By WDCE Music Directors

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:: Some reviews to keep you cozy on this rainy Sunday

:: February 22, 2026

:: MX LONELY — ALL MONSTERS

Genre: Heavy-Gaze

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Big Hips,” “All Monsters Go To Heaven,” “Return To Sender”

After the August release of TWIABP’s most recent album, it quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2025. Naturally, when their “Dreams of Being Dust” support tour reached Richmond, I attended. That’s where I saw Brooklyn’s MX LONELY — I was hooked. They had an engrossing stage presence and striking merch. (It’s not every day you see a shirt with a missive metal font “SPIT” written across it.) Since that show, I’ve been counting down the weeks, single release by single release, till ALL MONSTERS dropped. MX LONELY’s debut full-length album did not disappoint. The album was self-recorded, producing a sound akin to that on stage. It feels live and personal, yet grand. ALL MONSTERS is the MX LONELY at their best and most adventurous. The instrumentation is dense and lyrics are titularly on point. The monsters on this album are as complex as the people who composed them. 

— Jonathan Sackett

smush — standards

Genre: shoegaze 

Release: EP

Recommended Tracks: “41,” “lawyers in love,” “fireflies”

standards is nothing but. It’s a smooth, atmospheric fifteen minutes of shoegaze guitars and airy vocals that feel like they were pulled off of a broken cassette. smush brings an analogue, VCR-esque feel to their music, which blends with indie imperfections and shoegaze sleaze. The songs flow together but stand alone. And somehow they managed to pull off a cover of “fireflies.” smush will be playing at the Camel in Richmond on Monday.

— Jonathan Sackett

New Found Glory — Listen Up!

Genre: pop-punk

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Laugh It Off,” “Beer and Blood Stains,” “Medicine”

As I listened up(!) to New Found Glory’s latest album, I found myself in an odd predicament. Tracks 2-6 all start off with such great intros. The instrumentation is exactly what I’d want out of a pop-punk banger. Then the vocals would enter, with that unmistakable early aughts emo angst and urgency. The instrumentation, the vocals, everything was so reminiscent of that Zeke and Luther vibe — unfortunately, the lyrics were too. New Found Glory’s lyrics do not reflect a nearly 30 year musical tenure. But what can I say, Listen Up! would have hit in middle school. 

— Jonathan Sackett

Baby Keem — Ca$ino

Genre: Alternative R&B

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Good Flirts,” “Dramatic Girl (feat. Che Ecru),” “No Blame”

Wow. It’s finally here. Baby Keem fans have been starved of a release for 5 years, but he finally delivered. And it’s amazing. Let me start by saying that Baby Keem has had a historically…challenging…relationship with lyricism. On his debut/only-other-album, The Melodic Blue, he struggled to provide real substance with his choice of words. Even more heartfelt songs like “16” or “scars” tended to feel disconnected from any subject or object, hurting the artistic value of these tracks and relying primarily on killer production and exciting flows. Ca$ino is a much needed improvement on these challenges. Ironically, “I am not a Lyricist” is one of the most self-aware, introspective tracks on this record. This track along with the beautiful, James Blake-sampling, “No Blame” speaks deeply about the hardships of his childhood. Keem doesn’t blame his mother for her absence in raising him, since she herself was subjected to trauma and drug abuse. His lyrics feel more honest on this album than they ever have before. On a lighter note, there are some really moving melodic tracks on this thing! “Dramatic Girl” is a summer bop dropped in February. Luxurious melodic choruses between Keem and Sam Dew flood this track, topped by an artfully autotuned verse by Che Ecru. This song is a sugary dessert enjoyed after nine tracks of conscious-trap hip-hop stew. Yes, there are two Kendrick Lamar features on this record. But it’s Baby Keem’s podium, hoisted up without an assist from his cousin…

— Jacob Bennett

Yael Naim — Solaire

Genre: Soul Pop

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Dream,” “Solaire,” “La fille pas cool”

Yael Naim has such a diverse set of influences that it’s impossible to pin her down to a single genre. She’s a French-born artist of Tunisian-Israeli heritage, singing mainly in English. The entirety of this album is laid-back. Even tracks like “Wow” and “Multicolor” are still low-tempo, despite their more upbeat, drum-reliant, spoken-word arrangements. “Dream” feels like a dream in its atmospheric instrumental and manipulated vocals. The next track, “Solaire,” wakes you up from this dream and throws you straight into the clouds, as angelic synths and gently airy pianos paint the background for her silky-smooth choruses. Every which way you turn on this album, you’re met with different styles. After bending through melodies and spoken-word verses, you hear “What’s in Your Soul,” the almost 10-minute final destination, closing with sleep-inducing digital pianos. All this comes before the closing track, “Free,” puts you back into the same dream that you started in. 

— Jacob Bennett

Lana Del Rey — White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter

Genre: Horror Music

Release: Single

Defending this song, it would be much easier to say that Lana Del Rey was spiraling into artistic insanity, but her biggest fans all know that she just does this from time to time. This is now the third single, following “Henry, come on” and “Bluebird,” which lead up to her next studio album. Whereas those two singles obey the classic Lana Americana style, “White Feather” is something else. Something sinister. If you haven’t heard this song already, it could best be described as Brothers Grimm, fairy-tale, enchanted-forest folk. Instruments are played out of tune, mysterious flutes cling to whispered verses about voodoo and picking daisies, all working towards an unsettling lullaby that gives me shudders up my spine. Lana has thrived before on abstract tracks like “Summer Bummer” and “A&W,” showing her audience that she’s not a prisoner to tradition. That being said, “White Feather” is the type of abstract that I find hard to support.

— Jacob Bennett

Mumford & Sons – Prizefighter

Genre: Folk

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Rubber Band Man (with Hozier),” “Alleycat,” “Clover”

When I think of “Mumford & Sons,” I usually associate the band with high-speed millennial optimism. Nonetheless, we are no longer in the fast-paced energy of the “stomp and holler” era of the 2010s. Do not get me wrong, the songs within Prizefighter still coincide with a positive folk mindset, as the lyrics often mention collective action and the notion of rising above all, they are just slower now. Maybe emblematic of the need to reflect on life and take a step back. I appreciate the album’s continual integration of New York City references and enjoyed their collaborations with featured artists of not only folk music but also pop and country. 

                  — Sophia Sciulli

Garretson & Gorodetsky – Sunshine and Cyanide 

Genre: Experimental

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Blue Hibiscus,” “Fresh Hell,” “Paradise”

The epitome of Americana, the album—Sunshine and Cyanide—is similar to a “roots revival” movement with the integration of a blues guitar and mystical folk-Esque instruments. The album, nor is Garretson & Gorodetsky, solely one thing, as one cannot place the eclectic assortment of songs into a singular box. Some tracks stay true to the simplistic sounds of early-twentieth century American folk music, while other songs fit the indie rock (or experimental) adventure they choose to take—accompanied by an electric guitar; or a flute. All I can say is that I enjoyed some songs, more than others. However, I believe that this album would be received well in a quaint Northeast town—or on the streets of Portland, Oregon.

 — Sophia Sciulli

Abby Powledge – when to step away

Genre: Indie/Singer-Songwriter 

Release: EP

Recommended Tracks: “and then there’s me,” “winding down,” “i still check your playlists”

While I could go on about Abby Powledge’s brilliant wordplay—something I’ve admired since her early release “spoiling me”—what stood out most on when to step away was the instrumentation. Like many listeners, I tend to focus on what’s loudest, often overlooking the subtle details that quietly shape a song’s emotional architecture. Here, though, those nuances are impossible to ignore. The low, plucking bass and electric guitar in “and then there’s me,” the sweeping strings and flute in “getting used to getting used,” and the synths paired with twangy banjo in “saved ourselves” quietly transform each track. She’s singing about heartache, but the arrangements never feel overly heavy. Instead, they add depth and dimension, capturing the layered, complicated feeling of learning just when to step away.

— Piper Turri

Megan Moroney – Cloud 9

Genre: Country Pop

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Cloud 9,” “Medicine,” “6 Months Later,” “Wish I Didn’t”

I don’t typically listen to country, even if I’m open to being convinced—and Cloud 9 didn’t fully win me over. Similar in attitude to Sabrina Carpenter at times, several tracks lean into a spunky, slightly man-bashing energy. “Stupid,” in particular, feels reminiscent of Carpenter’s song “Manchild,” with its tongue-in-cheek frustration toward emotionally immature men. I did enjoy the pop sensibility throughout the album: catchy melodies, punchy percussion, and a polished, radio-ready feel. Still, the lyricism wasn’t entirely for me, often feeling one-dimensional or cliché. As a first introduction to Megan Moroney, it was a pleasant listen, but not one I’m rushing to replay.

— Piper Turri