You Said Strange @ The New Colossus Festival 2025
French neo-psych/shoegaze band You Said Strange has been making waves for over a decade, blending dreamy atmospheres with raw energy. Fresh off multiple sets at this year’s New Colossus Festival, we caught up with them to talk songwriting, influences, and standout performances.
Get to know FEM du lit
STIGMATA is a sonic journey of healing, resilience, and self-expression. On their debut album, Seattle’s FEM du lit (Francesca Eluhu of Day Soul Exquisite) crafts a world where R&B, alternative, and electronic textures collide—unraveling the emotional weight of identity, judgment, and survival. We spoke with FEM du lit about the sound of STIGMATA, musical influences, and the power of music as a healing mechanism.
Mahogany @ The New Colossus Festival 2025
Mahogany blends genres including classical, shoegaze & post-punk into their signature “hypercube” style. Their approach to live performance was on full display at The New Colossus Festival’s Shoegaze Party. Read our exchange where they talk songwriting, gear and Kraftwerk.
smalltalk @ The New Colossus Festival 2025
Savannah-based smalltalk describes their sound as “griddy gaze.” Their set during the annual The New Colossus Shoegaze Day Party, hosted at Arlene’s Grocery, was a captivating experience that left us wanting more. We spoke with the band about staying up late, British ‘80s rock, collaborations and more.
Genre is death @ The New Colossus Festival 2025
The NYC music festival The New Colossus took over eleven venues this year. Featuring 200 bands, the six day event had something for everyone. From indie pop to goth rock and art-punk, the event featured some of the best emerging talent from all over the world.
This year we had a chance to speak with a variety of performers and over the coming weeks, we will be sharing those conversations. To kick off our series, we spoke with New York’s Genre is death after their 30-minute set at The New Colossus Goth Post-Punk Party hosted by Bowery Electric.
March 2025 Bandcamp Friday
Bandcamp Friday is back! See some of our favorite recent releases that you should consider picking up today.
20 Artists To Check Out At The New Colossus Festival
This year’s edition of The New Colossus includes almost 200 bands. The five day event takes place March 4–9, 2025 at venues across Manhattan’s Lower East Side. We’ve picked 20 artists to see this year!
Hazel Adeline on songwriting, authenticity and identity
Massachusetts-based songwriter and producer Hazel Adeline is a masterful storyteller, channeling raw emotion and introspection into her music. In a bold move, she released two strikingly different albums—Color of Nothing and ego death & nightmares—just a month apart. One is lush and collaborative, while the other is stripped-down and deeply personal, capturing unfiltered moments of self-reflection. In our conversation, Hazel opens up about her creative process, the power of authenticity in songwriting, and the challenges of being an independent artist.
The Faves: 10 Albums of 2024
It wasn’t easy, but we managed to pick 10 of the best albums of 2024. See the full along with a handful of other noteworthy selections.
The Faves: 10 EPs of 2024
It wasn’t easy, but we managed to pick 10 of the best EPs of 2024. See the full along with a handful of other noteworthy selections.
The Faves: 100 Songs of 2024
It’s here. Our list of 100 Songs of the Year. From sharp observations on masculinity to 80s film soundtrack inspired songs and emotional pleas for friendship, our list has it all.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: Dogwood
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
Indie rock band Dogwood shares their list of most-liked releases of the year. Their selections range from dream pop artist Fazerdaze to Atlanta locals Indy Grab.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: Book/Spirit
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
Today we highlight releases chosen by Pete Ferrari of the indie rock band Book/Spirit. From Been Stellar to Uncle Skunk, we get all New York-based bands.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: Iceblynk
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
In this edition, we hear from Iceblynk’s Martin Newman. The guitarist for the New York-based shoegaze project selected music from the unclassifiable duo Tremours and Icelandic goth trio Kælan Mikla.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: lucidlüc
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
Next up in our Best of 2024: Artist Picks, we hear from lucidlüc. The Atlanta-based artist blends psych-pop, punk and hip-hop. Lucidlüc’s curated list includes the diverse sounds of Tyler Jackson and Alli Cat.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: Theo Vandenhoff
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
For this edition of our Best of 2024: Artist Picks, we collaborated with Toronto-based post-punk/synth pop trio, Theo Vandenhoff. The band’s picks range from the black metal sounds of Nächtlich to indie folk tunes from Little Kid.
BEST OF 2024 Artist Picks: Navel Grazr
As we close out 2024, we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the standout creative projects from the year. To help us celebrate, we’ve teamed up with a few of our favorite artists whose work has made an impact.
We’re thrilled to feature Anjali Nair, of the dreamy and genre-blurring New York band Navel Grazr to kick off this series!
6 Things W/Ex Monarch
Miami alternative band Ex Monarch blends 90s grunge with modern rock. Their most recent single “Rotten,” which we featured as one of our faves back in October, the band calls “an honest expression of grief.”
“We want our music to create a sense of empathy, and a space to expand the conversation and destigmatize topics that are hard to talk about,” says vocalist Amanda Pasler.
In our “6 Things W/Ex Monarch” the band touches on sonic influences, creating a balance on social media, guilty pleasures and more.
Blous3 dials into the noise on ‘Synchronized Swimming’
Sacramento-based art punk band Blous3 has released their third album Synchronized Swimming, showcasing their evolving sound and songwriting. The album features a mix of noise, distortion, and experimental elements. In our Q&A, the band discussed their creative growth, collaborative writing process, working with Cherub Dream Records, and shoutout their favorite Sacramento bands.