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Hannah's Encounters (October 2026) - Hero Fest Edition!
Plus some additional recs :)
Beauty in the Breakdown: Mal Not Bad on Embracing Analog Synths And Dance Culture On “Amorph(e)us”
Mal Not Bad breaks down their single “Amorph(e)us”
Hannah’s Roundup + Hannah update
Reviews of new songs by Slayyyter, Troye Sivan, and most!
Hannah's Mid-Year Roundup
Feat. Sabrina Song, Eliana Glass, Bella Kay, and more
The Israeli Anti-Israel Movie I Can't Shake
Making sense of director Nadav Lapid’s self-flagellating new film YES!
Transient Peak updates!
Hello! It’s been a minute. Full disclosure: I lost my sponsor for Beauty In The Breakdown, so I had to put that on hiatus, but hope to revive it in the future. If I'm able to get more paid subscribers, I'll bring the series back
What Your Favorite Album of 2025 Says About You
Roasting you by your favorite album of 2025, "WAY too many queer discourse jokes" edition
Beauty In The Breakdown: NoSo - “Sugar” and “You’re No Man”
I love NoSo’s When Are You Leaving a lot - a lush record that’s still light on its feet and never feels too intense. Lyrically, it's frequently a gut punch. I wrote the artist bio for the album; here’s an excerpt: On “You’re No Man”
The Transient Peak Interview: Eliza McLamb on Suffering, “Suffering”, Power, and Authenticity
An epic interview with Eliza McLamb unpacking the themes of her new album, "Good Story"
Hannah’s Encounters + a rant about the Taylor Swift album- October 2025
I put out a new song, called “Realign”! It’s a collaboration with Providence artist and dear friend Hey Rel, who heard an early version and immediately wrote a verse from the other perspective. Paris Paloma - Good Boy RIYL: Florence + The Machine, Hozier, hoping Woke will come back one day
Beauty in the Breakdown: Partygirl - Birdspotting
Partygirl is a NYC-based band known for their maximalist arrangements and the singular androgynous alto of Pagona Kytzidis. They’re one of the most inventive, chaotic bands in the entire New York indie scene, garnering a cult following for their relentless live shows and unpredictable song structures. The band’
Hannah's Encounters - September 2025
After - Outbound RIYL: hazy Disney Channel reruns in a hotel room when you're five years old, Hilary Duff, Natalie Imbruglia, Windows XP, Lots of acts are doing this kind of early-2000s revival, but nobody is as convincing as After except for maybe Pale Waves once or twice.
audio
Beauty In The Breakdown: Idarose - Cool Around You
Songwriter Alexis "Idarose" Kesselman breaks down her great new single "Cool Around You".
Lavender Sound: Why Are the Pop Girlies’ Co-Writers and Co-Producers So Rarely LGBTQ+? (Excerpt)
Hi all! Beauty in The Breakdown, my series breaking down music with LGBTQ+ producers, is finally properly returning, and the next few issues will be syndicated on Max Freedman's great Lavender Sound website. I also wrote a review for Mal Blum's excellent new record The Villain,
Doing The Hustle: Boys Go To Jupiter Director Julian Glander on Florida, Karl Marx, and Animating His Beguiling New Movie In Blender
Boys Go to Jupiter, out in theaters in NY via Cartuna and coming soon to a bunch of other places, is an exceptionally silly new film from Julian Glander. His illustrations have blessed newspapers, Dua Lipa’s music videos, and more. He previously released a sweet short about the life
eliza mclamb
Something I Won’t Ever Get: Thoughts On Eliza McLamb’s “Like The Boys”
In her prose and in her lyrics, songwriter Eliza McLamb infuses cultural and societal commentary with a visceral emotional intensity that often feels outright confrontational. This is my reaction to her new song “Like The Boys.”
eliza mclamb
Something I Won’t Ever Get: Thoughts On Eliza McLamb’s “Like The Boys” (EXTENDED)
Hannah’s Encounters - June 2025
I've had Nothing Deep to Say/Beauty in the Breakdown on a hiatus, but I'm starting to put together a list for the next batch and I don't want to jinx anything but it's looking really good :) "Dry Chicken", my
Hannah's Musical Encounters - April 2025
People often ask how I find new music, so this is a new series I'm trying out. I don't really do much different than most critics (and I don't travel into the depths of Bandcamp as much as I should anymore), I just pay
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Beauty In The Breakdown: Baths On His New Indie Rock Album 'Gut'
Will Wiesenfeld (Baths) on his new album, his approach to production, and why he's not a gear-head
movies
Hannah Rambles About Better Man
Yes, he has to be a monkey.
queer
Transient Peak Music Roundup
A round-up of the best queer music from the last two months, featuring Gordi, Katie Tupper, The Ophelias, and many more!
music
What Your Favorite Album Of 2024 Says About You
Roasting you based on your favorite album of 2024