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Issue #12 Features

The following features are now included in our online magazine which is also available in print.

Issue #12

Online Magazine | Print Magazine

Becky Raisman – Earth Goddesses Radiates Warmth and Growth

Becky Raisman delivers a vibrant and heartfelt statement with Earth Goddesses, an EP that blends uplifting pop with emotional sincerity. Raised in Highland Park, Illinois, and later studying at Columbia College Chicago, Raisman balances formal craft with instinctive warmth. Now based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, she channels nostalgia and reflection into shimmering hooks and layered harmonies.

Inspired in part by the emotional honesty of Degrassi: The Next Generation, her songwriting feels intimate yet universal. Echoes of Sara Bareilles and Maggie Rogers surface, but Raisman’s voice remains distinctly her own. Like Solar Power, the EP embraces optimism without naivety. Earth Goddesses ultimately stands as a confident, radiant release—thoughtful pop that feels both personal and shared.

Alexander Abreu – The Driving Force of Modern Havana

Alexander Abreu stands at the forefront of contemporary Cuban music as founder and leader of Havana D'Primera. A virtuoso trumpeter and commanding vocalist, Abreu fuses salsa, jazz, funk, and Afro-Cuban rhythms into a sound that feels orchestral yet rooted in the streets of Havana. His arrangements pulse with motion—bold brass, intricate piano montunos, and explosive rhythm sections.

Often compared to innovators like Irakere and groove giants Los Van Van, Abreu carries tradition forward without nostalgia. His lyrics chronicle daily Cuban life with grit and poetry, while Latin Grammy nominations affirm his global reach. Alongside voices such as José Alberto El Ruiseñor, Abreu proves Cuban music remains dynamic, urgent, and alive—driven by brass, rhythm, and fearless composition.

HOLY TRIGGER – Cinematic Tension on Painted

HOLY TRIGGER crafts immersive electronic soundscapes, and Painted marks a striking evolution. Created by Paris-based multimedia artist Ira Rokka, the track unfolds at a hypnotic 100 BPM, layering pulsing bass with seductive, rock-tinged vocals. Released through Taktic Music, it conjures nocturnal tension and cinematic scope.

Fans of boundary-pushing artists like Fever Ray, Gazelle Twin, and FKA twigs will recognize its dark allure, while echoes of Twin Peaks heighten its dreamlike unease. Painted feels less like a club track and more like a short film in sound—sensual, tense, and visually charged. HOLY TRIGGER transforms electronic music into atmosphere, proving sound can be both pulse and portal.

Maria Duque – A Defining Voice in Cries of Redemption

Maria Duque steps into a commanding role on This Is What It Feels Like by Cries of Redemption. What began as a feature evolves into something deeper, as Duque’s six-layered harmonies and theatrical projection reshape the band’s identity. Founded by the elusive Ed Silva, COR has long centered themes of addiction and recovery, and Duque’s performance gives those struggles visceral force.

The track’s fusion of Broadway-scale vocals with NuMetal weight invites comparisons to Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, while its emotional depth recalls White Pony by Deftones. Yet Duque carves her own space—precise, powerful, and central to COR’s evolving sound.

 

The Theos Variant – The Slow Burn of Starfall

The Theos Variant continue their measured ascent with Starfall, a track built on patience, atmosphere, and earned intensity. Centered around vocalist Dan Lentz and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Haught, the duo refine the balance they introduced on Auras (2023) and pushed further on Mechanical Organism (2024). Here, guitars swell without excess, rhythms move with restraint, and emotion unfolds gradually rather than exploding on cue.

Comparisons to Tool or Breaking Benjamin only skim the surface; the mood-driven pacing feels closer to the tension of Drive or Annihilation. Recognized by the International Songwriting Competition among others, the band remain focused on craft over momentum. Starfall rewards attention, proving that slow-building rock can still hit with lasting force.

Changxiao – Grief in the Quiet of If I Could Turn Back Time

Changxiao steps into stark vulnerability with If I Could Turn Back Time, a piano-led ballad released as part of Constell8tion’s Year Of Constell8tion campaign. Stripped to voice and piano, the song resists spectacle, allowing silence and breath to shape its emotional arc. What begins as apparent heartbreak slowly reveals itself as a meditation on sudden loss and irreversible absence.

The accompanying video deepens that reading, unfolding with the quiet devastation of a short film. Its emotional stillness recalls the restrained atmosphere of Blue Valentine, while musically it echoes the introspective balladry of JJ Lin. Changxiao’s performance bridges digital form and human grief, proving virtual artistry can carry weight when spectacle falls away.

D3PRT – The Tension Beneath You Will Never Know

D3PRT crafts music for solitary hours, and You Will Never Know captures that inward focus with precision. Built on heavy sub-bass and fractured garage rhythms, the track favors restraint over release. The groove holds back deliberately, allowing tension to gather in the negative space between percussive flickers.

Influences from UK bass culture are clear, with echoes of Burial and the stripped club ethos of Hessle Audio, yet the tone remains distinctly personal. Cinematically, it shares the nocturnal unease of Under the Skin—music that thickens the air rather than directing emotion. D3PRT avoids obvious peaks, trusting repetition and atmosphere. The result is heavy, unresolved, and quietly immersive.

William Kalmer – A Quiet Return with Graceland

William Kalmer returns with Graceland, a restrained collaboration with vocalist Audrey Karrasch. Built around intimate piano and spacious production by Edward George King, the song unfolds patiently, shaped by Kalmer’s background in film scoring.

Rather than chasing dramatic crescendos, Graceland lingers in understatement. Its emotional clarity recalls the quiet introspection of Sufjan Stevens and the cinematic restraint of Lost in Translation. Karrasch’s grounded delivery gives the track lived-in warmth, while silence becomes part of the arrangement. Kalmer’s return feels less like a comeback and more like a rediscovery of instinct—music that trusts mood over momentum and honesty over volume.

Hidden Shores – Human Feeling in the Glow of AI

Hidden Shores approaches artificial intelligence not as novelty, but as instrument. Created by a Belgium-based teacher working between classroom routine and late-night experimentation, the EP explores how machine logic and human instinct can coexist.

Inspired by the reinvention ethos of Radiohead during OK Computer and Kid A, the project reshapes familiar textures into something fragile and exploratory. Echoes of Bon Iver and James Blake surface in the blend of digital processing and emotional restraint. Rather than framing AI as threat or spectacle, Hidden Shores treats it as collaborator. The result is modest yet thought-provoking—music that asks whether algorithms can still ache, and sometimes answers yes.

Bleach Dreamer and the Art of Staying Out Too Late

 
Bleach Dreamer does not rush to introduce itself. The music arrives the way night does, gradually, when the city quiets down and the senses sharpen. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the project feels built for those hours when streetlights blur and thoughts get louder. The debut EP Even If You Care, out January 9, 2026 via Star Seeker Records, is a tight three-track statement that understands exactly what it wants to be. It is not chasing attention. It is setting a mood and trusting the listener to meet it halfway.
 
From the first moments of Paradise Cove, it is clear that Bleach Dreamer is working with contrast. There is movement, a steady pulse pulled from 80s club culture, but it is wrapped in haze. The rhythm pushes forward while the textures drift, creating that familiar feeling of dancing while emotionally somewhere else. Post-punk tension sits under the surface, not aggressive, just restless. The track feels like neon reflected in puddles, glossy and slightly sad, the kind of sound that pairs naturally with empty highways and late drives.