Melissa Kacar

Happy Record Store Day ! To celebrate the semi-annual event in support of indie record stores, Taylor Swift released a stunning 7" vinyl pressing of her song "Elizabeth Taylor". It served as the third single off of her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl and absolutely stands a one of the best songs on that album. It really embodies the entire Showgirl theme, especially with it being an homage to such an iconic actress and fixture in Hollywood history. The glamorous, luxurious and showy aspects of what it takes to be the kind of larger than life entertainer that Elizabeth Taylor and Taylor Swift are is so well represented on this song. The song was produced by Max Martin and Shellback , as was the rest of the album. It's reminiscent of some of the glittering darkness that defined Reputation nearly a decade ago, the last time the three of them worked together, but here that edge is filtered through a more cinematic lens. She takes an Old Hollywood approach, with spe...

"Add Up My Love" and "Slow Dance" beautifully encapsulates the overall narrative arc of Clairo 's third album Charm . Released as a part of Urban Outfitters' 2026 Valentine's Day vinyl collection, these two songs pair so beautifully on this exclusive 7" single . It is pressed on a baby pink vinyl, with an embossed front cover that features a line drawing of cupid and gorgeous typography. The attention to detail is evident with this release. It looks almost like a Valentine itself, which captures the aesthetic of the overall theme of the release so well. It was limited to just 3000 copies. I love collecting Clairo's music on vinyl and am always so captured by the way the warmth and beauty of her music is translated into the physical releases. So much of  Charm  is rooted in beautiful, sincere love songs that are simply written, but also incredibly evocative emotionally at the same time. The track list sequencing of this record overall really doe...

Hayley Williams ' "True Believer" is a powerfully  deeply poetic and painfully relevant to the moment in history we are currently living through. She tackles many heavy and personal topics, especially her complicated feelings toward the South, the place she has lived for most of her life, but has also seen transform into something she wishes it wasn't.  Beneath the disillusionment, though, is still a very distinct hope and belief that the people who remain good and believe in the merits of what it means to be an American will prevail. It is such a brutally honest and chilling song, with a message that is more American than the owner of the racist country singer's bar could ever dream of writing. Especially in this period of political history, for her to lay out all of her beliefs and advocate for the future of this country is so powerful, inspiring and serves as a reminder of what it looks like when an artist uses her voice with intention. Hayley vividly paints a ...

Greetings from The Crux Hotel! 🐭🗝️☆  Back in August 2025 when I visited Los Angeles , one of the biggest highlights of the trip was getting to take a tour of Paramount Studios. Of course tons of iconic movies and TV shows were filmed there, but one of my personal favorite parts of the tour was seeing the building facade used on the cover of one of my favorite albums ever - The Crux by Djo !! I absolutely love Djo 's music and this was so cool to see in person. Not to mention, this is also one of my favorite album covers of all time too! The cover was shot on Paramount's outdoor cityscape backlot. It's a part of a massive set that's been used in countless projects, meant to mimic the look of New York or Chicago. The tour guide drove through this part of the lot really quickly because they were actually filming something there that day, but I'm so glad I got to get a few pictures of it. Hopefully one day I get to go back and take pictures in front of it!  The Cru...