It’s Not All Downhill From Here

A sharp examination of the looming financial catastrophe of retirement in America.

Jackson Browne has always been a seeker. Not that he's opposed to writing a catchy melody or having a hit single (both of which he's done repeatedly), but Browne's always wanted his music to make a difference, to say something important, to express through his eyes the human condition. On Downhill From Everywhere, his 15th album, and first in six years, Browne is who he has always been: the earnest, bittersweet, careful songcrafter who needs to find truth and meaning. It's a reality he acknowledges in the very SoCal opening track, "Still Looking for Something" where he admits he's "way out over my due date," and yet still searching for "something he can hold up to the light," concluding that if all he finds is "freedom" it's alright. Not quite strong enough to be the hooky hit he was probably hoping for, the first single "Cleveland Heart" is another typical Browne construct, about an organ he clearly thinks is at the center of human folly and triumph. While Browne visits Spain in the lively and Latin-flavored "A Song for Barcelona" and Haiti in "Love is Love," he returns to American shores and rocks hard in the title track where the fruited plain, K street, and acronyms including the NRA, GOP, and ICE, reflect "man's ambition and vanity."

Beginning with the haunting alt-pop smash “Ocean Eyes” in 2016, Billie Eilish made it clear she was a new kind of pop star—an overtly awkward introvert who favors chilling melodies, moody beats, creepy videos, and a teasing crudeness à la Tyler, The Creator. Now 17, the Los Angeles native—who was homeschooled along with her brother and co-writer, Finneas O’Connell—presents her much-anticipated debut album, a melancholy investigation of all the dark and mysterious spaces that linger in the back of our minds. Sinister dance beats unfold into chattering dialogue from The Office on “my strange addiction,” and whispering vocals are laid over deliberately blown-out bass on “xanny.” “There are a lot of firsts,” says Finneas. “Not firsts like ‘Here’s the first song we made with this kind of beat,’ but firsts like Billie saying, ‘I feel in love for the first time.’ You have a million chances to make an album you're proud of, but to write the song about falling in love for the first time? You only get one shot at that.”

Beginning with the haunting alt-pop smash “Ocean Eyes” in 2016, Billie Eilish made it clear she was a new kind of pop star—an overtly awkward introvert who favors chilling melodies, moody beats, creepy videos, and a teasing crudeness à la Tyler, The Creator. Now 17, the Los Angeles native—who was homeschooled along with her brother and co-writer, Finneas O’Connell—presents her much-anticipated debut album, a melancholy investigation of all the dark and mysterious spaces that linger in the back of our minds. Sinister dance beats unfold into chattering dialogue from The Office on “my strange addiction,” and whispering vocals are laid over deliberately blown-out bass on “xanny.” “There are a lot of firsts,” says Finneas. “Not firsts like ‘Here’s the first song we made with this kind of beat,’ but firsts like Billie saying, ‘I feel in love for the first time.’ You have a million chances to make an album you're proud of, but to write the song about falling in love for the first time? You only get one shot at that.”

Essentials Pop Punk is a 2021 compilation which shows how punk rock is still very much alive over 40 years after it was originally created. It features well known classic bands plus the ten's of those who were heavily influenced by punk's glory as it entered into pop rage. This was released by Apple Music.