#MusicMonday Review - March 2026

[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 February's Part 2 review for more music.

In this issue, let's explore the inner works of the mind, and decision making. What makes us anxious? What gives us the sense of freedom? Give them a listen, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

Fayette – I Should

Never satisfied
Never enough time
Only perfect moves
Now I crave the mess that makes me mine

Always out of rhyme
Never being true
Holding on to flawless lines
Now I crave the mess that makes me mine

We could, we should, and we will begin our journey in Nijmegen-Arnhem, Netherlands for a Downtempo Indie Pop track about the decisions we make, and the process we go through, for better or for worse:

"The song came from noticing how often my inner voice says ‘I should’ instead of ‘I want.’ It wasn’t one single person or moment, but more a pattern I saw in myself — constantly trying to meet invisible standards and over-correcting every little flaw.

The track grew out of that tension between perfectionism and authenticity, and the realization that I was performing control instead of allowing myself to be human. Writing it felt like loosening that grip a little. But it’s a process of course. 😉"

spotify:track:6FF3hIQaLWDHGwVBGtyMb0:small

Sophia Galaté – Please Don't Talk To Me

you know you haven't seen me around
I've been spending all my days inside
I'm just tryna get my mind right
even if it takes me such a long time
and I'm not gonna let nobody bother me

I really think I've lost my mind
I'm not in the space to even entertain
anything until I've really changed
I'm getting my life together babe

From hesitation, we now go to isolation in Los Angeles, CA with a soulful R&B jam about living better by healing in peace on your own:

"So in the summer of 2023 I was, I wouldn't say depressed, but I was just going through a very low point in my life, and a family friend of mine called me to catch up on the phone, and she was like so bubbly on the other line. Like 'hey girl, how are you? How's your summer? Are you talking to anyone? Are you going out?' To which I replied, 'No, I'm literally just inside going to therapy, and if anyone tries to talk to me during this time, I'm just like, please don't talk to me'. And she was like 'Ha, that should be a song'.

Then I conveniently just received a bunch of beats from this producer overseas, and one of them was the beat to Please Don't Talk To Me. It just fit perfectly. I just basically wrote all the lyrics kind of over the course of the month, and it was just like it was exactly what I was going through at the time, but what's so cool about the song is that the song doesn't sound depressing at all.

It's very much like a celebration of your alone time and being excited to get your life together and move into the next phase."

spotify:track:7aH4Gbn3k600txlFtTV7Az:small

Filthy Red – The Afters

So he called her once
Called her twice
Smoking cheap cigs from a dodgy local
And spouting bollocks through the night

He can’t get what he wants
So now he’s gagging for a fight
But you can’t get close to anyone
When you’re a snakeskin parasite

Let's fly now to Kingston upon Hull, England for an Indie Rock track about waking up, and asking yourself, just for a moment, how things got derailed the night before:

"You know, usually I’ll come up with a line or melodic idea that sticks with me when I write. I came up with the first verse to this one pretty quickly and it kind of wrote itself from there.

Once I had that verse nailed I started to really delve deep and it turned into this vibe about how we can get so stuck in the rat race, working a 9-5 that when it gets to the weekend we lose ourselves in the chaos of letting go sometimes and don’t always know when to stop. I know a few people where that’s definitely the case.

So I guess that’s what it ended up being about really. Slogging it out through the week and then when the free time hits, letting loose, but maybe going a little too far sometimes."

spotify:track:0xjaxlBRjmWNO5hAgL9Prx:small

ABFAB – Wide Open Spaces

The sun sinks low behind the hills
The air is quiet, the world stands still
Empty roads stretch for miles unseen
A painted sky in shades of tangerine

Tires hum like a lonesome tune
Under the glow of a silver moon
A sign says nowhere just up ahead
But I'm alive in the life I've led

We now travel far to Cape Town, South Africa for a catchy Pop song about the freedom of driving by yourself under the blinking stars of the night, leaving everything behind, and looking forward to what tomorrow may bring:

"The song is about me and my drummer on the roads to our gigs. We wrote it for all the long drives we have had and the opportunities we have experienced. It’s all self experiences with all my writing"

spotify:track:3WKsyeKrAkC5pFJWqCa8mc:small

Portrait Generation – Grassroots

Being as optimistic as I can
Not my fault it’s just the way that things are ran
It seems that triumph's written in their fate
Well it’s easy when it’s handed on a plate

For us the struggle's real
Their wealth will be concealed
The labour grows the fruit
Not for the Grassroots

We finish our trip in Southend-on-Sea, England, for an Indie Rock track with no lack of drive or passion, but knows that breaking through may depend on your class:

"So the story behind Grassroots really came from the sad reality that grassroots bands are really struggling in the music industry at the moment and that there’s an illusion of equal opportunity when it’s just not the case! 

Bands with financial backing from either a label or parents (for example) are the ones that succeed, and working class musicians continue to struggle working full time jobs alongside the music just trying to stay afloat."

spotify:track:3GLVWuFPKPWHAmMynVVu9X:small

Listen to them and much more on the complete playlist

spotify:playlist:2IYRLjcwf2X9vC0QrI0b0P

See you next time!