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NASHVILLE SINGER-SONGWRITER TAYLOR NOELLE RELEASES DEBUT EP “BE AROUND”

Pop singer-songwriter and colorful creative director Taylor Noelle releases her debut EP “Be Around.” Equal parts euphoric and introspective, the “Be Around” EP is a bold introduction & succinct insight into who Taylor Noelle is as an artist & songwriter. The LA-born, Nashville-raised singer-songwriter has a knack for weaving honest storytelling with glittery & infectious sonics, bridging together her eclectic influences & inspirations, from Maggie Rogers and HAIM to Tame Impala and SZA.

The 6-track EP is the culmination of over three years of releases brought together to tell a story — from coping with anxiety and despair to learning to embrace & lean into patience and love. Featuring production by Ghosthood (FAYV, Lukr, Liz Huett), Bobby Knepper (Dreamer Boy, Houston Kendrick), and Reed Berin (GAYLE, James Droll), the project melts together forward-thinking pop sensibilities with vintage 70s-inspired sparkle.

The title track, written with Taylor’s good friend and collaborator Bobby Knepper (Dreamer Boy, Houston Kendrick), was inspired by someone close to Taylor Noelle coping with a difficult time with their mental health. Written from the perspective of someone wanting to ease their pain, Taylor hopes the song lets people know they are not alone in their struggles. “It’s a song about showing up for someone and loving them when everything seems dark to them. Even if I can’t fix your problems for you, I can just be with you and be there for you. The difficult times that I have been through have given me the experience to know how to show up going through something similar.”

So, it seemed only natural as I approached making a video for the song to use my childhood home videos. Directing and editing this video was very special to me. It offered me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my childlike, goofy, creative, confident, loud, unique self. It let me witness the love of my parents and family as I grew under their care.

I hope that this song can help anyone that feels small and dark and alone. The sun will always rise again. Offer yourself love and patience and kindness in the meantime.

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The song and the EP as a whole both have taken on a new meaning after 2020. “As I lived with the song for more than a year before putting it out, it started to take on a new meaning for me. With the isolation of quarantine, I found myself falling into cycles of sadness and anxiety. While I had amazing people around me who continued to love and support me, I found myself realizing that I had to learn to show up for myself and offer the same love and patience that felt more natural to offer to others. I learned to recognize and love my inner child.”

Speaking on the EP Taylor explains “This collection of songs tells the story of a particular chapter of my life beginning with fear, anxiety, and desperation and closing with clarity, patience, and love. Writing and recording these songs offered me the opportunity to process pain, celebrate love, and grow deeper into myself. It feels right to wrap up these songs into a project because of how deeply tied they all feel to each other to me, to allow them to tell the full story.”

 

Taylor Noelle is equal parts glittering pop star, introspective songwriter, and colorful creative director. Her songs — a collection of blurry, beautiful moments recalling love and frustration — showcase her dedication to deep musicality and honest storytelling. Her Los Angeles-to-Nashville upbringing is evident in the variety of sonic and lyrical influences that emerge in her sound. Her songs melt together modern and retro sounds with confessional, emotional lyricism. Her influences range from Maggie Rogers and HAIM to Tame Impala and SZA.

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Natalie is a journalism major with a focus on Entertainment and Music who aspires to become a Content Creator For Honk Magazine. Eventually, she wants to be the Publisher or Editor-in-Chief of a major Publishing House. She loves helping people find their voice and passion for writing and journalism, and she can always be found with coffee in hand, editing another article.

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Artist Spotlight

Janiq blooms boldly on ‘Flowers and Fantasies’

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Janiq releases her new single, “Flowers and Fantasies,” a lush Pop-R&B cut that intertwines her UK-Caribbean heritage with such magical precision. It breaks the glucose level for once but is devastating. From the second the track starts, a magnetic pull of attraction draws you in that initial brushing of tips of fingers, that hushed secret in the dark.

Built on open synths, slinky melodies, and a rhythm that’s as sultry as it is smooth, “Flowers and Fantasies” is a track built for moonlit moments and slow-burning tension, exuding a confidence that’s intimate but never overwhelming. In 70 minutes, Janiq has you doubting and fearing everything. She understands the power of suggestion, and here, she exercises that power with the deftness of a maestro.

She navigates the precarious terrain between yearning and giving in, capturing the particular kind of magic of being completely in your desires. This is about permission, letting go, and drawing on the fearless and freeing type of emotional vulnerability. The fantasy is the embrace of all that is real, raw, and blooming below and above the surface. But what makes Janiq different is how she turns her dual identity into sound. There are hints of Caribbean warmth in her vocal cadence, an unmistakable UK polish in the production, but never at any point does it feel forced. She’s carving her own space in the genre, and it sounds fucking good.

With “Flowers and Fantasies,” Janiq provides a lush, tender, and intoxicating experience. It’s the kind of music that remains after the song has ended, like the lingering smell of perfume on a pillow or the fading echo of a late-night confession.

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As Pop and R&B twist and turn deeper into their next eras, Janiq demonstrates that there is still plenty of space for softness and sensuality, with strength blossoming just below the surface. It may be her most recent release, but if this is the sound of what’s to come, we’re more than eager for the bouquet.

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Artist Spotlight

Wabi Sabi turns shadows into soundscapes with hauntingly beautiful “Nightmares”

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Wabi Sabi is here to turn discomfort into comfort with their new single, “Nightmares.” At first listen, the track seems like a musical, fragile but disturbing, dreamy yet earthly. But that’s where the magic comes in. True to the title’s spirit, “Nightmares” travels an emotional terrain of the unknown, where the surreal borderlands of fear and wonder creep in slow time.

The song begins like a soft fog moving into a sleepy town, which is exactly what it should be. Picking up on a strange but gentle vibe, anxiety hums softly beneath warm, smiling faces. Wabi Sabi shades us into a world where nothing is quite as it seems. The production is lusciously spare, giving room for everything to breathe. Ethereal synth layers curl like vapor over textured, throbbing percussion, and a fragile vocal delivery leaves the listener feeling simultaneously naked and soothed.

It’s within that contradiction that “Nightmares” flourishes. Wabi Sabi channels the angst of acclimating to something new, a place, a feeling, or perhaps, a version of self, but also roots this discomfort in something perfectly welcoming. The track acts as a lullaby for the emo-enough displaced, a safe space in a world that feels manic and chaotic. Instead of heading toward melodrama or overproduction, “Wabi Sabi” is inward-focused. Every note seems deliberate, like a footfall in strange terrain. The lyrics are poetic and enigmatic, and although they don’t stray too far from cliché, they allow for interpretation. You’re not merely listening to the story but at its center.

“Nightmares” are less about fear than the human condition in which we orient ourselves in the strange and foreign, how we cope when our inner worlds have turned upside down. It’s meditative, a slow exhalation in a noisy room. With this release, Wabi Sabi crafts a simple song and a feeling. Like the villagers, who smiled big and warm despite the strangeness surrounding them, “Nightmares” asks how we can find beauty, even in the shadows.

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