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ALT FEATURED
Our favorite releases from the ALT RECESS submissions list.


PZU Turns Heartbreak Into Quiet Beauty on return to sender
Some albums demand your full attention. Others sit beside you quietly and let you feel whatever you need to feel. The debut project from Atlanta artist PZU falls into the second category. At just 19 years old, the singer, songwriter, and producer has released return to sender , a 25 minute collection of songs that feels like flipping through a stack of love letters that were never meant to be read out loud. Each track carries the weight of emotions that never quite found thei
2 days ago


Nearly $170K Raised at Jeffrey Steele & Friends Benefit as LeVasseur Family Continues Mission for Youth
Music and community came together once again in Franklin, Tennessee earlier this month as the 19th annual Jeffrey Steele & Friends benefit concert returned to the stage. The long running event brought artists, fans, and supporters together for a cause that continues to make a real difference for young people across Middle Tennessee. Held March 2 at the historic The Franklin Theatre, the evening raised close to $170,000 for programs that support at risk youth. The fundraiser i
3 days ago


A New Chapter Begins With Kelly Reynolds’ “Live A Little”
Photo By: Waterberry Works Sometimes school assignments come and go without much thought. Every now and then though, one turns into something bigger. That is exactly what happened for singer-songwriter Kelly Reynolds during her first year at Princeton. In a music appreciation class last fall, the assignment was simple. Write a song. Instead of staring at a blank page for hours, Reynolds grabbed her laptop, stepped outside into the September sunshine, and sat with her roommate
3 days ago


Inside Breaking Eight’s Gritty New Album '8 Second Strong'
There’s something about rodeo culture that hits different. The dust, the danger, the adrenaline of those eight seconds that can make or break a rider. That same intensity is exactly what Nashville-based rodeo country band Breaking Eight pours into their upcoming album 8 Second Strong , a project that feels as real and rough-edged as the life that inspired it. Led by frontman Beni Paulson, a former professional bull rider turned musician, Breaking Eight isn’t just singing abou
Mar 6


Abigail Virginia Explores Regret and Reflection on “Maybe I”
Abigail Virginia’s music lives in the quiet spaces, the pause before you say too much, the thought you replay on the drive home, the feeling that never quite leaves. With a voice that feels both powerful and personal, she turns uncertainty into melody, offering songs that sound like reflection rather than resolution. At just 25, the Springville, Alabama native (now planted in Nashville, where heartbreak and songwriting tend to find each other) is quietly building something po
Mar 4


Eight Songs, One New Dawn: Emma Cook Releases 'Of the Morning'
There’s a certain kind of album you don’t just listen to, you live inside it for a while. Indie-folk artist Emma Cook releases her new record, Of the Morning , feels less like a collection of songs and more like opening the windows after a long winter. Soft light. Fresh air. A deep breath you didn’t realize you were holding. This is Emma’s first solo album since becoming a full-time musician in 2018, a milestone that feels earned, not rushed. The journey toward Of the Mornin
Feb 28


From Dorm Room Producer to Club Catalyst: Meet obee
There’s something about artists who teach themselves that just hits different. Maybe it’s the stubbornness. Maybe it’s the curiosity. Maybe it’s the fact that nobody told them the “right” way to do it, so they built their own, enter obee. Born Owen Barclay and raised in small-town Vermont, obee is the kind of kid who ran out of his second piano lesson at age seven… and then went home and taught himself anyway. No formal training, no rigid structure. Just YouTube videos, muscl
Feb 27


Kat Velasco Breaks the Saddle on “Show Pony”, And Finds Herself in the Process
There’s a particular kind of pressure that comes with being the “strong one.” The polished one. The one who smiles through it and keeps the show moving. On “Show Pony,” Nashville’s rising Western-pop artist Kat Velasco pulls back the curtain on that performance, and what it costs. If you haven’t tapped in yet, Kat Velasco is quickly becoming one of the most intriguing new voices coming out of Nashville. Blending dreamy, cinematic storytelling with modern country textures, she
Feb 25


Late-Night R&B Has a New Voice: INDVGO Delivers “Not About You”
There’s something about Brooklyn after midnight. The bodegas are half-lit, the sidewalks feel longer than usual, and your thoughts get louder than the traffic ever was. That’s exactly the pocket INDVGO taps into with her new single, “Not About You”. And let’s be honest, if a song is called “Not About You,” it’s absolutely about them. From the first few seconds, we’re pulled into a cinematic haze. A pitched-down vocal drifts underneath minimal, nocturnal production, setting t
Feb 24


From Beirut to LA: Kamal Maroon Redefines Pop on “Black x White”
Some songs feel like they were built in a lab while “Black x White” feels like it was built in a diary… then polished in a studio with the lights turned all the way up. Beirut-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and producer Kamal Maroon is stepping into his most honest era yet - and he’s doing it with glossy 2000s energy and orchestral drama that hits harder than expected. From the first few seconds, you can tell where the inspiration lives. There’s that slick, perc
Feb 23


Where Melody Meets Mayhem: Hypnogaja’s Bold New Era
Some bands disappear quietly. Others disappear, evolve in the shadows, and come back sharper. Los Angeles alt-rock shapeshifters Hypnogaja fall squarely into the second category. After more than a decade without a full-length release, they’re returning with My Dreams Have Teeth (out February 13, 2026 via Snafu Records), and it doesn’t sound like a comeback album. It sounds like a band that never stopped building, they just chose the right moment to open the door. From the f
Feb 23


Fur Trapper Builds a Gothic Claymation Dream on “Rot for Spite”
There’s something deliciously eerie happening in the world of synth-pop right now, and it’s coming from Fur Trapper , the darkly magnetic alter ego of Lisa Rieffel . Her latest single, “Rot for Spite,” doesn’t just arrive with a music video. It arrives with a whole universe. And not the CGI kind. This one was sculpted. Pressed. Shaped. Lit. Nudged frame by frame. In collaboration with her sister, Carla Rieffel , a lifelong clay artist who’s basically had clay under her finger
Feb 20
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