitely not going through that as acutely as I used to. It’s nice to go back and see what I was feeling, and be like, ‘It all turned out all right. You're okay now.’” A little older and a lot wiser, Rodrigo shares the wisdom she learned channelling all of that into one of the most memorable debut albums in ages. 
Let Your Mind Wander
“I took an AP psychology class in high school my junior year, and they said that you're the most creative when you're doing some type of menial task, because half of your brain is occupied with something and the other half is just left to roam. I find that I come up with really good ideas when I'm driving for that same reason. I actually wrote the first verse and some of the chorus of ‘enough for you’ going on a walk around my neighbourhood; I got the idea for ‘good 4 u’ in the shower. I think taking time to be out of the studio and to live your life is as productive—if not more—than just sitting in a room with your guitar trying to write songs. While making SOUR, there was maybe three weeks where I spent like six, seven days a week of 13 hours in the studio. I actually remember feeling so creatively dry, and the songs I was making weren't very good. I think that's a true testament to how productive rest can be. There's only so much you can write about when you're in the studio all day, just listening to your own stuff.” 
Trust Your Instincts
“Before I met my collaborator, producer—and co-writer in many instances—Dan Nigro, I would just write songs in my bedroom, completely by myself. So it was a little bit of a learning curve, figuring out how to collaborate with other people and stick up for your ideas and be open to other people's. Sometimes it takes you a little while to gain the confidence to really remember that your gut feelings are super valid and what makes you a special musician. I struggled for a while with writing upbeat songs just because I thought in my head that I should write about happiness or love if I wanted to write a song that people could dance to. And ‘brutal’ is actually one of my favourite songs on SOUR, but it almost didn't make it on the record. Everyone was like, ‘You make it the first [track], people might turn it off as soon as they hear it.’ I think it's a great introduction to the world of SOUR.” 
It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect
“I wrote this album when I was 17. There's sort of this feeling that goes along with putting out a record when you're that age, like, ‘Oh my god, this is not the best work that I'll ever be able to do. I could do better.’ So it was really important for me to learn that this album is a slice of my life and it doesn't have to be the best work that I'll ever do. Maybe my next record will be better, and maybe I'll grow. It's nice, I think, for listeners to go on that journey with songwriters and watch them refine their songwriting. It doesn't have to be perfect now—it’s the best that I can do when I'm 17 years old, and that's enough and that's cool in its own right.” 
Love What You Do
“I learned that I liked making songs a lot more than I like putting out songs, and that love of songwriting stayed the same for me throughout. I learned how to nurture it, instead of the, like, ‘Oh, I want to get a Top 40 hit!’-type thing. Honestly, when ‘drivers license’ came out, I was sort of worried that it was going to be the opposite and I was going to write all of my songs from the perspective of wanting it to chart. But I really just love writing songs, and I think that's a really cool position to be in.” 
Find Your People
“I feel like the purpose of ‘yes’ people in your life is to make you feel secure. But whenever I'm around people who think that everything I do is incredible, I feel so insecure for some reason; I think that everything is bad and they're just lying to me the whole time. So it's really awesome to have somebody who I really trust with me in the studio. That's Dan. He’ll tell me, ‘This is an amazing song. Let's do it.’ But I'll also play him a song that I really like and he’ll say, ‘You know what, I don't think this is your best song. I think you can write a better one.’ There's something so empowering and something so cool about that, about surrounding yourself with people who care enough about you to tell you when you can do better. Being a songwriter is sort of strange in that I feel like I've written songs and said things, told people secrets through my songs that I don't even tell some people that I hang out with all the time. It's a sort of really super mega vulnerable thing to do. But then again, it's the people around me who really love me and care for me who gave me the confidence to sort of do that and show who I really am.” 
You Really Never Know
“To me, ‘drivers license’ was never one of those songs that I would think: ‘It's a hit song.’ It's just a little slice of my heart, this really sad song. It was really cool for me to see evidence of how authenticity and vulnerability really connect with people. And everyone always says that, but you really never know. So many grown men will come up to me and be like, ‘Yo, I'm happily married with three kids, but that song brought me back to my high school breakup.’ Which is so cool, to be able to affect not only people who are going through the same thing as you, but to bring them back to a time where they were going through the same thing as you are. That's just surreal, a songwriter's dream.”

Album: Visitor by Sienna Spiro (2026)
Genre: Pop | Mood: Smooth
Record Label: Capitol Records
Format: Album

Music Scene: Emerged in the contemporary era.

Tags: Pop, Smooth, 2020s, Album, Capitol Records


"The Art of Loving" envelops listeners in a lush soundscape, characterized by its warm, analog production that seamlessly blends contemporary R&B with vintage soul influences. The instrumentation is rich and varied, featuring smooth electric piano, subtle strings, and crisp percussion that create a dynamic yet intimate atmosphere. Each track oscillates between mid-tempo grooves and slower ballads, allowing for a fluid exploration of emotion. The textures are layered, with Dean's velvety vocals weaving through harmonies that evoke a sense of nostalgia. Distinctive for its organic feel, the album captures the essence of love in all its complexities, making each song resonate deeply while maintaining an inviting, polished finish.

Album: The Art of Loving by Olivia Dean (2025)
Format: Album

Artist Background: Olivia Lauryn Dean (born 14 March 1999) is an English singer. She began her career working in collaboration with Rudimental. She was named Amazon Music's 2021 breakthrough artist of the year and recorded an exclusive version of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" for Amazon's 2021 Christmas Originals line-up, which charted at number 19 in the UK singles chart Part of the Greater London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era.

Related Artists: Nectar Woode, Joy Crookes, Joesef, Eloïse

Music Scene: Part of the Greater London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era.

Tags: 2020s, Album


By her own admission, Olivia Dean is an “extreme perfectionist”. But, one day while making her debut album, the London singer-songwriter found herself mumbling the word “messy” over and over again while playing her guitar—and unlocked something lighter within herself. “I just loved the idea of flipping ‘messy’ from being a negative word into this beautiful thing,” she tells Apple Music. “I applied that to finishing the album and it was like, ‘We’re going to keep me laughing in there’ or, ‘The piano doesn’t have to exactly be in time on that part.’ I think in an age where everybody is pretending that their life is amazing, it’s really refreshing to be like, ‘My life’s a mess. And your life’s probably a mess too.’ But that’s fine: That’s the spice of life.” 

The aptly titled Messy is a sublime debut—that “messy approach” lending it a warm, immediate feeling that often makes listening feel like you’re right inside it. The album houses the soulful, jazz-inflected, old-soul songwriting and made-for-summer-days pop that Dean has built her name on: “In the studio I’d say, ‘Can you do this one a bit more like you just had the best day of your life, but suddenly the sun is setting?’” she says. There are sculptural, string-laden ballads (“No Man”), loose instrumental moments (such as on “Ladies Room” and “Getting There”) and intimate confessionals on her mental health (“Everybody’s Crazy”) or watching an ex thrive without her (“Dangerously Easy”). It’s all anchored by Dean’s effortless vocals, and the album presents as an irresistible series of vignettes set everywhere from the girls’ bathroom at a pub to her imaginary flower shop in South London (“I Could Be a Florist”) and home, on the exquisite “Carmen”—a jubilant tribute to her grandmother who came to the UK as part of the Windrush generation. Here, Dean takes us inside Messy, one track at a time. 

“UFO”
“I thought it was the perfect opener because it’s like, ‘Hello, everyone. You’re about to go on a journey with this shy alien who is trying to find a place to land herself. Come along.’ This was one of the earliest songs we wrote for the record—it started out as a joke, as a lot of our songs tend to. [Producer] Matt [Hales] and I were having a cup of tea, and I said, ‘It’s a bit of a sexy problem.’ He thought it was hilarious. We went back to the studio, and I was talking about Nick Drake and how I liked the guitar style of his songs. The song was written really quickly and I listened to it 20 times that evening, like, ‘This is it.’”

“Dive”
“I love the drama, and my karaoke song is ‘I Will Survive’ by Gloria Gaynor so I knew I wanted to have [an intro like that] on my record. I wrote this on a really sunny day in London and was talking about how I was ready to fall in love again and feeling open to it. We were thinking about Aretha Franklin and Carole King and all the chords that they use to make your heart feel like you’re flying on a cloud. This one took the longest to finish—because I knew it was good, that it could be an important song, that it was special. It might sound carefree but a lot of work went into it. I was working on it for a year.”

“Ladies Room”
“I was in my local pub in the girls’ bathroom and this lady said something like, ‘Girls, never go out with a man 20 years your senior.’ Then he called her and she was like, ‘I don’t want to go home but I’ve got to leave.’ I thought that was a brilliant start to a song because I’ve had that before. When I was a little younger and not as independent as I am now, [I] was in, to put it frankly, more toxic relationships. I would have gone home if my boyfriend was like, ‘Stay in with me,’ so I needed to write a song that was like, ‘Do whatever you want to do.’ The rest of it was inspired by Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up’ and how that party sound goes throughout it.”

“No Man”
“Originally this had loads of instrumentation. It was dense, with crazy drums, and I realised I wasn’t doing justice to what I was singing about, which was quite sad and vulnerable. I wanted it to feel quite [James] Bond-y, but I was also listening to a lot of Mac Miller’s Circles. I don’t want to talk about the subject matter too intensely—I feel people can get the vibe of what it’s about.” 

“Dangerously Easy”
“This one is about seeing somebody you loved doing really well without you and feeling like, ‘How are they making it look so easy? Why are you so fine without me?’ But it’s not an angry song—it’s very amicable. Some of my favourite lyrics on this record are in this song. It’s got this kind of ‘Redbone’-y bassline in the bridge and I love it. The one feels quite old school to me.”

“Getting There (Interlude)”
“This was always just on the end of ‘Dangerously Easy’, but I thought, ‘She’s got legs. She can be her own song.’ When we were recording the last bits to the album, I said to the band [Dean made the record with her live band], ‘When we get to the end, just go for it.’ It was the first take of what we did.”

“Danger”
“At first I thought, ‘I can’t have two songs on the same album with “danger” in. That’s not allowed.’ And then I was like, ‘Anything’s allowed.’ I had been wanting to write something fun because I’d been writing a lot of sad music. I had this complex of, ‘If something’s fun and simple then it can’t be good.’ Actually, yes, it can. I think of some songs as Tangfastics—they’re just fun sweeties that you love. And other songs are like sad muesli. You’ve got to have it, it’s good for you, but it’s not the most exciting. I definitely wanted to play with lovers rock and bossa nova, because I grew up listening to a lot of that stuff. It’s also just a classic Olivia Dean song: I will fall in love with you, but not quite.”

“The Hardest Part”
“She’s an oldie but she had to be on the album because I think this song has been very defining for me. It was written at a time when I was very sad and was trying to process letting go of a relationship that I thought was it for me—as you do when you’re young and in love. I was so invested, but had this epiphany: ‘You are not a good person for me, and I’ve changed so much, and you are not able to love the person that I’ve changed into.’ Accepting that, that’s the hardest part. I’m so proud of the lyric: ‘I was only 18/You should’ve known that I was always gonna change.’ That concept of people telling you that you’ve changed like it’s a bad thing. It’s like, ‘Yes, I have and that’s fantastic.’” 

“I Could Be a Florist”
“I went to the studio and was supposed to be finishing ‘Dive’, but I was having a little bit of an existential moment—I felt I couldn’t turn off from music. I was fantasising about how wonderful it would be to be a florist. You could make lovely bouquets for people and bring people joy and look at flowers all day and then put the closed sign on the shop door. It came super quickly—I left the demo how it was. Now, obviously when I listen to it, [I realise] it’s a love song and it’s about wanting to bring flowers to people as a metaphor for love.” 

“Messy”
“The last track I wrote for the album. I had this guitar part that I kept playing over and I just kept saying the word ‘messy’. I thought, ‘What is this song about? What am I trying to say?’ Maybe it was about a relationship being messy, but I had one of those epiphany moments, like, ‘No. It’s a song to myself. I’m writing a song to tell myself I’m allowed to be messy. Your album doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be you.’” 

“Everybody’s Crazy”
“I love this song, but it does also terrify me. It really puts me out there. As in, my heart on the line. But you have got to be brave. It’s all well and good for me to have songs like ‘Ladies Room’ where I’m like, ‘I’m an independent lady, you can’t tell me what to do,’ but obviously I go home and cry into my pillow sometimes. Let’s be real. For me, this song is a warm hug, a bowl of tomato soup, but then at the end it’s like you’re on mushrooms and suddenly the world’s opening up.”

“Carmen”
“Out of everything I’ve made, this felt like the thing I made most for me. It feels so specific to my life. I knew that I wanted to immortalise my grandmother forever, even when I’m gone and my great-grandkids are gone. That’s what music can do for someone. It was something that was very private at the beginning. It’s a song about her coming to the UK from Guyana as part of the Windrush generation. She got on a plane in 1963 and came over with her baby sister and completely changed her life. Then she had four kids, and they had kids and one of them is me.

“I wanted this to feel like a celebration because, at the time and now, there is a lot of negativity around Windrush. I thought, ‘They need a celebration.’ The way that people from that generation loved the Queen—they needed the love back and the lyric ‘Never got a jubilee’ was me giving her that. When I was writing this song, I pictured my granny sitting on a throne, steel pans are playing and everybody’s just having a great time and eating mac and cheese at her diamond jubilee. I cried when we had the steel pan player come in and record because I just think it’s the most beautiful sound in the world—for me, it’s nostalgic for a place I’ve actually never even been to, but to have that on the record was so important. I’m so proud of this song. My granny knows it exists, but she hasn’t heard it yet. I guess I’m just nervous.”

Album: DMA's by DMA's (2014)
Genre: Indie Rock
Record Label: Infectious Music
Format: EP

Description: “Usually when bands do a self-titled album later in their career, it’s like a statement, which this album is,” DMA’S guitarist Matt Mason tells Apple Music. “It’s a coming home, sonically.”

In that regard, Mason refers to the Sydney band’s fifth studio album as being for the “day-one” fans—those who fell in love with the Britpop-inspired indie anthems of the group’s 2016 debut, Hills End, and its preceding EP. “We did go on a bit of a sonic journey with the last couple of records,” admits Mason. “You can’t please everyone, but the fans I really hold close to my heart are the people who have been there from the very beginning. We definitely had [those] people in the back of our minds when we were making this album.” Here, Mason walks Apple Music through DMA’S, track by track.

“El Alamein”
“The fountain in Kings Cross is called the El Alamein Fountain. There was a Battle of El Alamein [in Egypt during World War II], and the first verse is about someone who’s at the battle. The rest of the song goes into someone who’s a bit strung out walking past the fountain in Kings Cross, who could potentially be the grandson of the person who was at the battle, going through their own kind of mental battle. It’s like this intergenerational story.”

“My Baby’s Place”
“It’s about someone longing for a relationship, and it can be really difficult. But the chorus is about someone who’s finally found that, and it’s like, ‘I don’t want to be here. Fuck everyone, I’m going to my baby’s place.’ So the verse is, ‘I want something,’ and then the chorus is, ‘I’ve got it. Screw everyone, I’m going to my baby’s place.’”

“Hurracane”
“There are a few song titles that are spelt wrong on the album. When you’re coming up with a working title and you type in something a bit silly, you’ll be like, ‘I’ll fix it later.’ And then it kind of grows on me. ‘Hurracane’ is an interpolation of a dance song that charted in Belgium, and the chorus is borrowed from that. The song is about someone’s house getting repossessed, and using the hurricane destroying the house as a metaphor.”

“Killing Time”
“There are three verses and they’re repeated. The lyrics were written really quickly in the writing session with Styalz Fuego. And we went back to rewrite the lyrics and [our A&R] at Sony was like, ‘These new lyrics don’t feel the same. We need to keep the original demo lyrics, even though they don’t mean that much.’ There’s not that much to it. It’s kind of just keep a good vibe going.”

“Heatin Park”
“This is another one of those working titles that stuck. We had this [chorus] and were like, ‘Fuck, it sounds a bit like LINKIN PARK.’ The verses are from a completely different time, a really old session, and we ended up putting those two together. We’ve played a few shows at Heaton Park, that’s a Manchester legacy venue. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny just to call it “Heatin Park”, but with an ‘i’ as a reference to LINKIN PARK?’”

“Emailz”
“This one is about having families and where we’re at and having to make sacrifices. Back in the day, we’d get to go on a month-long party [touring]. Now, you can’t wait to get home and you’re feeling a bit guilty about being away.”

“One & Only”
“We used an AI stem splitter to take the lead vocal from a very old demo because we couldn’t recreate the magic that Tommy [O’Dell, vocals] originally sung. And then we stretched it to fit into the new recording. That’s an interesting part of the conversation of AI—the generative side of it’s ugly, but the extracting of unusable old music is a less talked about benefit.”

“Dancing Luck”
“Probably the most over-the-top production song we did. We really tried to strip a lot of it back with this record to give it that 2016 DMA’S kind of sound. But we went a bit hard with the production on ‘Dancing Luck’.”

“Concrete”
“I was listening to a lot of ’80s Manchester music, and this song was inspired by that. The song is about [how] we’re all spinning around a star. We’re all touching concrete. We’re all in this together. We all need to band together to fix everything.”

“Windows”
“When I showed it to my wife, she was like, ‘What is this song about?’ And I was like, ‘I wish I was with someone else and this relationship sucks.’ And she was like, ‘You’re all married and in long-term relationships! Why would you write this?’ [Laughs] I do need to preface this by saying that we are all in happy relationships and no one feels this way about their significant other. But it is a song about someone who is in a relationship that wants to get out of it.”

“Distance”
“This song is again about how touring is less of a boys’ trip now. And more of just like, ‘Is everything all right back home?’ Even though we love touring, we try and keep it as succinct as we can so that we can get back to our responsibilities here. So it’s kind of about distance.”

Related Artists: The Sherlocks, Spacey Jane, The Snuts, Blossoms

Music Scene: Part of the Sydney, Australia music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Indie Rock, 2010s, EP, Infectious Music

“Usually when bands do a self-titled album later in their career, it’s like a statement, which this album is,” DMA’S guitarist Matt Mason tells Apple Music. “It’s a coming home, sonically.”

In that regard, Mason refers to the Sydney band’s fifth studio album as being for the “day-one” fans—those who fell in love with the Britpop-inspired indie anthems of the group’s 2016 debut, Hills End, and its preceding EP. “We did go on a bit of a sonic journey with the last couple of records,” admits Mason. “You can’t please everyone, but the fans I really hold close to my heart are the people who have been there from the very beginning. We definitely had [those] people in the back of our minds when we were making this album.” Here, Mason walks Apple Music through DMA’S, track by track.

“El Alamein”
“The fountain in Kings Cross is called the El Alamein Fountain. There was a Battle of El Alamein [in Egypt during World War II], and the first verse is about someone who’s at the battle. The rest of the song goes into someone who’s a bit strung out walking past the fountain in Kings Cross, who could potentially be the grandson of the person who was at the battle, going through their own kind of mental battle. It’s like this intergenerational story.”

“My Baby’s Place”
“It’s about someone longing for a relationship, and it can be really difficult. But the chorus is about someone who’s finally found that, and it’s like, ‘I don’t want to be here. Fuck everyone, I’m going to my baby’s place.’ So the verse is, ‘I want something,’ and then the chorus is, ‘I’ve got it. Screw everyone, I’m going to my baby’s place.’”

“Hurracane”
“There are a few song titles that are spelt wrong on the album. When you’re coming up with a working title and you type in something a bit silly, you’ll be like, ‘I’ll fix it later.’ And then it kind of grows on me. ‘Hurracane’ is an interpolation of a dance song that charted in Belgium, and the chorus is borrowed from that. The song is about someone’s house getting repossessed, and using the hurricane destroying the house as a metaphor.”

“Killing Time”
“There are three verses and they’re repeated. The lyrics were written really quickly in the writing session with Styalz Fuego. And we went back to rewrite the lyrics and [our A&R] at Sony was like, ‘These new lyrics don’t feel the same. We need to keep the original demo lyrics, even though they don’t mean that much.’ There’s not that much to it. It’s kind of just keep a good vibe going.”

“Heatin Park”
“This is another one of those working titles that stuck. We had this [chorus] and were like, ‘Fuck, it sounds a bit like LINKIN PARK.’ The verses are from a completely different time, a really old session, and we ended up putting those two together. We’ve played a few shows at Heaton Park, that’s a Manchester legacy venue. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny just to call it “Heatin Park”, but with an ‘i’ as a reference to LINKIN PARK?’”

“Emailz”
“This one is about having families and where we’re at and having to make sacrifices. Back in the day, we’d get to go on a month-long party [touring]. Now, you can’t wait to get home and you’re feeling a bit guilty about being away.”

“One & Only”
“We used an AI stem splitter to take the lead vocal from a very old demo because we couldn’t recreate the magic that Tommy [O’Dell, vocals] originally sung. And then we stretched it to fit into the new recording. That’s an interesting part of the conversation of AI—the generative side of it’s ugly, but the extracting of unusable old music is a less talked about benefit.”

“Dancing Luck”
“Probably the most over-the-top production song we did. We really tried to strip a lot of it back with this record to give it that 2016 DMA’S kind of sound. But we went a bit hard with the production on ‘Dancing Luck’.”

“Concrete”
“I was listening to a lot of ’80s Manchester music, and this song was inspired by that. The song is about [how] we’re all spinning around a star. We’re all touching concrete. We’re all in this together. We all need to band together to fix everything.”

“Windows”
“When I showed it to my wife, she was like, ‘What is this song about?’ And I was like, ‘I wish I was with someone else and this relationship sucks.’ And she was like, ‘You’re all married and in long-term relationships! Why would you write this?’ [Laughs] I do need to preface this by saying that we are all in happy relationships and no one feels this way about their significant other. But it is a song about someone who is in a relationship that wants to get out of it.”

“Distance”
“This song is again about how touring is less of a boys’ trip now. And more of just like, ‘Is everything all right back home?’ Even though we love touring, we try and keep it as succinct as we can so that we can get back to our responsibilities here. So it’s kind of about distance.”

"The Highlights (Deluxe)" showcases a masterful blend of atmospheric synths and pulsating basslines, enveloping listeners in a rich sonic landscape. The production is polished and layered, with shimmering electronic textures that create a sense of depth and intimacy. Upbeat tracks feature driving tempos and infectious hooks, while slower ballads evoke a haunting vulnerability, marked by ethereal vocal harmonies. The interplay between lush instrumentation and minimalist beats adds a dynamic tension, allowing for moments of both euphoria and introspection. Distinctive for its seamless transitions and cohesive sound palette, the album captures a modern pop aesthetic while maintaining an emotional resonance that lingers long after the final note.

Album: The Highlights (Deluxe) by The Weeknd (2024)
Genre: R&B/Soul
Record Label: Universal Republic Records
Format: album

Artist Background: Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian R&B recording artist and record producer from Toronto, Ontario. He began recording songs under the stage name The Weeknd and uploading them to YouTube in late 2010, though his identity was initially unknown. In March 2011, The Weeknd released a nine-song free album, House of Balloons, which was critically acclaimed. The title track is based on a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit single "Happ... Part of the Toronto, Canada music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with R&B movement. Known for Urban/R&B style.

Related Artists: Tory Lanez, Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Don Toliver

Music Scene: Part of the Toronto, Canada music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with R&B movement. Known for Urban/R&B style.

Tags: R&B/Soul, 2020s, album, Universal Republic Records


Album: 50 Years – Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac
Genre: blues
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records
Format: CD

Artist Background: Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London. The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood. Despite band founder Peter Green naming the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Fleetwood, McVie) from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie played neither on their first single nor at their first concerts. The keyboardist, Christine McVie, who joined the band in 1970 while married to John McVie, a... Part of the London, England music scene. Emerged in the 1960s era. Associated with Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Musical Influences: Bob Brunning, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood

Related Artists: Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Heart, Eagles

Music Scene: Part of the London, England music scene. Emerged in the 1960s era. Associated with Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: blues, CD, Warner Bros. Records


Album: Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers (2026)
Genre: Alternative
Record Label: Dead Oceans
Format: Cassette

Description: By her second solo album, 2020’s Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers had established her own distinct sound and worldview—self-aware and specific, wryly funny, slightly morbid, keenly attuned to all things apocalyptic. The California native had broken through in 2017 with Stranger in the Alps and its bittersweet banger “Motion Sickness”. But with Punisher, Bridgers entered the running for the voice of her generation (or at least a voice of a generation), imprinting the pop landscape with her mix of wit and pathos.

The six-year stretch between that album and its long-awaited follow-up might suggest that Bridgers made like the ghost on the Strangers album cover and disappeared, spooked by the windfall of acclaim. In fact, the serial collaborator kept impressively busy: releasing a dystopian concept album with Conor Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center; recording with SZA, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney; clinching three Grammys with her indie supergroup, boygenius, alongside Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. But if the strict “no phones” policy at Bridgers’ 2026 pop-up shows is any indication, life as an era-defining musician has come at a price.

On her third album, Lost Weekend, Bridgers pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s been behind the scenes in her own elliptically intimate way. With her typically double-tracked vocals obscured by vocoder, “The Outside” cycles through vignettes from her recent past—crowd-surfing at a festival, punching a wall, crying at her father’s funeral, dissociating throughout. Experimental sound design enhances feelings of grief and confusion, or drowns folksy instrumentation (acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin) in swirling synths or washes of feedback.

Joining the roster of long-time collaborators (Ethan Gruska, Tony Berg, Christian Lee Hutson, Marshall Vore) are Jack Antonoff, Maya Hawke and Bridgers’ partner Bo Burnham. But the sensibility is Bridgers’ own, as are the stories, which mainly revolve around three men—her late father, an ex-fiancé and a new love known here as Bobby.

Much speculation will unfold over the latter two (as well as the shots fired on “The Governor’s Waltz”), but Bridgers’ storytelling transcends gossipy details. “Still Standing” is shaded by dark family memories; “Lost Weekend” gestures to a called-off engagement; lead single “Lost Boys” is a deceptively bright ode to men with Peter Pan syndrome, with fingerpicked guitar, breezy trumpets à la “Kyoto”, and her catchiest hook yet (“Never grow up, never grow old”). And between the grief and heartbreak are glimmers of hope, as she concludes on “Lost Weekend (Reprise)”: “We’re gonna be all right/Me and you.”

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for alternative folk, chamber pop, christmas music, contemporary folk, folk

Related Artists: boygenius, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, Better Oblivion Community Center

Music Scene: Part of the Pasadena, California, USA music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Folk movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Alternative, 2020s, Cassette, Dead Oceans

By her second solo album, 2020’s Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers had established her own distinct sound and worldview—self-aware and specific, wryly funny, slightly morbid, keenly attuned to all things apocalyptic. The California native had broken through in 2017 with Stranger in the Alps and its bittersweet banger “Motion Sickness”. But with Punisher, Bridgers entered the running for the voice of her generation (or at least a voice of a generation), imprinting the pop landscape with her mix of wit and pathos.

The six-year stretch between that album and its long-awaited follow-up might suggest that Bridgers made like the ghost on the Strangers album cover and disappeared, spooked by the windfall of acclaim. In fact, the serial collaborator kept impressively busy: releasing a dystopian concept album with Conor Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center; recording with SZA, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney; clinching three Grammys with her indie supergroup, boygenius, alongside Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. But if the strict “no phones” policy at Bridgers’ 2026 pop-up shows is any indication, life as an era-defining musician has come at a price.

On her third album, Lost Weekend, Bridgers pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s been behind the scenes in her own elliptically intimate way. With her typically double-tracked vocals obscured by vocoder, “The Outside” cycles through vignettes from her recent past—crowd-surfing at a festival, punching a wall, crying at her father’s funeral, dissociating throughout. Experimental sound design enhances feelings of grief and confusion, or drowns folksy instrumentation (acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin) in swirling synths or washes of feedback.

Joining the roster of long-time collaborators (Ethan Gruska, Tony Berg, Christian Lee Hutson, Marshall Vore) are Jack Antonoff, Maya Hawke and Bridgers’ partner Bo Burnham. But the sensibility is Bridgers’ own, as are the stories, which mainly revolve around three men—her late father, an ex-fiancé and a new love known here as Bobby.

Much speculation will unfold over the latter two (as well as the shots fired on “The Governor’s Waltz”), but Bridgers’ storytelling transcends gossipy details. “Still Standing” is shaded by dark family memories; “Lost Weekend” gestures to a called-off engagement; lead single “Lost Boys” is a deceptively bright ode to men with Peter Pan syndrome, with fingerpicked guitar, breezy trumpets à la “Kyoto”, and her catchiest hook yet (“Never grow up, never grow old”). And between the grief and heartbreak are glimmers of hope, as she concludes on “Lost Weekend (Reprise)”: “We’re gonna be all right/Me and you.”

Album: petal by Ariana Grande (2026)
Record Label: Republic Records
Format: 12" Vinyl

Description: store exclusive, gray girl vinyl

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for contemporary r&b, dance-pop, pop, r&b, trap soul

Musical Influences: Edward Butera, Joan Grande, Frankie Grande

Related Artists: Sabrina Carpenter, Madison Beer, Cynthia Erivo, SZA

Music Scene: Part of the Boca Raton, Florida music scene. Emerged in the 2000s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Urban/R&B style.

Tags: 2020s, 12" Vinyl, Republic Records


Album: The Great Divide by Noah Kahan (2026)
Format: Album

Related Artists: Hozier, The Lumineers, Caamp

Music Scene: Part of the Strafford, Vermont, U.S. music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: 2020s, Album


“I describe this album as like I’m in the shower and I’m half yelling at the shower head and pretending it’s whoever I want to talk to and taking responsibility or throwing blame, like those conversations that you wish you could have with people but have never been able to,” Noah Kahan tells Apple Music of his fourth album The Great Divide.

Underneath Kahan’s trademark folksy veneer lies an urgent, high-stakes reckoning. Following the breakthrough success of 2022’s Stick Season, the Vermont-native singer-songwriter was left to assess the impact—not just on himself, but on those closest to him. “My life hasn’t just gone away and the impact of the music I made and the person I’ve become doesn’t just escape from these people just because they haven’t been living out on the road with me,” he says.

With a few new collaborators in tow, including Aaron Dessner (“I felt very lost and I kind of just like trauma-dumped on him and he took it so well,” Kahan says) and pop whisperer Amy Allen (who’s written for the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo), Kahan weaves through the highs and lows of returning home again. 

Kahan also marks a big distinction between his last album and this one, mirroring his own growth. “Stick Season is like doing shrooms and thinking you understand the entire world, and The Great Divide is like three months later: ‘That was great and that was helpful, but there’s a lot more we gotta figure out still,’” he says. “He’ll do some shrooms with you, but he’s not going to pretend like it’s going to change his life. He’s not going to become a kayak guide somewhere. He has to go to work in the morning.” Below, Kahan takes us through four key tracks in his own words:

“End of August”
“I wanted to create a scene that just felt like late summer in Vermont or in a small town where there’s just that total quiet and you can almost hear music in the air. One thing that my family and I have in Vermont is, like, I walk through the woods and the woods are haunted, but not by mean spirits. We’ve all individually said, ‘Oh, I heard voices in the woods,’ and when I was writing that, I wanted it to feel like what those voices would sing if you were just like walking through the woods or driving past the woods in Vermont.”

“23”
“The song itself is not based on a story of my life, but based on a lot of friendships I have with people who have family members who are struggling with addiction or who have siblings who they can’t connect to. It’s that feeling of ‘I want you back, but I don’t want this version of you back’ and ‘I want that moment when we were sitting over the car hood and you were showing me how the engine worked and everything was normal’. And so seeing who you are now betrays this version of you that I really want you to be in this memory I have of you. It’s a little selfish, because it’s like you’re asking someone to change for you, but it’s that kind of childlike innocent hope that someday we’ll just be exactly where we were.”

“Porch Light”
“I always worried that my mom felt or my family felt like I wasn’t myself anymore and that I was just some ghoul that would come in to extrapolate further success or further emotion for my own gain. The truth is my mom never felt that way. She always felt she always showed me love and showed me patience and understood the gravity of what I was going through. I wanted that hope to be in there, like, ‘I’ll leave the porch light on for you.’”

“Dan”
“There’s a few lines in the album that I feel like speak to that present feeling of, like, you’re already there. Like, heaven is a drink in the backyard. Like, where do we go when we die? I wouldn’t mind if it was right here. I wouldn’t mind if I was sitting by the fire with my buddy, or even lost in the woods, or even in a moment of, like, there’s something scary happening but you’re with this person and you’re experiencing this together in the same exact way.”

Album: The Ones That Got the Plays by Katy Perry (2026)
Record Label: Capitol Records
Format: Digital Media

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for bubblegum pop, dance-pop, disco, electropop, pop

Related Artists: Rihanna, Bebe Rexha, Dua Lipa, Ava Max

Music Scene: Part of the Santa Barbara, California, USA music scene. Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: 2020s, Digital Media, Capitol Records


"+-=÷× (Tour Collection: Live)" captures the raw energy of Ed Sheeran's live performances with a vibrant mix of acoustic and electronic elements. The production is polished yet retains an organic feel, emphasizing the warmth of guitar strumming and the crispness of layered vocal harmonies. Upbeat tempos drive tracks forward, creating an infectious energy that resonates with the audience. The instrumentation blends traditional folk sounds with subtle electronic beats, enhancing the rhythmic complexity without overshadowing the lyrical intimacy. Distinctive textures emerge through the use of looping techniques and ambient soundscapes, creating an immersive listening experience that bridges the gap between studio precision and live spontaneity.

Album: +-=÷× (Tour Collection: Live) by Ed Sheeran (2024)
Genre: Pop
Record Label: Atlantic Records UK
Format: album

Artist Background: Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was born in Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He dropped out of school at 16, and moved to London the following year, in 2008, to pursue a career in music. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (... Part of the Halifax, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Related Artists: Lewis Capaldi, James Arthur, Shawn Mendes, Calum Scott

Music Scene: Part of the Halifax, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Pop, 2020s, album, Atlantic Records UK


Album: What Are The Odds by Jorja Smith (2026)
Genre: Dance
Format: Album

Description: Jorja Smith flirted with dance music in the earliest days of her career, lending her distinctive, smoky-toned vocals to 2017’s club-oriented Preditah collaboration “On My Mind”. Since then, she’s generally stayed closer to the R&B and soul-pop sound which earned her a BRIT Award in 2019. On What Are the Odds, the Midlands-born singer-songwriter’s third studio album, Smith makes a full commitment to the dance floor.

Produced by P2J—whose prolific output includes work for Beyoncé, Stormzy, Wizkid and more—What Are the Odds carves out a natural lane for Smith, somewhere between garage and Afro-house. “This City” pairs her with UK rapper Devlin on an urgent plea for understanding, delivered over thumping breakbeats; the frenetic percussion anchoring “Make It Your Home” sets a relentless pace at thrilling odds with Smith’s languid vocals; while an evocative saxophone motif adds a bluesy air of wistfulness to the skittering drum ’n’ bass flavour of “I Lied, You Lied”. 

The undeniable standout is “Dancing”, with its propulsive hip-house beat, elastic bassline and irresistibly catchy “La la la la” hook. It’s often a gamble when artists experiment with new sounds—with What Are the Odds, Smith hits the jackpot.

Related Artists: Mahalia, Pip Millett, Snoh Aalegra, Tems

Music Scene: Part of the West Midlands, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with R&B movement.

Tags: Dance, 2020s, Album

Jorja Smith flirted with dance music in the earliest days of her career, lending her distinctive, smoky-toned vocals to 2017’s club-oriented Preditah collaboration “On My Mind”. Since then, she’s generally stayed closer to the R&B and soul-pop sound which earned her a BRIT Award in 2019. On What Are the Odds, the Midlands-born singer-songwriter’s third studio album, Smith makes a full commitment to the dance floor.

Produced by P2J—whose prolific output includes work for Beyoncé, Stormzy, Wizkid and more—What Are the Odds carves out a natural lane for Smith, somewhere between garage and Afro-house. “This City” pairs her with UK rapper Devlin on an urgent plea for understanding, delivered over thumping breakbeats; the frenetic percussion anchoring “Make It Your Home” sets a relentless pace at thrilling odds with Smith’s languid vocals; while an evocative saxophone motif adds a bluesy air of wistfulness to the skittering drum ’n’ bass flavour of “I Lied, You Lied”. 

The undeniable standout is “Dancing”, with its propulsive hip-house beat, elastic bassline and irresistibly catchy “La la la la” hook. It’s often a gamble when artists experiment with new sounds—with What Are the Odds, Smith hits the jackpot.

"Papercuts" by Linkin Park (2024) revisits the band's signature blend of nu-metal and alternative rock, weaving together intense guitar riffs with electronic elements. The production is polished yet retains a raw edge, characteristic of their earlier works. Tracks like "Crawling" and "In the End" feature driving rhythms and layered textures, while "Numb" and "Breaking the Habit" offer a more introspective, melodic approach. The album balances high-energy anthems like "Bleed It Out" with the atmospheric depth of "Castle of Glass" and "One More Light." The use of dynamic shifts and contrasting tempos creates a compelling sonic journey, maintaining the emotional intensity and lyrical depth that define Linkin Park's enduring appeal.

Album: Papercuts by Linkin Park (2024)
Format: Compilation

Artist Background: Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries. Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band ... Part of the California, USA music scene. Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Alternative Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Related Artists: Mike Shinoda, Dead By Sunrise, Grey Daze, Dead Sara

Music Scene: Part of the California, USA music scene. Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Alternative Rock movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: 2020s, Compilation


Album: Hazel Eyes by Sam Smith (2026)
Genre: Pop
Format: Album

Description: So much has changed for Sam Smith since “Latch”, the 2012 collaboration with Disclosure that introduced their cloud-grazing tenor to the world. They’ve collected Grammys (for the anthemic ballad “Stay with Me” in 2015) and an Oscar (for James Bond theme “Writing’s on the Wall” in 2016); they came out as non-binary in 2019, fell madly in love and got engaged. But it was 2022’s “Unholy”, the chart-topping duet with Kim Petras, that released Smith’s inhibitions and allowed them to make Hazel Eyes, their fifth—and most “freed”—album.

“It felt like a really messy birth—musically,” Smith tells Apple Music of the epiphany brought on by “Unholy” and Gloria, their subsequent album. “Hazel Eyes is the next reaction after that: I was like, ‘Oh wow, I can now sing my song, and I can now really do what I want to do.’ It just made me feel safe to be myself.”

Yet Hazel Eyes sounds nothing like their expansive hit. Acoustic strums, melodies carried by single piano notes or lingering electric guitar, soft voices building into the joyous sound of a choir—they’re all in the mix of this 12-song testament to Smith’s capacity for love. Their voice remains potent and pure, whether they’re belting out a declaration of adoration (“My Guy”), delighting in doo-wop (“Sugar Rush”), or singing sotto voce with tear-jerking closer “To Be Free”.

“There is love woven through the whole thing,” they say. “Queer love, non-binary love; for me, I never saw that on the global world stage. And so, I wanted this album to feel a little bit old-world. And I am openly in love in the world on this planet, dressed in this old, beautiful, timeless but kind of dramatically timeless [sound].”

Smith credits their “beautiful little safe bubble” of collaborators—namely producer Simon Aldred, a long-time friend and mentor—and the first gay men Smith met in the industry with giving them the space to reach new vulnerability while writing about navigating romantic relationships. They are happily planning their forever with their fiancé, but that doesn’t mean that Hazel Eyes is without tension or pain.

“Thief”, a smouldering confrontation that hints at a betrayal in a long-distance relationship, had Smith facing one of their biggest challenges—and breakthroughs—as an artist to date.

“For me, the hardest part is to capture the love in the darkness, because there’s hard moments in a relationship that are painful, and they don’t feel like love,” they say. “I wasn’t going to put ‘Thief’ on the album. It was a very intense writing session, quite numbing. But immediately after I wrote that song, I needed relief: I was like, ‘Some shit has gone down, but I’m still in love and happy.’ That’s when we wrote ‘Love Is a Stillness’. That recording on the album is the actual recording of that moment after writing ‘Thief’ in my garage. Out of this horribly dark storm, we captured the first ray of sunlight. That, to me, is love.”

This was one of Hazel Eyes’s most enduring lessons for Smith: Nothing good ever comes easy, be it a love that lasts or a song that strikes a chord. “I thought that when I fell in love, I wouldn’t be able to access sadness, melancholy, all of the good stuff that I love in music a lot of the time,” they say. “I can capture it more intensely, actually, now because now I think I feel deeper things through love than I did before. I thought everything had to be perfect, but it’s actually just working through hard things with someone. When you reach the other side, there’s just nothing like it.”

Related Artists: Jessie J, Calum Scott, Lewis Capaldi, Adele

Music Scene: Part of the London, England music scene. Emerged in the 2000s era. Associated with Soul movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: Pop, 2020s, Album

So much has changed for Sam Smith since “Latch”, the 2012 collaboration with Disclosure that introduced their cloud-grazing tenor to the world. They’ve collected Grammys (for the anthemic ballad “Stay with Me” in 2015) and an Oscar (for James Bond theme “Writing’s on the Wall” in 2016); they came out as non-binary in 2019, fell madly in love and got engaged. But it was 2022’s “Unholy”, the chart-topping duet with Kim Petras, that released Smith’s inhibitions and allowed them to make Hazel Eyes, their fifth—and most “freed”—album.

“It felt like a really messy birth—musically,” Smith tells Apple Music of the epiphany brought on by “Unholy” and Gloria, their subsequent album. “Hazel Eyes is the next reaction after that: I was like, ‘Oh wow, I can now sing my song, and I can now really do what I want to do.’ It just made me feel safe to be myself.”

Yet Hazel Eyes sounds nothing like their expansive hit. Acoustic strums, melodies carried by single piano notes or lingering electric guitar, soft voices building into the joyous sound of a choir—they’re all in the mix of this 12-song testament to Smith’s capacity for love. Their voice remains potent and pure, whether they’re belting out a declaration of adoration (“My Guy”), delighting in doo-wop (“Sugar Rush”), or singing sotto voce with tear-jerking closer “To Be Free”.

“There is love woven through the whole thing,” they say. “Queer love, non-binary love; for me, I never saw that on the global world stage. And so, I wanted this album to feel a little bit old-world. And I am openly in love in the world on this planet, dressed in this old, beautiful, timeless but kind of dramatically timeless [sound].”

Smith credits their “beautiful little safe bubble” of collaborators—namely producer Simon Aldred, a long-time friend and mentor—and the first gay men Smith met in the industry with giving them the space to reach new vulnerability while writing about navigating romantic relationships. They are happily planning their forever with their fiancé, but that doesn’t mean that Hazel Eyes is without tension or pain.

“Thief”, a smouldering confrontation that hints at a betrayal in a long-distance relationship, had Smith facing one of their biggest challenges—and breakthroughs—as an artist to date.

“For me, the hardest part is to capture the love in the darkness, because there’s hard moments in a relationship that are painful, and they don’t feel like love,” they say. “I wasn’t going to put ‘Thief’ on the album. It was a very intense writing session, quite numbing. But immediately after I wrote that song, I needed relief: I was like, ‘Some shit has gone down, but I’m still in love and happy.’ That’s when we wrote ‘Love Is a Stillness’. That recording on the album is the actual recording of that moment after writing ‘Thief’ in my garage. Out of this horribly dark storm, we captured the first ray of sunlight. That, to me, is love.”

This was one of Hazel Eyes’s most enduring lessons for Smith: Nothing good ever comes easy, be it a love that lasts or a song that strikes a chord. “I thought that when I fell in love, I wouldn’t be able to access sadness, melancholy, all of the good stuff that I love in music a lot of the time,” they say. “I can capture it more intensely, actually, now because now I think I feel deeper things through love than I did before. I thought everything had to be perfect, but it’s actually just working through hard things with someone. When you reach the other side, there’s just nothing like it.”

"Stick Season" envelops listeners in a rich tapestry of folk-pop soundscapes, characterized by its warm, organic instrumentation. The album features a blend of acoustic guitars, gentle piano melodies, and subtle strings, creating a lush backdrop that feels both intimate and expansive. The production is crisp yet earthy, allowing the natural resonance of each instrument to shine through. Kahan's vocals float effortlessly over the arrangements, imbued with a raw emotionality that enhances the lyrical depth. The tempos vary from reflective ballads to more upbeat tracks, maintaining a consistent energy that feels both grounded and uplifting. The distinctive layering of harmonies and ambient textures invites repeated listens, revealing new nuances with each spin.

Album: Stick Season by Noah Kahan (2022)
Record Label: Republic Records
Format: Album

Artist Background: Noah Kahan (born January 1, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter of folk-infused pop who signed to Republic Records in 2017. Kahan released his first single, "Young Blood" on January 27, 2017, and released four other singles over the course of 2017. His fans are known as "busyheads". Kahan made his television debut in 2018 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert performing the single "Hurt Somebody". Kahan released his debut Extended Play (EP) carrying the same name in January 2018, including... Part of the Strafford, Vermont, U.S. music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Related Artists: Hozier, The Lumineers, Caamp

Music Scene: Part of the Strafford, Vermont, U.S. music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: 2020s, Album, Republic Records


Noah Kahan’s third album, October 2022’s Stick Season, was never meant to be a full-length project. Kahan was looking to take a break from the more polished, pop-leaning writing sessions he’d been doing and found himself gravitating towards the music of his childhood. Bon Iver and James Blake were the soundtrack of his long, snowy winters in Vermont, and the term “stick season” refers to the time between autumnal splendour and the season’s first snowfall. For some, this period, with its changing leaves and trick-or-treating in New England, is idyllic. According to Kahan, it’s “super depressing”—but it was also super inspiring.

“It wasn't until I wrote the song ‘Stick Season’ after a session that I realised I was making an album,” Kahan shared with Apple Music’s Hanuman Welch. “I looked back at the rest of the tunes, and they all fit this theme about home and about isolation. Once I had three or four songs that I thought could make up an album, telling the rest of the story became very natural, and a really focused experience. I was really happy to have that narrative through line figured out early on. Those things were present before I finished, which was really nice and helpful to guide the whole process.”

Winters in New England are famously brutal. The sun vanishes, the temperatures plummet and the world slows to a crawl. Kahan is deeply familiar with this cycle of transition and rebirth, but it wasn’t until much later that he realised how deeply he was impacted by the changing of the seasons. “Every year growing up, my entire family would really, really dread winter coming,” Kahan explains. “I had the worst times in my childhood, in my life, in the wintertime. It was always something that was foreboding, and stick season, in that time between the stunning autumn in Vermont and New Hampshire, became this cold, grey, empty place.” Those experiences are the narrative thread of Stick Season, which unfolds as equal parts eulogy and exhumation—a layer-by-layer cataloguing of childhood memories, heartbreak and resentments toward the claustrophobia of small-town living.

“When I was living at home in Vermont after high school, I was super, super lonely, obviously, but also just kind of socially not developed,” he says. “And then I thought, ‘Man, I'm alone, and that's why I'm feeling all these terrible things.’ I moved to New York City and I felt just as alone there as I had in Vermont. I realised that what was going on was a lot of internal things that I needed to work out, a lot of problems that I had to work on in therapy, and also discover through writing some of the songs about this stuff. Finally, when I started singing about being alone and being out in Vermont, I felt like I could come to terms with some of those things.”

Album: ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits (40th Anniversary Edition) by ABBA
Genre: pop

Related Artists: Agnetha Fältskog, Frida, Bee Gees, Boney M.

Music Scene: Part of the Stockholm, Sweden music scene. Emerged in the 1970s era. Associated with Pop movement. Known for Rock/Pop style.

Tags: pop


Album: WILD by KATSEYE (2026)
Genre: new jack swing
Record Label: HYBE × GEFFEN
Format: CD

Description: Daniela ver.

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for dance-pop, electronic, hip hop, hip hop soul, k-pop

Music Scene: Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with K-Pop movement. Known for International style.

Tags: new jack swing, 2020s, CD, HYBE × GEFFEN


Discover Your Next Favourite Album

Trending Albums

Top Artists on Moosiqs

Gorillaz

Taylor Swift

Ghost

Chelsea Wolfe

UK Album Charts

Latest Articles

The Digital Revolution in Music: How Technology is Transforming the Industry

The Evolution of the Music Industry: Trends and Insights

Riley Green's Melbourne Concert Interrupted by Thrown Phone

Ready to Discover More Music?