At the end of a year that’s drained us in every sense, BTS’ “Life Goes On” is a song that feels like coming home. While the alternative hip hop and folk-leaning production are more restrained than the vibrant sound for which they’re known, it brings just the kind of comfort we’ve been afraid to admit we crave. Where August’s record-breaking “Dynamite” was a cathartic and welcome distraction, “Life Goes On” circles back to the very fears we’ve eluded, an invitation to simply exist without the pressure to present as though we have it all together. We don’t, and they don’t claim to, either; that sincerity is what creates a safe space to feel as deeply as we need.

"Life Goes On” became the first foreign language song to debut at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, but supporting BTS isn't about the records or numbers for me; I could wax poetic for ages on what their success means to me on as someone who grew up feeling “othered,” with no frame of reference for faces in pop culture who looked like me, who openly spoke an Asian language but didn’t get dirty looks at the grocery store like my family did. Their success comes from their ability to unify, with an earnestness and grace that transcends the boundary of language. It's a kind reminder that “like an echo in the forest,” our dark moments will eventually make way for something brighter ahead. Until then, "Life Goes On" is a hand to hold on the way. 

“Hospitality,” the latest single from singer-songwriter Darci Phenix, is an endearing and honest take on the highs and lows of growing up. Galloping drums and lazy guitars line the track as Phenix’s delicate yet confident voice carries listeners through a series of youthful hijinks. The Portland-based artist sprinkles dark humor and charming stories throughout the track to paint a tragic yet hopeful picture of adolescence. “I guess it only makes sense / that fucked up people make fucked up friends,” Phenix passively remarks. If the first half of the track holds a more bleak feeling, the second half is much more optimistic as triumphant horns fade-in, as if to announce better times ahead.

“Risk” is an exploration of the desire for tenderness and connection awake in the hearth of each person, and the courageous recognition that while the fear of being hurt will always be there, the only way to get closer to the possibility of basking in the richness of love is to take the risk. J.E. Sunde’s new album 9 Songs About Love features many different facets of love; and "Risk" depicts an honest and hopeful representation of the feeling that a particular love could be really wonderful, tied to the very real fear of the requirement of vulnerability for intimacy to exist. This track feels hopeful, instrumentally—sanguine with its touches of brass and sustained cheery guitar. Throughout much of “Risk,” it seems like Sunde is considering whether or not to be headstrong, but by the end, he makes it clear, “Love’s a risk that’s worth the risk.” Photo by Adam Wheeler.

The beauty of a tune with a timeless feel allows us to embrace its appeal at all times. This concept becomes a bit tricky when applied to a holiday tune, of course, but if there was ever a holiday tune recorded with the intention of removing the so-called "timestamp" surrounding its relevance within the calendar year, it would be the bird and the bee's 2020 Christmas single, "You And I At Christmas Time." The new gift from the Los Angeles duo instantly blends the warm familiarity of a song discovered in a bustling coffee shop with that of a holiday song that instantly grabs your attention. Inara George's luscious and breezy vocals couple with partner Greg Kurstin's instrumentation to create the perfect middle ground for the song to flourish; the catchiness of the piano and drum machine combination drives the song forward stylistically while also allowing a sense of time suspicion where the listener briefly forgets they're listening to a track for the holidays.

However, George's beautiful vocals and delivery, where love and peace are both evident, reminds us there's absolutely nothing wrong with listening to a holiday track or having a song to return to year after year. It's easy to tell the duo felt the holiday cheer while recording the song. Whether intentional or not, "You And I At Christmas Time" captures the romance of the holidays, with the perfect dosage of catchiness to evoke a beloved Gap holiday commercial from the 1990s—puffy jackets not included. "You And I At Christmas Time" can be found on the duo's new Christmas album, Put Up The Lights, available from No Expectations/Release Me Records.

An echoing guitar introduces this number off of Kacey Johansing’s latest album release, No Better Time, via Night Bloom Records. “Time Lapse Flower” is a poignant chapter in the album’s exploration of love, and like the album as a whole, begs some of love’s most mysterious questions. The lyrics begin as Johansing’s voice tenderly poses one of them: “What is it about us / makes it hard to leave?” The lyrics go on to call up images of nature’s beauty and its mystique, and Johansing’s voice seems a force of nature all its own. She has a gift for songwriting and for metaphor, and her vocals, light and airy, complement her words perfectly. With a backdrop of crisp and measured layered guitars and slow building percussion, “Time Lapse Flower” evokes the gentle, graceful, slow and steady but well-worthwhile progression of a flower’s bloom. Photo by Chantal Anderson.

Ghosts of the past mist through the walls of your bedroom and you find yourself lost in the memory of a lingering presence. Sometimes it feels like you can’t help it — when the memory calls out, it overtakes your senses and you’re left powerless to take the call. For those moments of memory and sensory reemergence, Puma Blue gifts to the world “Opiate,” ahead of his forthcoming debut album, In Praise of Shadows. The track is a sonic embodiment of one’s past coming back to haunt them, even after they were sure they had moved on. Affectional vocals, soul stirring ad libs and a nostalgic keyboard tune are just a few of the gems that truly bring this track to life. The song comes packaged with a minimally ornamented yet visually pleasing music video inspired by a photograph of one of the first internationally recognized Asian-American actresses, Anna May Wong. Puma Blue, also known as Jacob Allen, shared the image on his Instagram the day before the song’s release, stating that the track is “about sensory memory and dreams, and really the first time I’ve written about anxiety.” Allen ends the caption deconstructing the meaning of the song, following with, “Waking from old haunts, wondering how/why they resurfaced in your subconscious, when you were so sure you’d left them behind. But that can be part of realising that you still have some healing to do.”

In Praise of Shadows will be released on February 5, but until then we’ll be wrestling with our subconscious and using “Opiate” as the soundtrack. Photo by Netti Hurley.