Melissa Kacar

"What You Want" is a bold electronic club anthem that serves as the perfect blend between Justice - the French electronic duo made up of Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé - and Belgian pop singer Angèle . It's such a seamless fusion of their two distinct sonic worlds, coming together in the most unexpected way. The collaboration itself came together organically after meeting for the first time backstage at Justice's show in Brussels in late 2024. There was an immediate creative spark between them, and that connection was translated so clearly into this track. The energy and adrenaline running through the song, along with the sleek electronic production all collide to create such a dynamic listening experience.  "I went to say hi in their dressing room after their show, which I'd loved. It was the first time we met, and we talked a lot about our careers and our creative visions. I spontaneously suggested they come to the studio. We spent an afternoon listenin...

"To Love Somebody" is a song rooted in heartbreak, but it approaches the feeling from a completely different angle than a typical breakup track. Instead of framing sensitivity and feeling all-encompassing deep emotions as weaknesses, Holly Humberstone instead writes from the place of these being the distinct traits that make us human. The bittersweet message is that the moments in life that leave you feeling the most exposed and emotionally vulnerable ultimately allow us to gain clarity and experience life in the fullest sense of the word. "They tell you that you feel too much, euphoria right down to the crush, it all breaks down, it always does, it all works out, it always does," Holly sings in the first pre-chorus. "And the shit they say in the songs you love, the greatest hits and the deepest cuts, it all breaks down, it always does, it all works out, it always does". At the heart of it, this song carries the age old message that it is better to have ...

run from the sunlight is a curated playlist I created to capture some of my current music obsessions. The title is inspired by a lyric from one of my favorite songs of the past year, "Dracula" by Tame Impala . His music has been on constant repeat lately, and I used that song in particular as a jumping off point to shape the rest of the playlist around. Lately, I've been listening to a lot more electronic music, with sounds and synths that give off the same kind of vibe being the focus of this playlist. There are also a lot of longtime favorites that I love and felt naturally fit the theme as well. Tame Impala 's music features heavily throughout, but other songs that shaped the direction of the playlist include "Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson , "Houdini" by Dua Lipa , "Dance No More" by Harry Styles , and more.  Other artists featured heavily throughout include The Dare , Djo , Magdalena Bay , and more. I wanted this play...

At the heart of it, "The One That Got Away" is about yearning for a first love, and maybe even more than that, the yearning for a version of themselves that no longer exists and is forever suspended in a different moment in time. Originally titled "In Another Life", Katy Perry describes the wild days of their youth with memories recalled in vivid detail.  "Summer after high school, when we first met, we'd make out in your Mustang to Radiohead and on my eighteenth birthday, we got matching tattoos," she sings in the opening verse. "Used to steal your parents' liquor and climb to the roof, talked about our future like we had a clue, never planned that one day, I'd be losing you".  Is it possible for one of the biggest albums in pop history to still have an underrated song? In many ways, that's exactly what "The One That Got Away" is for Teenage Dream . It has really sweet lyricism that shows another side of Katy's a...

To usher in this new season of growth and renewal, María Zardoya has released Bloom , the second installment of her Not For Radio solo project. She introduced the project last Fall with her stunning debut, Melt , which is a collection deeply rooted in nature and the stillness of winter. Throughout that record, she circled the core question, "Is love worth all of the pain?" and spent the entire album grappling with the answer. Now, María returns with a three song EP that explores what happens when she finally allows herself to fall fully into love. Once again, this project is deeply tied to nature and and the changing of seasons, this time leaning into the symbolism of Spring and likening her own personal growth to the world blooming around her physically and metaphorically.  Sonically, it lives in the same sonic universe as Melt and much of her work with  The Marías , but with a noticeably more optimistic tone. It feels like such a beautiful extension of everything that has...