Another Trip Round the Vinyl

It’s Music Musings’ birthday week!

I know we’ve hit a lot of celebratory and milestone newsletters lately, so let’s skip the origin stories and segue to other updates, while keeping our celebratory mode on 🎉

I just came back from Music Matters last weekend to catch some Filipino artists I’ve been listening to growing up – and met THE James Reid, Fern., and Mikey Bustos! Absolutely ecstatic over meeting my teenage idols, and I couldn’t stop smiling all the way home 🥹

In other news, I’m releasing something new in the next few weeks. I’ll give you a clue: it’s another way to explore and enjoy new songs every week. Watch this space!

Now back to our birthday issue – it still feels surreal that one year has passed. And in a span of a year, I’ve not only shared so many music discoveries, but explored way more than I expected. Ten years ago, I never would’ve expected that I put myself out of my music comfort zone. But here we are, and I wouldn’t have made this far in my little journalism project without you guys.

To celebrate, here’s not one but TWO album reviews to add to your playlist. Also, I’ve dropped my most repeated songs this month…but if we’re really talking about the one that captured my heart this week, it’s Vodka Cranberry by Conan Gray. It has bewitched me body and soul — I’ve been listening to it not just on repeat, but on LOOP FOR HOURS.

Thanks for always being here to listen. ❤️

Cheers to more music (and musers) to come,

Val ♫

(P.S If you are reading this in your email, please click “Read Online” at the top-right corner next to the date for a better reading experience!)

In this week's setlist:

• 🔂 Best of the Best Songs on Repeat

• 🍭 Album of the Week: autonomy - ELIO

• 🫦 Album of the Week: IT’S SHOWBIZ, BABY! by JADE

• 🎶 New Music This Week

🔂 Best of the Best Songs on Repeat

Now, when I say best of the best, I usually just mean those in the moment. Some people never get over that one song in their entire lives, others will stick to a few, and a rare few will change their favorite song every week faster than you can scroll through TikTok trends. In many ways, I’m sure many of you can say you’ve been all of the above. 😂

I just can’t get enough of these songs lately — they’re the kind of music that pulls you back into the zone, regardless of the genre, so I’m passing them on for you to enjoy!

• Dance With You by Otis Kane

• After You by Babygirl

• One & Only by Soulidified

🍭 Album of the Week: autonomy - ELIO

In our first album review of the week, we dive into dreamy future-pop soundscapes that capture both the child-like wonder of youth and the quiet realities of adulting.

autonomy is the Welsh-Canadian singer’s sophomore album, and just as the name suggests, it’s about agency—claiming identity, independence, and freedom after major life transitions, with one notable life event being her parting ways with her ex-producer.

Our vocalist carries a carefree yet yearning aura, like the quieter daughter of Michelle Branch. Her songs kind of wrap you in a mix of emotions and past versions of yourself, all of which are waiting to be seen and heard. I like how her music feels curious, and yet cautious at the same time, reflecting the hope and melancholy of growing from a wide-eyed youth into an adult still figuring life out, but at least she’s trying.

This album is a gentle companion for anyone reminiscing on younger years while staying grounded in who they’re becoming. The 20s and even the 30s can be brutal years of dramatic and extreme transformations, but let this album be that friend who’s going through the same thing and who reminds you of how far you’ve come.

I’ll let you listen to her more upbeat tracks, but it’s really the slower tracks that got my heart:

• Jet Plane: I think this is such a strong opening track. If nostalgia were a person, it would pull us back to where it all began while still moving with us in the present. This song sounds like two parts of you being tugged in opposite directions — the past where the old ways live, and the future where your new life awaits.

• Autonomy: The message of this song is about owning the moment when it feels right, and not forcing anything your intuition doesn’t vibe with. At the same time, it’s about realizing that a new life often costs you your old one — hence the recurring lyric, “The price of autonomy.” Yet another bittersweet, soul-baring moment of awakening.

Listen to autonomy by ELIO here.

🫦 Album of the Week: IT’S SHOWBIZ, BABY! by JADE

There’s a new rave in the club, and it’s a vibe that deserves a permanent spot in every all-girls’ DJ set.

Little Mix’s JADE (Jade Thirwall) just dropped her debut solo album, and it gives “think out of the box” a whole new meaning, and I don’t just mean breaking out of her girl group mold that fans know and love her for.

The vision that she pours into this album goes beyond the lyrics, but also in the visual appearance of each song as portrayed in her visual album. Creativity runs the full spectrum here: from experimental art-pop melodies to runway-ready beats, diva-charged arrangements, and vogue-worthy anthems made to whack your arms to.

Unlike the glittery sparkles ladycore anthems usually give off, our music alchemist makes girlpop strikingly bold and deliciously metallic. The first two tracks — Angel of My Dreams and IT Girl — are so drag-coded, you can easily imagine them sitting on Lady Gaga’s Artpop or Chromatica. It wasn’t long before I discovered my hunch was right, as she did mention being deeply inspired by the original Mother Monster during one of her interviews.

I’ve always been a fan of Little Mix since their X Factor days, but this album is on another level. It feels like JADE poured all the ideas she couldn’t fully explore in the group setting into this passion project, and it’s taking listeners on an incredible creative storm. That’s the mark of a true, seasoned artist, and a master of her own craft.

To my creative girlies and gays, this is the perfect album to throw the biggest fit to.

Here are my top picks:

• FUFN (F**k You For Now): This is like Melanie Martinez and Addison Rae meets Madonna. It has that Alice in Wonderland feel, but sped up like a dance anthem.

• Self Saboteur: Her high notes AND background vocals really sing here, and I dare say that it can rival Ariana Grande’s similar sounds. This is the song that perfectly captures the hot girl archetype — it’s my new ladycore anthem.

• Silent Disco: The closing track hit me harder than the opener this time. It feels like that moment after the last song at the club, just before the bar closes. It’s a slow dance to sink into with your lover, as you lose yourselves in the music one last tie before heading home after a great night out together.

Listen to THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY here.

🎼 Lyric of the Week

🎶 New Music This Week

Young by RYMAN: Highly amused by how the music sounds like Jeremy Zucker’s or Chris James’, while the vocals and lyrics feel straight out of LANY’s playbook. Listening to this track is my quick stress reliever — it’s like a little “pick-me-up,” letting you know that everything’s going to be alright while delivering the line with a mild cowboy accent.

Meteor by Eliza Harrison Smith: This feels like the kind of chill track you’d play late at night, sitting on a rooftop with one leg propped up, the other dangling off the edge. Then, as the chorus hits, gravity slips away…and suddenly you’re drifting through the vast space of your own mind.

Inspired by this week’s music picks?

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