The Useless Critic 2.0

I had the chance to conduct a brief email interview with the popular Finnish singer, Sansa, recently. She was a gem, and it was an honor to talk to her. I implore you to listen to her if her name has never run by your ears before, esp. if you consider yourself a fan of chill Europop as I do.  After a hiatus from making music, Sansa has been on a roll lately! She just released the single, "Half the World." Here, I talk to Sansa about making music, Finland, and dream collaborators. Read below and check her out! Also, you have a friend if you ever find yourself in Tampere. Britt: I see you just released a new song, "Half the World." What's inspiring you to create art lately? Also, I saw on your Facebook that you said this song "meant the world" to you. What makes it so special? Sansa: When I wrote "Half The World," I was living in London and I missed a person who I didn’t wanna let go at the time. You know how those situ...

Fiona Apple is out (!!!) with a new song. Except it's not reflective of a new album (I think, but that would be spectacular) - it's part of a larger compilation featuring a miscellany of other artists, the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project's "Hopes and Dreams" compilation. It's actually a very cool, moving idea - the whole concept behind the compilation is "support maternal health, aid child development, and foster a bond between mothers and children throughout New York City." So the song takes an extra layer of meaning when you hear the subject matter behind the song; the song leads with an opener from a mother to her unborn daughter.  It's, all in all, very heartwarming:

Here's another blast from the past as we teeter and totter in uncertain times. This beloved Brooklyn indie pop duo (and my former neighbors, heh) is back with a new single: "Glad I Tried." The impetus of the song's inspiration? Kim's traumatic on-stage injury last year, which resulted in one of the most personal albums released by the band to date.  Now I have to admit I was skeptical at first, because I'm not really a big Matt and Kim fan, but this song is an instant winner - so infectious! Try not to feel like clapping along by the end of the track. Matt and Kim's new album, "Almost Everyday," is out May 4th on the Fader label. 

New Florence + the Machine! New Florence + the Machine! Did I make my point yet?  New Florence + the Machine! Actually it's just a release for Record Store Day (which is just around the bend on April 21st).  This sounds like classic, powerful Florence - an uplifting, inspiring ballad. And it's not too bombastic or overproduced; it's just raw. I was a huge fan when "Lungs" came out almost 10 years ago - and this song reminded me exactly why.  "In a city without seasons, it keeps raining everyday." Says the glorious Flo about the song: “This was a song that just fell out of the sky fully formed,” says Florence Welch. “Sometimes when you are performing you get so high, it’s hard to know how to come down. There is this feeling of being cracked open, rushing endlessly outwards and upwards, and wanting somebody to hold you still, bring you back to yourself. It’s an incredible, celestial, but somehow lonely feeling.” Watch the video below:  ...

I have been on this major Britpop kick lately. And I don't mean Blur or Oasis or Pulp, I mean the early oughts Britpop I grew up with. Like, the next wave that probably wasn't quite as good (I'm very biased here, so trying to be objective.) Elbow, Doves, Travis, Embrace, Starsailor - I've been exploring bands I long shelved away with great delight.  One beloved musician of my youth who I've *truly* begun listening to for the first time in almost two decades is the late, lovely, seriously underrated Matthew Jay. Matthew's one-and-only album came out in 2001, the classic "Draw." This album held the promise of great things, but great things were cut tragically short when Jay fell out of a window to his death in fall of 2003 (actually around the same time Elliott Smith died). Before then, Jay had enjoyed some very (very) slow critical momentum, propelled by the likes of touring with Dido and Stereophonics.  I was introduced to Jay my freshman ...

Sup party people. I realize I've really, really, really neglected my precious baby website as I've aged - and not intentionally. Life happened. Life is weird, and I can only handle so many things at once (as most people are equipped to do.)  ANYWAYZ I'm going to change that. Or, I'm going to say I'm going to change it but secretly do nothing. Choose your own adventure. Let's start by talking pop music. Did you know The Weeknd is Taylor Swift with better hair? NO, REALLY, I promise. And if you haven't cried at least *once* while having sex to "1989," then who are you? Don't answer that actually. Hi Mom. The Weeknd dropped his EP "My Dear Melancholy" last week, and I was fortunate enough to first hear it with my Lyft driver. I was going to ask my Lyft driver more about the album and what he thought of it, but then my Lyft driver was like, "Can you look up the times for the new "God Isn't Dead" movie?"...