Release Radar: March 2022

At the end of each month, Afterglow presents a staff-picked list of new albums and singles that left a lasting impression on our ears. 

Written by Afterglow Staffers

Photos courtesy of The Let Go, Tyler Borchardt, and Dennis Larance

Here are our favorite albums and singles released during March 2022. For more reviews of recent releases, check out our album review page.

Shiny Singles We Loved This Month:

“The Ick” by Panic Shack

The Welsh all-female punk rockers teased their upcoming EP Baby Shack by dropping a red-hot new single “The Ick,” an impassioned spoken-word monologue regaling a date-gone-awry backed by coarse electric guitar riffs and punctuated with rough-and-tumble percussion. 

“Shotgun” by Soccer Mommy

Singer-songwriter Sophie Allison is back under her indie rock moniker with a ‘90s-tinged lead single for her upcoming record Sometimes, Forever. An overdriven, wily, depiction of love, this fiery song is produced by electronic experimentalist Oneohtrix Point Never.

“Baby Blackout” by Daisy Grenade

The lead single from Daisy Grenade’s debut EP Sophomore Slump features lyrics originally written by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy fame, but the Brooklyn pop punk duo make the angsty track their own with grungy guitars and punchy, distorted drums.

WHAT’S AFTER ‘I LOVE YOU?’ BY MALIA

Combining soul, jazz, and R&B influences, Los Angeles-based singer MALIA does not disappoint with her heartfelt melodies on What’s After “I Love You?” In just eight songs, she traverses the different stages of a failed relationship, all the way from its beginning to the red flags and breaks to its ultimate end. The EP opens with “Falling Fast (Interlude 1),” a soft instrumental filled with the smooth jazz-tinged sounds of saxophone, trumpet, and keys present in the rest of the EP. In “More Than Love,” her titular words, “What’s after ‘I love you?’” set up the theme of heartbreak, with MALIA reminiscing on the care-free memories she and her ex shared. Similar to the jazz elements present in “Falling Fast (Interlude 1),” “Currency” picks up the tempo, illustrating the story of dating a toxically masculine man. This EP also focuses on those who are faced with new emotions after heartache, as shown in “Only One,” which discusses unrequited love and coming to the realization that you loved your ex longer than they loved you. MALIA’s vocals soothe the soul as she introspectively uses creativity to heal from loss. A vulnerable masterpiece through and through, this EP allows the listener to share in loss with MALIA to see that there is life after heartbreak and beauty can come from pain. — Mahina Adams

Support MALIA on Spotify and Apple Music.

DELETE MY FEELINGS EP BY THE LET GO

Packed to the brim with airy beats, dreamy vocals, and laid-back riffs, alt-pop duo The Let Go combine their American roots with their adopted UK home to create a vibrant-yet-gritty second EP. With indie-pop, hip-hop, and pop-punk influences, the 19-year-olds dive into failed relationships and hopelessness in this six-track project. Opening with title track “Delete My Feelings” a Siri-esque voice asks, “Why do I always feel so lonely?” Lead vocalist Cole Bleu’s vocals float with melancholic lyrics about heartache in “Vegas.” She recalls, “I still think about the time you walked out the door.” While most songs maintain a chill vibe, the duo deviates with “Last Year’s Model Club.” Lead guitarist, Scout, takes a more punk edge, with Bleu chanting, “I hope you feel like shit / Why do you even exist / Go give your new girl a kiss,” over the upbeat rhythm. The EP closes with “Ghost,” a track centered around divulging the lack of closure from the relationship. “Are you the ghost hanging out in my front room? / Always feel something there that was gone too soon,” Bleu confesses over a slow, somber beat. In its rawest form, this break-up album is a deep dive into young love, the heartbreak that those relationships create, and the emotions that come with the fallout: anger, misery, and hope. — Olivia Abercrombie

Support The Let Go on Spotify and Apple Music.

GEORGIA GOTHIC BY MATTIEL

Image courtesy of ATO Records

Like the iconic Grant Wood painting “American Gothic” — which frontwoman Mattiel Brown and producer Jonah Swilley reimagine by donning red jumpsuits and pitchforks — the Atlanta duo’s third album Georgia Gothic balances the familiarity of everyday life with elements of the uncanny. The album opens with dreamy lead single “Jeff Goldblum,” an ethereal ode to a "Jurassic Park"-era Goldblum lookalike who Brown imagines meeting in a bathroom. The song stands out from darker tracks such as the haunting, folk horror-esque “Blood in the Yolk,” which sees Brown hoping to repair a potentially doomed relationship. But both songs excel in depicting the yearning brought on by pandemic isolation, which the duo frequently reflect on throughout the album. On “Other Plans,” Brown embraces the positive aspects of seclusion, declaring, “What an amazing thing, the whole world has a chance / To have a happening and surrender other plans,” over bluesy guitar from Swilley. Whether the duo long for the simplicities of the past or the potential for a better future, together Brown and Swilley make Georgia Gothic a hauntingly hopeful listen. — Audrey Vieira

Support Mattiel on Spotify and Apple Music.

PRECIOUS THING BY ALLEGRA KRIEGER

The New York City singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger brings a delicate and divine sensation to her music in her third album Precious Things. The opening track in this album is a joy to hear — one can feel her fingers gliding along the frets to form chords on her glistening guitar. Her lyrics are captivating. She conveys her feelings honestly and bluntly without being aggressive in the lyrics of "Wake Me If I'm Asleep": “In our beauty there is pain, in our pain there is gain … Losing is what I fear most.” In "Walking" she describes so simply yet wonderfully the love and pain that come when you are not with the person you love in a rather mundane world (“I went back to the city … all the lovers have faces and bodies / But none of them even amounted to you”). Accompanied by these astute lyrics, her mesmerizing voice, and other stringed instruments, Krieger welcomes the listener into her raw search of existing and being in this world: exploring the need to letting go in order to be happy in “Let Go” and surveying how mundane but also exciting life can be in “Walking.” Her vocals are reminiscent of Sarit Hadad’s and Tamino’s Middle Eastern vocal techniques, which is unique to hear in folk music as well as an absolute delight. Allegra Krieger is the new voice of folk music, and a force to be reckoned with. — Natalie Weinberg

Support Allegra Krieger on Spotify and Apple Music.

IT WAS A HOME BY KAINA

Image courtesy of City Slang

Chicago-born artist KAINA creates a contemporary soul feel that welcomes listeners with open arms in her third studio album It Was A Home. The album begins with “Anybody Can Be in Love,'' wherein KAINA invites her audience to her search for unconditional adoration, confidence, and acceptance. KAINA maintains a dreamy, soulful atmosphere even when discussing her insecurities and desires for a partner. In “Come Back As A Flower," “In My Mind,” and “Sweetness,” KAINA recreates a niche feeling of constantly trying to catch up to those who fit into the stereotypical beauty standard when it comes to romantic milestones as well as the desperation to obtain typical Eurocentric features. However, KAINA does away with this melancholia as the album transitions from “Come Back As A Flower'' to “Blue.” Here, R&B influences take over as she recalls experiences she has with her lover under a blue sky. The LP ends with “Golden Mirror'' as KAINA expulses her feelings of unworthiness by looking inward at herself, and at couples in love, as evidence fueling her hope for the future. It Was A Home is a story of healing found through the long-proven prescription of self-love and acceptance.

— Sydney Meier

Support KAINA on Spotify and Apple Music. 

THE OPENING, OR CLOSING OF A DOOR BY KRISTINE LESCHPER

Serving as the first full-length album released by recently-solo Kristine Leschper, The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door, is an ethereal breath of fresh air. Throughout the album exist different versions and stories of love, whether melancholic or blissful. The record opens with “This Animation,” a twinkly, delicate track that makes you feel like you’re free-falling through the troposphere. Each track is experimental in its own way, with “Writhe and Wrestle” incorporating an airy vocal mix. The wispy, angelic sounds that appear throughout the Philadelphia native's debut are more impactful when contrasted against the groovy bass lines found in other parts of the album, specifically on “Picture Window” and “All That You Never Wanted.” Leschper’s sweet, light voice flirts so well with the grounding rhythms, leaving the listener somewhere between here and heaven. Leschper recently left folk band Mothers to pursue a solo career under Epitaph Records. Her album feels simultaneously larger than life and like a little secret made just for listeners, with every song appealing to different parts of the heart and soul. — Maci Jean

Support Kristine Leschper on Spotify and Apple Music.