Category: Reviews

  • #songoftheday = GLEN HANSARD: “SONG OF GOOD HOPE” (#songsforourtimes #1)

    As of today, I’m starting something new on Love is Pop. Until the COV-19 virus, otherwise known as the coronavirus, is behind us or we’re at least in a much better position than we’re in right now, I am going to post a song of the day each day that’s relevant to what’s going in…

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  • FRENCH-AMERICAN STYLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH ARIANE

    FRENCH-AMERICAN STYLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH ARIANE

    interview by Michael McCarthy The following interview with French American singer/songwriter Ariane took place last Thursday on the 12th of March 2020. Not long after many people in the United States had finally started to feel the gravity of the COV-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. I think both she and I felt a little strange doing an…

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  • CAUGHT UP IN A SPHERE: AN INTERVIEW WITH POLLY SCATTERGOOD

    CAUGHT UP IN A SPHERE: AN INTERVIEW WITH POLLY SCATTERGOOD

    interview by Michael McCarthy On May 1st, Polly Scattergood of solo and onDeadWaves fame will release her breath-taking new solo album, In This Moment. It features 12 tracks that each tell their own story, which one might breathe in like unique snapshots. These scenes portray everything from hospital waiting rooms to Viking sea burials to…

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  • BETTER IN THE DARK: AN INTERVIEW WITH YAEL NAIM ABOUT HER NEW ALBUM NIGHTSONGS

    BETTER IN THE DARK: AN INTERVIEW WITH YAEL NAIM ABOUT HER NEW ALBUM NIGHTSONGS

    interview by Michael McCarthy I was recently blessed with the opportunity to hear Franco-Israeli singer/songwriter Yael Naïm’s fifth studio album Nightsongs, which will be released via Believe Music on March 20, 2020. Although her songs have largely been introspective throughout her career, I was moved by just how much more personal the tracks on Nightsongs…

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = BIF NAKED: “JIM”

    Bursting with layers and layers of guitars atop sonorous drum beats, “Jim” tunnels its way deep into your head and runs circles around whatever song you had stuck in there before it.

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = POLLY SCATTERGOOD: “RED”

    Spoiler alert: the above video for Polly Scattergood’s seven-minute+ new single, “Red,” is part two of a five-part short film she’ll be releasing this Spring. We’ve included part one here as well.

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = ADAM JENSEN: “INMATE 8576”

    “Lost my head inside this cell / I’m all alone / This place is hell,” sings alt-pop/electro-pop singer/songwriter Adam Jensen on his powerful new single, “Inmate 8576.” It’s the first new song we’ve heard from Mr. Jensen in quite some time and it turns out he has a good excuse for not releasing anything new…

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = POPPY: “ANYTHING LIKE ME”

    “You shouldn’t be anything like me,” pop star turned heavy metal kid Poppy sings insistently on her ferocious new single, “Anything Like Me,” which finds her sounding not unlike a female Marilyn Manson. “I’m sorry for what I’ve become / Because I’m becoming someone,” goes part of the first verse of the take no prisoners…

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = Yael Naim – “How Will I Know” (Live at Studios Ferber)

    There’s a strong foreboding feeling to French-Israeli singer/songwriter Yael Naïm’s new single, “How Will I Know,” for which she’s just released a devastating live video recorded at Studios Ferber.

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  • FIRST IMPRESSION REVIEW: HALSEY’S MANIC

    FIRST IMPRESSION REVIEW: HALSEY’S MANIC

    by Michael McCarthy Today, the 17th of January 2020, marks the release of alternative pop singer/songwriter Halsey’s highly-anticipated third album, Manic. The first single from the LP, “Without Me,” was released back in October 2018, so to say this album was a long time coming is an understatement. Granted, at the time “Without Me” was…

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = ROBBIE WILLIAMS: “TIME FOR CHANGE” + ALBUM REVIEW

    This year Robbie Williams finally did something I’ve been waiting for him to do for over 20 years: he released a Christmas album, appropriately entitled The Christmas Present. Not only that, it’s a double album. If you get the deluxe edition, which comes with four bonus tracks, it comes to 28 tracks total.

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  • It’s a #premiere! It’s a #songoftheday! It’s “The Stones” by Ismay!

    Today we are pleased to exclusively premiere Ismay’s delightful and ethereal musings about very rare, glow in the dark stones that a friend once showed them. As they discuss in our interview below, they were a new type of stone, unlike anything they’d ever seen before. Suffice to say, they made such a strong impression…

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  • #songoftheday / #amlistening = BAR BRUTAL BAND: “SPECIAL TERMS” DEMO

    Bar Brutal Band, has just released a spot on new single, albeit in demo form, called “Special Terms,” which I simply had to share with you. It’s just too good for me not to.

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  • DISCOVER A SUPERSTAR IN THE MAKING: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICKY JAMES

    DISCOVER A SUPERSTAR IN THE MAKING: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICKY JAMES

    interview by Michael McCarthy When I went to see Phantom Planet at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts on the 19th of September, I couldn’t have cared less about whoever was going to open the show. I’d been a big fan of Phantom Planet for around 15 years and had never seen them live so they…

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  • UP TO TEN: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL SWEET OF STRYPER AND SOLO FAME

    UP TO TEN: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL SWEET OF STRYPER AND SOLO FAME

    interview by Michael McCarthy What can I say about the great Michael Sweet that I haven’t already said? This is Love is Pop’s sixth interview with the extremely talented, super busy Stryper frontman/songwriter/co-lead guitarist and solo artist. We love the guy here at Love is Pop HQ and he’s always such a joy to interview.…

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