#MusicMonday Review - January 2026 Part 1

[osornios]

#MusicMonday is the hashtag I've been using for quite a while to share music recommendations from up-and-coming artists. Always fresh, and always different, trying to look for trends before they become one. You can check December's review for more music.

In this issue, the music is bold, deeply reflective, and unapologetically honest. Give them a listen, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

AVA RENN – None the Wiser

This land I’ve walked is cold and barren
No time to talk, no I’m not sharing anymore...
Black and blue, the sirens blaring
Vow of silence quiets the screaming in my core

Find no peace beside this water
So I wade out where I can’t breathe
I’ll get no rest inside this slaughterhouse I’ve built...
These walls have robbed me of my sleep

Hello, from Marfa, TX. We begin in full force with a gritty Rock track about the pieces that are missing, and the colors not seen by the numbness we all occasionally feel:

"Thematically, the song is about a desperate try to break cycles that harm you.

As humans the knowledge of what should be done sometimes gets lost in excuses or turmoil or bouts of depression.

This song is an emblem of introspection to try and get out of that deep end."

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Vik Faded – Sansa Stark

tus stories me dan celos
cada vez que tú sales
roneando por los bares
que cualquiera te vale

vivo encaprichao’ de ti
buscándote en mil lugares
pensando que lo haces
pa dejarme señales

We now fly to Madrid, Spain, for a Latin Pop track about those physical, but toxic, relationships you can't get out of, just because it makes you feel truly alive:

"I came up with the idea in the studio with Mena Labib. It took as one hour and a half completing the first demo, the inspiration was literally the two of us making noise!"

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Project Overload – Late Night Dancing

Our heads in the clouds
While we run around
No cares in the world
This moment is ours

Lost in a daydream
I’m feeling hazy
Wrapped in our fun
We're going crazy

From Coventry, England we get a Janglepop track about the joy of dancing, being surrounded with like-minded people. Get into the groove:

"It’s our third single of the year and the final part of a three-song narrative. Silhouettes was starry-eyed romance, Wildfire was that new love breaking down, and Late Night Dancing is about moving on and dancing the blues away.

It started as a rehearsal jam with some new effects pedals, then sprang to life taking inspiration from Nile Rodgers, cowbells, water-glass chimes, ‘50s B-movies and Blondie’s Heart of Glass.

We played it live for Record Store Day the week it was written, with lyric sheets scattered on the stage. It came together pretty quickly, and though it doesn’t sound much like the rest of the new album, we knew it was a banger, so it had to be a single. I wrote the chords as a bit of fun but it seemed to work because we all really like this one."

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Jared Popma – The Cosmic Joke

Do you ever feel like you're not where you should be
And everything comes a little too slowly
And no one's saying you got so much time to figure it out?
Maybe it's time now to figure it out

So you get a job where you make all your money
It's kind of sad but you laugh like it's funny
When it feels like you're part of a big cosmic joke
You work your whole life but you still wind up broke

Let's travel now to Vancouver, BC, for a Folk Pop track about finding out who you really are, by looking for your place in the world:

"I was in nearing the end of my degree, and struggling with the weight of beginning life in the 'real world'. Would I be able to make it in music? Is that what I even want? If not, what else am I going to do?

It all felt overwhelming, but I also felt like my feelings didn’t matter since everyone has to go through similar things. It’s an acknowledgment that my struggles are nothing necessarily special, but still wishing for some sort of validation in my feelings."

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Pinocchio is dead – The boy who never dies

Paper heart, folded twice,
Kept it burning under ice.
Every truth I tried to say
Turned to ash and blew away.

Mirror eyes, wooden smile,
I’ve been lying all the while.
If you cut my strings tonight,
Would I fall or learn to fly?

Our trip ends in Rome, Italy, for a Synth Pop track about performing to others in automatic, without questioning why. Part exploration, part emotion, who are you performing for?

"The track came from real life... moments, mistakes, and all the noise in between. The Boy Who Never Die is about looking back, cutting loose what holds you down, and finding peace in the wreckage. Not everyone’s meant for your story, and that’s fine.

In my mind, it had to sound poetic, dark, and a little theatrical 😜🤣 it’s about the fragility and the rebellion of someone who can’t help but stay true to who they are."

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#MusicMonday 2025

It's time to recap 2025 with this year's compilation. 76 titles from original artists covering all types of genres, represent the multiple trends independent artists were proud to establish. Have a listen:

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Listen to them and much more on the complete playlist

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See you next time!