Welcome to the July 2022 edition of Emerging Talents’ Tracks Round-Up, where each month I pick three songs from different artists and briefly review them!
All artists were selected and contacted on Musosoup. The bios were kindly provided by the artists themselves.
If you’re an artist and would like to know how to submit your track/EP/album/music video on Musosoup, check my referral link right here.
“in the water” – bukky sky
Giving out hardcore summer vibes, bukky sky’s “in the water” will make the perfect soundtrack for your lazy Sunday mornings.
The song’s arrangement consists of percussions with very minimalistic electric guitar strokes here and there. Occasionally, we’ll hear some arpeggios embellishing the whole thing in the background. The instrumentals alone are a light breeze easing the heat as you sunbathe on the beach—or is it just me that envisions this scenario?
The second verse presents a shift in vocal melodies with the addition of some piano chords in the background, but the song promptly picks up again like in the first verse and chorus while it comes to an end.
“There’s trouble in the water, there’s trouble in the sky / There’s trouble in the water, and I don’t mean to lie,” he sings in the chorus, alternating between high- and low-pitched vocals. Bukky’s voice is sweet, smooth like butter, and it perfectly suits the song’s vibes.
Website: http://www.bukkysky.com
Instagram: @bukkysky
“hey pretty boy” – Juliana Dominguez
“One, two. One, two, three, four.” A classical start for a rock n’ roll song. But Juliana Dominguez’s “hey pretty boy” is all but loud and high-energy. As a matter of fact, her voice will get you so relaxed that, at least for the duration of the song, you’ll forget about everything else.
The premise is very simple: the artist is dedicating this song to a “pretty boy.” But this time, gender roles are reversed: she is singing to her sweetheart (her “male muse”) expressing how she cannot wait to meet him again. The steady drums perfectly sustain her vocals, and the light sound effects at “so what you gonna do” and “I’ll be waitin’ for you” are a nice detail that brings out the innocence and playfulness of the song.
The song is chill and perfect to listen to to freshen up a hot summer. However, besides the electric guitar-driven instrumentals, it is the artist’s super sweet voice that turns out to be the most enjoyable part of this song, and what will ultimately have you hit replay over and over again.
Website: http://www.julianadominguez.com
Instagram: @thejulianadominguez
“New Year’s Resolutions” – Kaiyah Mercedes
Though we’re still far from celebrating the New Year and assessing how well we did in pursuing our resolutions, Kaiyah Mercedes‘s heartbreaking ballad “New Year’s Resolutions” will make the strongest among you tear up and the most nostalgic burst out crying.
Entirely driven by a hauntingly beautiful piano arrangement, the track vividly portrays the feelings you get right before the new year kicks in: “Champagne with our friends all cheering / New year new me this feeling.”
However, in the first chorus, the lyrics shift in tone, showing the artist’s conflict over something we do not yet know. After singing, “these high hopes turn into empty promises,” we have to ask ourselves: what is the artist so heartbroken about? And we get our answer in the second verse.
Reminding me of FINNEAS’s unconventional Christmas song “Another Year,” Kaiyah’s romantic lyrics perfectly find their spot between being “too shallow” and “cheesy.” I will list my favorite lines below:
- “You were my picture-perfect muse / And time flies but I guess that’s old news.”
- “I’ll make it on my own somehow / And life could maybe turn out how I’d always dreamed it / But I still see you in it.”
- “When you’re so scared to lose that someone you love / You start to lose part of you too.”
It’s like she’s thinking out loud, and I love the unpredictable turns this song takes. I will definitely think about it next time I make my New Year’s resolutions.
Website: http://www.kaiyahmercedes.com
Instagram: @kaiyahmercedes
Cover image credits: Kaiyah Mercedes / Instagram
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