Catch up on the month’s best songs, albums, and moments with new music by Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, J. Cole, Disclosure, Hanson, and more.
Solange's Set at the Northside Festival in Brooklyn
Beyoncé may have the fame and the glory, but over the last several years her younger sister Solange has slowly become the "cooler" of the two and emerged as a bona fide style icon in her own right. But did you know she can sing too? Like, not just sing along in a dreamy haze like on her most recent hit, "Losing You," but actually SING? Girl's got pipes. Her performance at Brooklyn's Northside Festival was as idyllic as it gets: gorgeous weather after a long period of never-ending rain and June gloom, and a crowd ready to dance thanks to Solange's encouragement ("I see a couple people, like you and you and you, that need to be grinding like this. *Solange grinds, crowd cheers* "I want you to griiiind. You know, like we did in middle school dances and the guy would get a huge boner?") Her impromptu encore was a song by the late legendary Selena, and she brought her 8-year-old son Juelz out on stage to dance with her. It was adorable. So while Beyoncé is a superstar and untouchable, Solange is like your best friend who you one day discover has an amazing voice out of nowhere. "Oh, me? It's nothing." She'd never make you feel like it was a big deal, but it's definitely something. —Aylin Zafar
Lightning Dust, "Diamond"
youtube.com
Lightning Dust's single "Diamond" has a cool, patient sound to it, but you can hear Amber Webber crack a little as she sings it, like she's just barely holding back a tidal wave of emotion. She blames her feelings on the chemicals in her brain, and she remains stoic when someone apologizes for not being in love with her, but as much as she tries to hold it together and be a rational adult, her sadness and affection bleed through in every note, lending the song a subtle but powerful drama. —Matthew Perpetua
