LA based artist Giraffage (Charlie Yin), whose dreamy synth-pop productions have appointed him as one of electronic music’s most refreshing and innovative producers among the landscape, takes a sonic leap forward with his forthcoming record Too Real, out this October on Counter Records.

Yin grew up in San Jose, California to two Taiwanese immigrants and was raised in a traditional Asian upbringing. A self described “music nerd since day one,” his initial interest grew into something larger after his parents bought him a drumset in eighth grade. “I was always the one passing music suggestions to my friends”, he says, “and the more time I spent working on music the more I knew that’s all I really wanted to do.” His wide range of musical knowledge acted as a launching pad for his own productions, which he began making on a now defunct software program called Tabit. From there he began posting songs online and started gaining traction among online music communities. He quickly advanced to more sophisticated programs and after a handful of releases under the moniker ‘Robot Science’, he introduced Giraffage midway through his final year in college with his self-released synth-pop debut mixtape, Comfort. By the time he graduated in 2012, he was regularly playing shows across the globe.

“I didn’t have any high hopes for the Giraffage project,” he recalls of his early days diving into music full time. Like many American kids born to immigrants, his parents disapproved of a career in music and hoped he would pursue a more auspicious path in law or medicine. “They told me I could give it a year after graduation and if nothing came of it then I needed to reassess my plans.” Lucky for Yin, his success raced ahead at lightspeed following his 2013 Needs mixtape, a release that showcased his versatility as a producer and “omnivorous music lover,” as noted by Pitchfork. It wasn’t until his world tour supporting Porter Robinson—an experience he considers one of the most pivotal points in his career— that he was able to see the panorama of his rapidly growing fan base. He continued touring with names like Phantogram, Flume, XXYYXX, and dropped his No Reason EP with Fool’s Gold in 2014—his first release that featured all sample-free productions.

For the last year and a half, Giraffage has continued to tour and play major international festivals while writing his forthcoming LP Too Real. The album, which takes sonic and stylistic cues from such groundbreaking acts as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono, Soichi Terada, Interpol, and Radiohead, “is a return to my musical interests and roots,” he explains. Indeed, Too Real, sounds like just that—an authentic return to the music he’s believed in from the start.

Five years since her debut album Delivery, Mikaela Davis has moved away from her hometown of Rochester, shared the stage with the likes of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Christian McBride, Bon Iver, Lake Street Dive and Circles Around the Sun and entered a new decade. But it’s the ever-evolving relationships between her closest friends and bandmates that has propelled the Hudson Valley-based artist onto her latest album And Southern Star––a truly collaborative effort that ruminates on the choices we make, and the people we always come back to.

The band, made up of Davis (harp/vocals), Alex Coté (drums), Cian McCarthy (guitars/vocals), Shane McCarthy (bass/vocals) and Kurt Johnson (steel guitar), have been playing together for over a decade and it’s the first time they’ve appeared on a full length record together. Weaving 60s pop-soaked melodies, psychedelia and driving folk rock, And Southern Star picks apart the reflection we used to recognise, while trying to build a new one. It navigates the periphery of past selves, the coexistence of isolation and excitement in a new environment and the tension of growing away from what we thought we wanted, tackling it with a luscious, kaleidoscopic grace. “I finally feel like this album is more me than anything else that’s been released,” Davis says, adding that producing the album along with her four bandmates allowed them to carve out their own ideas, rather than someone else’s. It’s the band’s collective step into adulthood that has informed much of And Southern Star’s thematic landscape.

Allison and Katie Crutchfield have formed a new band called Snocaps. Their 13-track debut album will come out as a surprise album release on October 31st.
An indie-rock record that recalls Allison’s band Swearin’ and Katie’s early records as Waxahatchee, Snocaps was born out of the twin sisters’ desire to work on music together as they had in their teens and twenties. 
Allison and Katie are backed by friends and close collaborators Brad Cook and MJ Lenderman. The album was produced and almost entirely engineered by Cook, and all four musicians play multiple instruments across the record.
Snocaps will play a handful of shows at the end of 2025 and then be put on ice for the foreseeable future, although, as Katie says, “Allison and I have been, in some way, shape or form, doing this together for over 20 years,” so it is practically a given that they will work together on music at some point again in the future.

Missouri native willoh creates eclectic sounds in the privacy of her bedroom on recording equipment she bought from her savings earned while working at a McDonalds in her hometown. Her innovative approach to sonic layering is addictive, and new single “Buckshot” is a must-listen, and one you will want to hear on repeat.

willoh’s self-produced debut, not more than that, but more please, was released in early 2025. The full-length presents us with a raw honesty rendered through snowy vocals that sit in rarefied air and belies the artist’s 18 years.

Upcoming track “Buckshot” takes willoh’s creations a step further-ushersing in a new era of misshapen sounds that seemingly should not go together, but somehow in the hands of this talented young producer the recipe creates alchemy. The song shoots us into an emotional trajectory that comes full circle by the end, begging us to hit replay.

willoh goes further in the description:

“Throughout the creation of “BUCKSHOT,” I learned a lot about acceptance. Realizing that acceptance doesn’t mean you’re instantly unaffected by change. I went through cycles of guilt for pouring too much of myself out, shrinking, losing confidence, blaming, being okay and then not okay again. Each section of the song was written in the middle of one of those emotions, ending only to begin the cycle all over again.”

Hiding Places formed in the countryside of Athens, Georgia in 2020, but their roots trace back to a shared college radio station at UNC Chapel Hill. Guitarists/vocalists Audrey Keelin and Nicholas Byrne, bassist Michael Matsakis, and drummer Henry Cutting create a twinkly, raw folk-alternative collaboration that blends earnest storytelling with intricate, guitar-driven textures.

Now based in Brooklyn’s DIY scene, Hiding Places has carved out a space with their gentle, evocative vocals and lush, emotionally layered melodies. Recently, the band self-booked a tour through the South to SXSW, where they debuted their latest record—an intimate and gritty reflection of their years of movement, growth, and collaboration.

In March 2024, the band released their latest EP Lesson, produced by Colin Miller (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday), and recorded at Angel Studios in London. Lesson was released on March 22nd through independent Brooklyn-based label HATETOQUIT. In April 2025, the band released two songs on a split release with two Asheville NC bands, Tombstone Poetry and trust blinks.

Photos by Calli Westra

Porcelain is a post-hardcore band hailing from Austin, Texas. Comprised of Steve Pike (vocals, guitar​), Ryan Fitzgibbon (vocals, guitar​), Jordan Emmert (bass​), and Eli Deitz (drums), they emerged from Austin’s DIY scene in 2022, with members having crossed paths over the years through previous projects. Drawing heavily from an eclectic mix of ‘80s and ‘90s guitar influences, their music is an exercise in tension and dynamics, creating a soundscape of angular riffs that range from delicate melodies to crushing walls of distortion.