Although it’s our shortest month, February can often feel never-ending in many ways; snowstorms, unpredictable weather and midterm exams have made this month feel especially long for me this year. Unlike the weather, my music listening habits are something I can control and remain intentional with, and for that reason I’ve found so much comfort in discovering new music this month.
These are the musical discoveries that made my February a little brighter.
“Fountain Baby” by Amaarae
Amaarae’s sophomore record “Fountain Baby,” which was released in 2023, is the most interesting and experimental album I’ve heard so far this year. The way it blends R&B, Afropop and contemporary pop creates a soundscape that is textured and full. Her vocals are so high-pitched and breathy they almost feel like too much, but they work well with the album’s maximalist, hyper-digital production.
Through vibrant synths, lush orchestration and hyper-feminine, airy vocals, this record was such a captivating listen – I never knew what kinds of sounds to expect when a new track began. I found that the album’s bold creativity made for an extremely refreshing and enjoyable listening experience. “Princess Going Digital” and “Co-Star” are the two tracks from this album I return to the most for their addictive hooks and catchiness.
This album is audacious, vibrant and complex, and I especially can’t wait to return to it in the summertime. I was unfamiliar with Amaarae’s music prior to my discovery of “Fountain Baby,” which was released in between 2020's “THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW” and 2025’s “BLACK STAR.” I’m interested not only in her past work but in whatever she does next -- I think she is such a unique artist who is blending genres in a way I’m not really hearing from anyone else in music right now.
Ever since my first full listen of Esthero’s 56-minute 1998 album “Breath From Another,” I’ve been longing to listen to it in a big city. Its trip hop foundations are ornamented with electronic and jazz flourishes, creating a sound that is sleek, mellow and sparkling, which I think makes it perfectly suited to listening through wired headphones on a late-night walk through the bright lights of a city.
“Heaven Sent” and “That Girl” are tracks that stood out to me as great representations of this album’s playful, confident moments. I also love how the production and vocal processing on “Half a World Away” are so sonically immersive it almost feels as though you’re listening to the song from underwater. “Lounge,” one of the album’s more jazz-sounding tracks, is a perfect blend of trip hop production and grand, swinging brass instrumentation.
Since Mitski’s 2023 album “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” which quickly became my favorite album of hers, I’ve been excited to see what kind of creative territory she would venture into next. Her eighth studio album “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me,” which was released Feb. 27, has been a treat to receive as an avid fan of her writing and musicality.
When I heard the record’s second single, “I’ll Change For You,” I was hoping the rest of the album would share similar smooth jazz instrumentals. This song has truly lingered with me as one of Mitski’s most special and interesting songs; I absolutely love the contrast between the song’s elevator music instrumental and its plainly devastating lyrics.
Instead, I found that most songs on the record more closely resembled its chaotic lead single “Where’s My Phone?” in terms of somewhat folksy, swinging instrumentation. Featuring live and at times brash instrumentals, the album is the most theatrical Mitski has ever sounded. She revisits motifs of cats and death to illustrate an overall feeling of maddening loneliness, and her writing is extremely cutting and precise as always. Although it is a very recent discovery, I’m eager to experience more full listens of this album and connect with it even more deeply over time as I’ve done with most of Mitski’s past work.
