Music is an art that dates back centuries. It brings unity to all senses. With it, the mind can levitate to new spaces and with the help of hearing, the world around changes, emotions thrash through the soul. Music that I hold close to my heart includes both levitating voices and voices that resemble softness and yearnfulness. Such unity is a reason why music brings me joy, sadness and everything all at once.
With that, music is not a battle of the charts, it’s more of an adornment to talents and to the music itself. Whether it be rap, rock, R&B, or other genres that soothes your soul, so many artists are unknown to the general public as the industry is huge and full of differences.
Here are some artists that you should definitely give a listen to, especially if your taste is more on the indie/folk side or if you just enjoy good music.
Emily Yacina
Emily Yacina from Long Beach, California, made her debut with her full length album titled “Flood” in 2011, it’s available to buy on Bandcamp. The same year, she released her second album titled “Reverie,” also available on Bandcamp. In the following years, she made several releases on Bandcamp and still does. Her songs, dating back to 2015, are available on streaming platforms like Spotify. My ears were soothed with her song “So Easy” on her EP “Katie.” This mini album wowed me with its transcending beauty and the soft soothing vocals Emily adds to the songs. The guitar that plays in the background follows the songs perfectly, evoking a slow and peaceful/saddening feeling.
Her album released in 2019 titled “Remember the Silver” is another beautiful piece of work she has released. The track “Only” on this album and its magical/eccentric lyric “de-sexualise my soul, I wanna be a piece of paper” the peacefulness of being an inanimate object speaks to me. Her latest released work “Trick Of The Light w/ Nothing Lasts” released 2024, features two tracks including upbeat instruments with her then again, soothing and calm vocals. I hope her music can gather more attention as her talent deserves recognition.
Kara Jackson
Kara Jackson was born in Oak Park, Illinois. I discovered Kara Jackson through a YouTube video by shortest alex (you should also subscribe to him!). The start of her song “therapy” from her first full length album “Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love” caught my attention with the lyric “every man thinks I’m his f**king mother.” It’s hilarious but also serious as it shows how negligent men can be, craving therapy from their lover. I love how her voice melts through her songs, how it’s able to maintain its deep, loud (in an emphatic way) and calming nature. As poetry goes hand in hand with the minds of lyrical geniuses like her, Kara was the third U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate from 2019-2020. This title is handed out to youth who show skill in arts, preferably poetry and/or spoken word. My favorite poem from her is “the world is ending and my grandparents are still in love.” It shows how such love can exist between two individuals, how admiration is a true connection people can share.
Kara made her musical debut with her EP “A Song for Every Chamber Heart.” It deals with yearning, to my own translation, about her wanting love but not giving it or not being able to give it. Singing about love in a personal manner makes the song more beautiful. The way she creates lines of words perfectly fit for each other to describe her feelings and tell a story is even more beautiful.
In her album “Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love,” her poetic regime falls upon its listeners. She writes and then sings in a way that is eloquently crafted. Her metaphorical hints, her use of figurative language puts you in an English and music class combined. The instruments help her create conflicting feelings to her listeners, me included. Especially in the “d**khead blues” the use of her elevating vocals plus instruments that create a tranquillity and then the addition of instruments that create that boom, that conflict. Her songs are so beautifully crafted, she deserves all the praise from every species dwelling on this earth. Support her please so her craft can reach others too.
June McDoom
June McDoom is a Jamaican-American singer based in New York. She debuted with her single “The City” in 2022. This single carries angel-like vocals, slow paced. It’s blessed with the solemn sounds of instruments guiding her voice. As she talks in the bio regarding the song, she crafted this song through her own personal experiences. Family and friends included. Her combination of early soul, reggae and folk, despite these differences, it makes the song unique and so soul-filling.
June went on to release two singles in 2022 as well one titled “Stone after Stone”, the other titled “On my way.” In “Stone after Stone” , the lyric “I am a flower in a storm” carries so much beauty and metaphorical meaning behind it. It reminds me of a picture I came across on Pinterest of a flower with the saying “I am growing towards the sun, even when I’m sad.” They both touch on perseverance, using flowers as a way to show how beauty can be maintained despite hardships. Her lyrics carry such meaning, her art containing feelings of peace, conveyed through the use of instruments and vocals.
She then went on to release her EP “June McDoom” in 2022. This mini album is made up of “On My Way” and “Stone after Stone” plus three additional songs. My personal favourite on this EP is “By June.” This song reminds me of hymns sung by choir, because of the background vocals that are dragged in an angelic manner. I think this is what heaven would sound like due to the dreamlike feeling it gives me. The way this song is crafted also reminds me of mythical books set in medieval kingdoms, especially in the beginning, folk music living through her.
In her second EP “With Strings”, she incorporates the harp and strings in her already existing songs “The City” and “On My Way,” making them sound more mystical. The two other songs on this mini album ,“ Emerald River Dance” and “Black Is The Color of My True Love’s Hair”, have the harp played so beautifully in them, these tunes make me feel like a princess in a far away kingdom, getting her story narrated by an old man with an English accent. If you want to imagine like no other and hear tunes that are like songs to your ear, tune into this mini album and to her other songs. Support her talent so her mind can create much more beauty to encompass this earth.
Micah Preite
Michah Preite was born and raised in Los Angeles. His earliest work I could find was on sound cloud, releasing “Where Are The Bees” five years ago. This work of his reminds me of the tunes of the quarantine, the works of bedroom and indie pop. It contains upbeat and game-like tunes. His combination of different sounds work so cohesively, listed as “experimental pop.” The same year, he then went on to release one other track listed as “experimental pop” called “There it is a Nice Day.” It has the same mixture of different sounds that work well together. The absurdity of the background music makes the song good. The repetitive bell becomes less of a confusing component in the song to being a dire part of it in making the song what it is.
He is a very talented composer, making several soundtracks that incorporate jazz like “Cats & The Internet.” He brings out the essence of jazz in these soundtracks, letting his creative freedom run wild, using different forms of captivation like he’s used to doing, especially from his experimental pop era. These soundtracks are also available to buy and listen to on bandcamp, listed under “the smarted bear and the dumbest tourist.” All these songs sound like they’d be played in a cafe,bringing a relaxing feeling, calming yet vibrant.
In his first album “the signals licking me”, relies so beautifully on the use of the guitar, which Micah is very skilled in as a guitarist. His voice throughout his album carries this elongated crack that adds character to the songs. His latest album “Pulls So Fast” was released in 2024. This album incorporates his greatest skill, the guitar, beautiful lyrics and an amazing voice. My personal favorite is “Dr Dr.” Its upbeat manner brings out something in me as it’s different from the other songs on this album, it is much like his era of “experimental pop.” His songs are nice to listen to on a rainy day, to create a day that is calm so please give a listen. I also want to appreciate the covers on all his work, they are sometimes abstract yet meaningful, their sketch-like manner tells without saying. Please give his songs a listen!
Music is such a sophisticated presence in humanity. It can represent ridicule, love, hate and much more. Listen to the music that hides between the cracks of your streaming apps!
