By: Music Journalism Club

Every week our Music Director, Allison, chooses new releases to add to our music library. Here are some of the recent highlights, presented to you by WSUM’s Music Journalism Club.

Mitski, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS:  “In a Lake”, “Cats”, “Dead Women”

GENRE: Art Pop

RIYL: Cat Power, St. Vincent

American singer-songwriter Mitski’s artistic flare shines through in her newest album, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, a beautifully tragic ode to loneliness and isolation. In a mere 34 minutes, the album delivers hit after hit. The opening song “In a Lake” sets the reflective and introspective tone of the rest of the album. While most of the songs classify as folksy art pop, Mitski experiments with pop rock in several songs, notably “Where’s My Phone?”. Nothing’s About to Happen to Me catches your attention with blunt song titles, such as “Cats” and “Dead Women”, while playing into a motif of cats. The intricately painted album cover of a cat with heterochromatic eyes demonstrates the artistic depth of Mitski. This album depicts isolating life situations and forces listeners to be immersed in the protagonist’s reality while doing so in a tasteful manner.

— Sophia Kleinmann

Leisure Hour, …and to think

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “IF I COULD KILL YOU (I WOULD)”, Jobs, Validation

GENRE: Power-Pop, Emo

RIYL: Front Bottoms, Tiny Voices, Sweet Pill

Leisure Hour have quickly risen in niche emo popularity with their recent release …and to think since their formation in 2020. This record continues with their use of two main vocalists, and even finds their third member added in the harmony mix, especially prevalent in ‘Happy Birthday’. The lyrics deal with grief, pain, anger, and stressful relationships with loved ones, nodding toward their midwest emo inspirations by telling their stories with as much raw emotion as possible. Although they use a lot of classic emo conventions, their sound leans more towards power-pop and indie rock in this release. Leisure Hour will soon embark with Carly Cosgrove and Summerbruise on their “Spring Cleaning” tour beginning March 20th.

— Emily Collins

Lala Lala, Heaven 2

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “This City”, “Even Mountains Erode”, “Tricks”

GENRE: Indie Pop, Dream Pop

RIYL: Grace Ives, Imogen Heap, Freak Slug

Heaven 2 sounds like the purgatory between winter and spring. This February release from Lala Lala creates a sound for the itch for something more but this album is not unsatisfying. Fittingly, guitarist and lead vocalist Lillie West wrote this dreamy pop album whilst moving from Chicago to rural New Mexico and then Iceland. Opening track “Car Anymore” moves towards what is next, “Even Mountains Erode” leaves things behind, and “Does This Go Faster?” toggles in between. Somewhere in the mix, “Arrow” samples the French electro pop band La Femme creating something exciting. The album suspends the time between departure and arrival for 33 minutes, give it a listen. 

— Mazie Willgrubs

Go Kurosawa, Soft Shakes

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Soredesho?”, “Green Thing”, “Jungle Cooking”, “Rice Harvesting Day”

GENRE: Japanese Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock

RIYL: Haruomi Hosono, Kikagaku Moyo, Sessa, Khruangbin

On his debut album, Soft Shakes, drummer and vocalist of Japanese psychedelic group Kikagaku Moyo, Go Kurosawa, combines genres of all sorts on top of a foundation of folk and psychedelic to offer the listener a gentle, lush journey into vibrancy. The first track, “Moon, Please,” introduces Kurosawa’s adventurous assortments of instruments, which on this track presents themselves as bouncy percussion, warm brass, and his own soft vocals. Soundscapes blossom on “Sada No Umi,” which sound very reminiscent to the work of his prior band, and, while still full, the expansiveness retreats to a simple and lively bossa nova inspired sound on the following track. “Green Thing,” fully instrumental, reminds one of the shivers of trees in a sun-dappled forest and clear streams running beside the path you walk on, and the marimba rhythms of the latter half of “Jungle Cooking” takes me back to the delightful comfort playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with what sounds like an expanded version of the little theme played whenever Link makes a meal in the game. Kurosawa goes back to his psych rock roots with the final two tracks, one relaxed and the other expansive, launching the listener out of the atmosphere. Soft Shakes is a little joy, providing a soundtrack for your own whimsical adventure through sunlit forests and charmingly odd villages.

— Dasha Berezhanskiy

Cootie catcher, Something We All Got

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Straight drop”, “From here to Halifax”, “Gingham Dress”

GENRE: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Jangle Pop

RIYL: Kitty Craft, 22° Halo

Cootie catcher is an indietronica band from Toronto composed of Nolan Rakovski (guitar, vocals), Anita Fowl (bass, vocals), Brendan Cooke (drums), Sophia Chavez (synthesizer, vocals). Something we All Got is their latest album, which is a fast turn around from the previous album released in 2025, Shy at First. As opposed to that album and their previous releases which were more electronic, they fully lean into an indie rock/pop sound in Something We All Got. Despite that, they integrate their old sound seamlessly with their new, and it really makes this album stand out. Furthermore, an unconventional, yet welcome change is that they switch vocalists between songs. The jangle pop/rock is a sound that I’ve been really craving lately, and this album delivers. As a whole, this album shows off their quirky personality perfectly. Mind you, this is all based off of two listens from start to back. Truly, Something We All Got is a deep cut of this year and should totally be on your radar.

— Gabriel Salgado