Feb 2026 // False Spring
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Jump to the playlist on Apple Music here!
February was cold, sunny, and just as perfect for cozying up with a good book in a sunbeam as it was for walking around late at night, cloud-breath bursting. Lots of classics, but also lots of new songs here—seems like many artists were waiting until we were a little further into the year to release some heat.
// FULL PLAYLIST
01: Thomas Powers & Rob Moose - “Limerence”
02: Atlas in Motion - “Come Home”
03: Norah Jones - “Don’t Know Why”
04: Men I Trust - “Found Me”
05: Night Tapes - “storm”
06: Garrison Ulrich - “Chasing Fate (feat. Relative1Pitch)”
07: Taylor Swift - “Opalite”
08: Olivia Dean - “Nice To Each Other”
09: Kyan - “Thorn in Paradise”
10: Crumb - “Locket”
11: Audioslave - “Show Me How to Live”
12: Above, Below - “I Have Lost My Appetite for Spring”
13: Don Broco & Nickelback - “Nightmare Tripping”
14: Breakdown of Sanity - “Dead Flowers”
15: Knocked Loose - “Hive Mind (feat. Denzel Curry)”
16: Johnny Booth - “Choke”
// SPOTLIGHTS
Kyan - “Thorn in Paradise”
Kyan has always been one of my favorite voices, even outside the consideration that he does the vast majority, if not all, of his production himself! “Lonely River” has been one of my favorite soul-influenced-RnB tracks for a long time, but I’ve been a Kyan fan ever since he popped up on my radar through Madeon’s track “You’re On” off his critically acclaimed project Adventure. I started gobbling up anything Kyan I could find. His EPs Remote View and Days in a Triangle were instant classics for me (“Cold Friend” and “Wire on the Fences” go hard), but this new track combines some of his more positive-sounding writing with the funky sound that he pioneered on tracks like “Grammar” and the aforementioned “Lonely River.” The vocal layering is exquisite, the groove is infectious, and the “hmmmm” breakdown is just ear candy. Incredible comeback from this lovely musician.
Above, Below - “I Have Lost My Appetite for Spring”
A very early contender for my album of the year. Above, Below have been blowing my mind ever since I came across them during the album rollout for their 2019 project The Lotus Chapters. Vocalist Jacob Wilkes stuns with deep lows and soaring highs, with a nasally distortion that colors the timbre of his voice to the extent that even far back in the mix it’s captivating. This album, and this song in particular, feel huge, impactful, and resonant, especially considering the entire project was fully self-produced, mixed, and mastered in-house by Wilkes. An ascendant chorus, combined with a song structure that screams “we’re breaking through the clouds into something brighter” and reinforced by lyrics that so perfectly fit the feeling of the track when they arrive that I can’t imagine this song being written with a single part being any other way. A masterclass in modern prog metalcore, and a song and album that have me thinking that this sound is done. They did it. It’s the capstone, let’s all take photos and go do something else with the next decade of metalcore (I say this as both a compliment to Above, Below and a dig at the broad lack of originality in the metal scene right now).
Knocked Loose - “Hive Mind (feat. Denzel Curry)”
Another completely original offering to the world of modern metalcore, Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry team up to create something that absolutely bleeds both of their styles without compromising on any front. Denzel is a real one, and he and the Knocked Loose boys know ball. It’s the perfect combination of both genres into something that (I hope) signifies the way that genres will continue to be expanded through blending—the late 90s and early 2000s can’t be the only decades with popular genre blend rock tunes. Also, “I don’t care that you hate yourself” is a bar and a half.
