I wasn't going to call this a letter from the editor, but

it'd appear that's quite literally exactly what it is?

hi, my friends! I want to begin by apologizing for my absence and subsequent radio silence over the past month. I should have warned you that we would be taking a break, but I honestly wasn't given much warning myself when I started to feel this coming on, so I did the easiest - and most unprofessional - thing, and I took time off. abruptly, and without telling anyone.

to give some much-needed context: at the end of June, I lost someone really, really important to me, and it kind of threw my whole life upside-down. I didn't want to do anything, really, let alone run an entire music blog. I didn't take the proper time to grieve when it happened, and that's why, a month later, I kind of shut down completely. I was working 50-60 hour weeks at my corporate job and felt overwhelmingly like nothing I did mattered, so why do anything at all? and then I had to go home for the funeral and it made everything even worse.

I'm doing alright now. I hope you don't think it's weird for me to share this. I'm not asking for sympathy. I just need everyone to understand where we went and why I couldn't post for a month.

all this to say - we're kicking back into action this week. I know there are a lot of people to whom I owe emails. It's not lost on me all of the amazing releases that we missed while I was out of commission. so I took some time this weekend to wade through my inbox, Spotify playlists, and socials to find all of the music that I felt deserved the spotlight on this here music mag:

I will be adding to this and sharing this extensively to (hopefully) make up for all of the reviews I haven't been able to write.

our first Instagram post back will be a playlist update this coming Wednesday. I'm very much looking forward to it, and I hope you are, too! with gigs making a hesitant comeback, we'll also have coverage lined up for some very exciting ones over the next few months!

I hope you're all doing really well and that you're all safe and happy and healthy. I'm so glad to be back and I can't wait to keep bringing you all the best in new music from the UK and Ireland.

much love,

Emily