Sound On

The ARTery’s ongoing Sound On series highlights rising local musicians.

Left to right, Daniel Radin, Colby Blauvelt, Maya Mortman and Amy Hoffman of Future Teens. (OJ Slaughter for WBUR)

Future Teens Make Sadness Sound Like Fun

The Boston-based emo band has its heart in pop music and wears its sadness on its sleeve.

WBUR News

06:58Aug 26, 2021

Van Buren Records (OJ Slaughter for WBUR)

Brockton Rap Collective Van Buren Records Is Making A Name For Itself And Its City

Van Buren is charting new terrain for a city which must also adapt to the tides of development. They’re the rap game’s best kept secret, but like most good things,...

WBUR News

08:05Jul 1, 2021

Indie jazz band Really From. (OJ Slaughter for WBUR)

Indie Jazz Band Really From Is Reframing Its Origin Story

Really From’s upcoming self-titled album doubles as a freshly focused declaration of the artistic direction the band has honed over the past seven years, unpacking the complexities of identity and...

WBUR News

08:39Mar 11, 2021

Hip-Hop Broke $ean Wire's Heart, And Healed It

The Boston rapper is an artist at once tormented by and in love with the act of self-expression. “Music was always the medicine to what I was feeling," Wire says....

WBUR News

06:39Feb 11, 2021

Squirrel Flower. (OJ Slaughter for WBUR)

With Pure Vocals And Brash Guitars, Squirrel Flower Writes Her Origin Story

The music of Ella Williams, a.k.a. Squirrel Flower, is expansive and melancholy and preternaturally sensitive to the taut threads of power that run, invisible, through relationships.

WBUR News

06:42Mar 5, 2020

Ezra Furman Is Finally Making The Punk Music Of Her Teenage Dreams

Out with a new soundtrack to the Netflix series "Sex Education," the singer-songwriter Ezra Furman is making Boston home.

WBUR News

10:52Feb 14, 2020

Frances Garrett, who performs as Frances Forever. (Courtesy of the artist)

In Sad Songs With Happy Melodies, Frances Forever Captures The Uncertainty Of Young Adulthood

The bedroom pop act has attracted tens of thousands of streams on Spotify with her odd, yet accessible, songs.

WBUR News

07:06Aug 19, 2019

Rapper Latrell James. (Courtesy Niklas Weikert)

Latrell James Was Ready To Drop An Album. Then He Decided To Start Over From Scratch

The Dorchester-born rapper adopted a different approach to crafting his songs. He stopped writing, started emoting.

WBUR News

04:39Jun 28, 2019

Vocalist Aubrey Haddard. (Courtesy Darius Hale)

Aubrey Haddard Finds Power In The Subtleties Of Her Voice

The Cambridge-based musician has the kind of voice that divas are made of, and is well-poised for national success.

WBUR News

06:51Feb 6, 2019

Cambridge-based band Billy Wylder. (Courtesy Nate Wieselquist)

Cambridge Rock Outfit Billy Wylder Finds Its Roots In Resistance And Sound In Reverence

Frontman Avi Salloway's songs are urgent calls to action written over syncopated rhythms and mesmeric guitar riffs.

WBUR News

07:06Nov 7, 2018

Photocomfort and Anjimile perform in Anjimile's apartment. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Boston Singer-Songwriter Anjimile Mines Blissful Melodies From Melancholy Thoughts

The musician explores transgender dysphoria and mental health in their latest release, "Colors."

WBUR News

06:43Aug 2, 2018

Rapper and music producer Billy Dean Thomas at Pink Noise in Somerville. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The Radical Ambition Of Billy Dean Thomas, The ‘Queer B.I.G.’

"I’m more than just an emcee, I’m more than just whatever box people want to put me in," says the Boston-based artist.

WBUR News

07:21Jun 14, 2018

Musician Sidney Gish. (Courtesy Xinyuan Chen)

Sidney Gish, Boston’s Bandcamp Phenom

The music of the rising bedroom pop sensation is marked by an adventurous impulse -- an eagerness to try, and even fail at, new things.

WBUR News

06:05Mar 28, 2018

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Sound On

Future Teens Make Sadness Sound Like Fun

WBUR News

Brockton Rap Collective Van Buren Records Is Making A Name For Itself And Its City

WBUR News

Indie Jazz Band Really From Is Reframing Its Origin Story

WBUR News

Hip-Hop Broke $ean Wire's Heart, And Healed It

WBUR News

With Pure Vocals And Brash Guitars, Squirrel Flower Writes Her Origin Story

WBUR News

Ezra Furman Is Finally Making The Punk Music Of Her Teenage Dreams

WBUR News

In Sad Songs With Happy Melodies, Frances Forever Captures The Uncertainty Of Young Adulthood

WBUR News

Latrell James Was Ready To Drop An Album. Then He Decided To Start Over From Scratch

WBUR News

Aubrey Haddard Finds Power In The Subtleties Of Her Voice

WBUR News

Cambridge Rock Outfit Billy Wylder Finds Its Roots In Resistance And Sound In Reverence

WBUR News

Boston Singer-Songwriter Anjimile Mines Blissful Melodies From Melancholy Thoughts

WBUR News

The Radical Ambition Of Billy Dean Thomas, The ‘Queer B.I.G.’

WBUR News

Sidney Gish, Boston’s Bandcamp Phenom

WBUR News