MMM - June in Review

New ones from boylife, Chartreuse, Lorde and so much more <3

Jul 01, 2025

Happy Tuesday everyone,

It’s July now! Wow! Been a whirlwind month, but not without some really memorable music. I’m just gonna get right to it.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Two by Two no. 5 is on July 8th! A week from today! Back in LA, at the incredible Scribble! Please join me for another gorgeous night of music.

Buy a ticket today!! Please!

If you want a taste of what these shows are like, take a listen to the covers from our NY show last month :)

75% of the month, this newsletter is focused on Mondays, but folks, I’m listening to music seven days a week, if you can even believe. Here’s some of the juiciest releases that get me from Tuesday back to Monday. Listen along and catch some of my notes below!

boylife - nada (w/ Porches)

He’s back!!! And what a return holy moly. After seeing him live a few months(?) back at Moroccan Lounge, one of my big take aways was how loud and full the production was. In your face, yet somehow still so tasteful and well done. Here in the first recorded version, he’s managed the same. I think the intro is genius - just loud enough for you to hear, but so quiet you feel compelled to crank it up. And right when you do, he blows the doors down with this nasty guitar. boylife’s voice sounds better than ever, venturing for runs that are truly awe-inspiring. It’s adventurous, it’s loving, and then Porches shows up?? What more could you want. So excited for more boylife.

Leith Ross - (I Can See) The Future

We are living in the Rostam-ssaince and I’m so overjoyed about it. I haven’t written about it here, but really enjoying my time with the new HAIM record. And here we really see him shine. Leith Ross is already one of the best songwriters around. Their tender touch in expressing such wisdom, such emotion. I just love them. The two make for a great pair, bringing the best out of each other, imo.

Leith is pushed by Rostam’s driving drums and his penchant for big moments of release. Evolving their songwriting and song-making into new shapes. As the song erupts around 1:47 it feels so right. Rostam is also stretched in new directions, leaving room for Ross’ subtlety and softness to shine. The production has to breathe and support, soften edges without lessening the impact. And they’ve both nailed it here.

Daffo - Habit

Yuuuup, I’m Daffo-pilled what do you want. Habit continues the Daffo hot streak. I’m still not done spinning Winter Hat, and have loved every release sense. This single has been ROCKING live, and it’s a thrill to have it in our hands. The drums go crazy, the textures feel so sharp, it’s really hits. By the size of your head / you must know everything. Let’s absolutely go…. Plus I love a one-word chorus that still feels so full.

YaSi - OLD NEWS!

Another hit from YaSi complete with gorgeous lyric vid:

This one is so fun. I’m a fool for this organ/synth melody that comes through in the verses. The production is amazing top to bottom, really. A transportive song that feels just the right amounts of angry, joyous, sexy, lonely, proud, and defiant.

Anderson Hao - too proud

From a past Two by Two performer to a new one, I’m so excited to see this one live. The intro sound alone is enough to hook me. A ghost trumpet calling me in. The acoustic guitar sounds so in-my-room it’s hard to understand. How does something sound SO near? It’s a skill of Anderson Hao’s too, her vocals always sitting so close to the listener, it’s hard not to hear these lyrics as though she’s your friend telling them to you personally.

The melody is so sick, the launch into the chorus is sick, I just love this shit. In the second verse, the drums feel like magic. Hao supported by this subtle guitar at her side, through this delightful and creative melody. The whole thing working so well. The last moment before the chorus?? Everything is just… idk man, just sit back and enjoy.

Hana Eid - Bet

This newsletter has been sleeping on Hana Eid for too long!! That ends today. You open with getting piss drunk at your parents / I’m calling your phone and I’m gonna go ahead and be into this!! Especially when the delivery feels so stunning. The band is sweeping and expansive, it emanates this summer sun, trudging forward kind of feeling.

The song pushes and pushes, then collecting itself for the chorus. I love the melody, of course, that flip up for the ends of phrases will always destroy me. And what a chorus it is. I’ll stand right where you can see me / Boiling over but I don’t mind / you look so pretty, talking dirty / And I just want to make you, make you mine. C’mon!!! We break past the 3min mark and the song finally lets go, a massive crushing finale that somehow leaves room for the gentleness of the pedal steel to shine. Hell of a tune, can’t wait for more.

Chartreuse - Fold

There’s no shortage of Chartreuse love in this newsletter, but what can I do, they just keep blowing me away. Fold, the latest in the run-up to their album, is another entry into their rich catalog. They have this crazy ability to make songs like this. Songs that feel undoubtably “like Chartreuse”, their style so defined, and yet this feels brand new?? Discovering new cracks and crevices to explore, new edges of their sound, new pages in the book of what’s possible. And we’re so lucky for it.

Drums hold the center as a warm bass riff colors the sides. Hearing both voices together from the very beginning has me floored. Somehow it feels like an entirely new voice rather than the two together?

As a band, their melodies and their phrasing is unlike anyone else. I love it. The song sketches those intense feelings of “love”, the heaviness in expressing that gut feeling that it just isn't right. Folding into shape, ignoring the signs, trying to make it what you thought it’d be. Oof. A real gem here.

mer marcum - Green Saturn

merniac’s STAND UP. I really love this song, that’s about all there is to it. A nostalgic dream of a tune. Looking back in more ways than one. I love the memories and specifics of course, but really floored by mer’s connection to past generations too. It’s a quick thought but so insightful.

The guitars are undeniable, from the finger picking to the big I didn’t know chords. The drums continue to rise to the moment, the whole thing a stunning tapestry of sound.

Just really exciting to hear marcum’s music, writing, and sound get more and more refined with every song.

Benét & Faye Webster - Make ‘Em Laugh

Love this duo. Two wonderful writers with loving songs that feel like a summer sunset. I love Benét’s verse, a voice that has stopped me in my tracks a few times already.

The two reflecting, asking questions, it resonates so much. These universal feelings and anxieties and efforts to be good, to do right. Benét and Webster compliment each other beautifully, such nice contrast between them but both such natural fits with this production.

The song hits its stride in the back half, picking up steam and launching into some good ol’ rock and roll. Drums are great, piano is incredible. Wow, so sick.

Aminé & Waxahatchee - History

Wait I love this duo too…

Two deeply creative people with distinct styles and sounds bending towards each other and letting the other show something new. Fun to hear Aminé singing in these verses, a much more patient version of himself, letting that emotion take center stage. Waxahatchee balances so well, with her voice pulling away from Aminé’s at all the right moments. The two butting up against each other in such a pleasing way. A really fun album cut off his record.

Lorde - Virgin

Gonna do a full review for this one. Really enamored with Lorde, obvi, but love how weird and different these songs are. People are already looking back on Solar Power with that’ll age well conversations, so it’s hard to hear this record and not instantly see how influential it’ll be. Especially as Jim-E Stack rises to more and more prominence. More soon <3 but an exciting vision of what pop can be.

brookelen - for the birds

The new brookelen EP, going going gone, is so sick… the opening track, for the birds, is such a beautiful introduction. The gentle marching band snare roll drives along side this gorgeous acoustic guitar, braving such fun chord progressions. As the strings come in strong, you can really hear and feel how special brookelen’s vision is.

The song is swirling and sweeping her around the 90-second mark, riding the emotional ebb and flow of these chords. A ghostly breeze clears the table, turns the page, and we all step into this new section together. It’s messier, louder, and so so sick. I can’t remember anymore pushing all the way to the limits. It’s almost claustrophobic in this really effective way, where you can feel the pressure ramping up as it doesn’t matter anymore / it doesn’t matter comes pouring out.

Throughout the EP, brookelen manages to pull this off time and time again. Showcasing beauty balanced so well with heaviness and edge. Each song so well written, and each sound so perfectly suited to the moment. Heck of a release.

King Isis - BAD 4 ME

I love King Isis, I love monte booker, this is so sick to me. I haven’t been able to stop listening to this one. I wish I had something insightful to say but the truth is, it’s just fucking sick. Great texture, great bounce, and Isis is strong and stellar as always.