Music
“Can I be there?” by Stephan Folkes is a letter to the power of standing alone
Surrounded by constant buzzing and distraction, Stephan Folkes dares to sit with silence and turns it into a melody you won’t forget. His most recent single, “Can I be there?” is a delicate, stripped-down anthem that arcs its way through even the quietest of the soul. “Can I be there?” comes across like an open journal entry, raw, honest, and unworried about the dark. Stephan’s voice will be both intimate and resonant, leading everyone through a landscape of emotional solitude in which strength doesn’t always roar but instead whispers, reflects, and gently asks, can I exist in this place with all of me intact?
It’s also a promising precursor to Hazard, Stephan Folkes’s debut album, which appears to be a deeply emotional and diverse body of work. If this track is any indication, Hazard is a journey through inner territory. While “Can I be there?” delves into loneliness, it also succeeds in honoring it, taking isolation, and turning it into a space that is necessary for healing, understanding, and growing. What sets this song apart is that it won’t disguise vulnerability. Instead, it goes all in. The setting is stark, nothing is overproduced, and every note sounds like it’s been meaningfully, if also sparingly, chosen. That sonic restraint affords room for Stephan’s lyrics to breathe and, most importantly, to hit. You don’t simply hear the longing in his voice, you feel it in your chest.
“Can I be there?” makes its home in the in-between, the sights we tend to speed by, grief, solitude, and instances of spiritual dissonance, and discovers a sort of stillness there. Stephan invites us to listen, not just to him, but to feel alongside him and pose our own questions about where we belong in those quiet moments. This is a reminder that sometimes, being alone isn’t always about being empty, it’s about making space for the truth to arrive. With this release, Stephan Folkes is constructing a mirror.
Artist Spotlight
Lana Crow turns challenges into a celebration with “Laugh With You”
“Laugh With You,” the latest single from Lana Crow, is a sincere rallying cry to embrace life in all its messy, beautiful mess. In the song, indie pop and alt-pop combine to deliver an emotional blow that feels both personal and universal.
“Laugh With You” feels like an instant connection, and Crow is telling you stories of hard times with a cozy, knowing smile. This song is as much about struggle as it is about how strong you are. It serves as a reminder that these struggles are simply what give us the strength to keep going, even when life is tough.
Crow encourages people to welcome them, create happiness in the cracks, and laugh even as the world gets heavy. The result is a song that delicately nudges you to love and embrace yourself. It is an anthem for anyone experiencing tough times who refuses to give up hope. Lana Crow continues to demonstrate her songwriting skills, both musically pleasing and emotionally rich, with “Laugh With You.”
It’s a reminder that it’s how we respond to tough times, rather than how they affect us, that’s key. With this song, not only does Crow provide us with music, but she also lets us know that sometimes a laugh is what we need to remember that there is always something to smile about and that, even when it feels like life has waged war against you, laughter can still be found.
Artist Spotlight
Lisa Boostani creates a mesmerizing tidal realm in “Ocean”
Lisa Boostani’s “Ocean” takes you deep into a sensory world where body, spirit, and myth come together, beyond the surface of genre. Boostani makes a soundscape that is both ethereal and deeply human by combining the broad essence of psychedelic pop with the strong appeal of alternative rock.
Her voice rises as if it is coming from deep within her, shaped by emotion rather than action. She intentionally channels the intangible, turning weakness into strength rather than a source of pain, and “Ocean” tells people to get involved in this inner world, not just watch it. This release is an integral part of her first EP, “One,” which will come out in March 2026 and is based on love, sensuality, and unity.
If “Ocean” is any indication, the EP will show sensuality not as something pretty, but as a kind of spiritual intelligence, a way to know yourself by connecting with others. The song’s textures and structure have an aquatic quality, moving between clarity and delirium, rhythm and freedom. Its emotional focus is on immersion instead of resolution.
The striking quality of “Ocean” is the blend of the mystical worlds. Boostani understands that strength often shows up as gentleness and that deep feelings are better expressed through frequencies than words. She wants people to see consciousness as immediacy, sensation as truth, and openness as an undeniable strength.
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