Weekly Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0htUSRTPl0MaMaWMqa3Hsq?si=066e604992554e05 

Daija’s picks

1. Lord Huron, Allison Ponthier – “I Lied (with Allison Ponthier)”
2. Reneé Rapp – “In The Kitchen”
3. Lana Del Rey – “How to disappear”

Lord Huron is famously known for their song “The Night We Met.” If you liked that song, then you are guaranteed to enjoy “I Lied.” This single tells the story of a man telling his wife that he hasn’t kept his promises and has decided to leave her. With the addition of Ponthier, you get to hear the wife’s point of view as she says that she wasn’t truthful in the marriage either. The instrumental is beautiful with the groovy but soft guitar chords, and lead singer Ben Schneider’s husky vocals match well with Ponthier’s velvety voice. 

“In The Kitchen” is the second single from Reneé Rapp, who also stars in the HBO Max show “Sex Life of College Girls.” The song is a soft piano ballad, but Rapp’s deep and powerful vocals really capture the heartbreak and pain that she is describing. She sings about an ex that she had a fairly public relationship with and is realizing that once she deletes the post of them together, people will know they’re over. 

“How to disappear” is from Lana Del Rey’s 2019 album “Norman Fucking Rockwell.” I have been a fan of Del Rey since her album “Ultraviolence,” and both albums have a similar sound. In “How to disappear,” Del Rey mentions a man by the name of Joe throughout the song and explains how she has mixed romantic feelings about him and is frustrated that he can’t express his own. The instrumental has a nice violin in the background but has an overall feeling like you’re taking a ride on a boat with the wind blowing in your hair. 

Caleb’s picks

1.  Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”
2.  Anthony Rapp – “Just Some Guy” 
3. Grant Knoche – “FIRST HELLO” 

“Born This Way” by Lady Gaga was first released as a single in 2011 and is the title track for the album of the same name. This song has always been one of my favorites of Gaga’s works and is definitely one of her most defining singles. Considered by many to be an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community and was the sixth most purchased iTunes song in 2011. The song reached No. 1 on music charts around the world and received numerous awards, including several VMAs in 2011. 

“Just Some Guy” was first released in 2000 in Rapp’s “Look Around” album. This song really speaks to me, and I wish at the time of its release it would have been more recognized. Rapp is an actor and singer, well known for his performance as Mark Cohen in the musical “Rent.” The song is revolutionary as it is one of the first times that a man is romantically singing about a man in a popular music album. Even in more recent times, according to an article by The Pitch, using same-sex pronouns is still something that many openly gay artists struggle with. 

“FIRST HELLO” was released this month. This beautiful piece is touching and relatable. Knoche wrote the song in honor of his coming out as bisexual. The lyrics are meaningful and reflect my very real feelings growing up. The song has only been out a little over a week and has already reached almost 200,000 streams on Spotify.