If you are an avid enjoyer of the Music Column of The Gazelle, then listening to music is not a favorite hobby you list in SIG questionnaires. No. It is no hobby at all. Listening to music is sustenance. It is as important to you as water and air and D2 food (which you will be getting more of with the new swipes, congrats!). So, I know you would understand how difficult it is for me to keep my free Spotify subscription now that I am in the States, the land of constant advertisement.

All this to say, this will be a rather short music column because lately I have been, unwillingly, listening to more ads than music. These are the best picks I could gather without much interruption. I hope you get to spend some of your campus job money on Premium and enjoy them to their fullest.

I know you are probably too busy listening to the latest from LISA, Tate McRae, and (surprisingly) G-DRAGON, but do consider breaking your repeat loop for some of these hidden gems.

Off With Her Head by BANKS

Now this is the new sound of pop - tonnes-heavy bass, use of the word “delulu.”, aggressive feminine imagery. I am not the one to recommend pop, as you could probably guess from previous Music Column selections. Yet, BANKS has just created something that is mainstream enough to not scare you away from the next issue of the Music Column but also niche enough for your friends to dust off the Shazam app. And trust me, they will. It is a delicious album.

Where Butterflies Go in the Rain by Raveena

Did you order some pop with heavy jazz influences? Right away, esteemed guests! For the fans of Laufey who are trying out some positivism this spring for a change, I present to you Raveena, the only Indian-American soloist at Coachella. Her latest record is all butterflies (it’s even in the title) and softness, brought to you by the seamless fusion of Indian instruments, tingly Latin guitars, and smooth trumpets. Perfect for playing out loud in a CLOSED study room in the library. Your study group can thank me next semester when I come back from my study away.

GREY Area by Little Simz (released 1 March 2019)

No wonder this is the album that brought Little Simz into the spotlight of UK rap and front centerstage of the international scene. This is where she debuted her now signature use of orchestral music in her instrumentals, especially pronounced in the opener “Offence” and her viral song “Venom”, right in the middle of this 10-track rollercoaster of an album. The tracks transition into one another seamlessly, creating a very cinematic narrative. This album is as much a pep talk from your trainer at the gym as it is a hymnal you would perform at church. The scholars of feminine rage would truly love GREY Area. It is also a good time to listen to this one before she hits us with her next masterpiece this May.

I simply have to go with the obvious here. March 7, 2025. Save the date and schedule the parties: Lady Gaga is dropping her new album MAYHEM - and it is the old Gaga. The choreography-in-latex Gaga. The immediately-memorable-chorus Gaga. The emo/goth-inspired-pop-queen Gaga. We all appreciate progress, but pop music truly peaked in the early 2000s, and maybe some of that sound needs to make a comeback. Let Gaga lead the movement again. Britney next?