Artists We Are Thankful For

Graphics by Sarah Tarlin

Happy Thanksgiving Boston! This Thanksgiving, we want to share a few artists we are thankful to listen to in our car speakers, headphones, and record players before the big feast. Here’s to a great day with your favorite artists!

Matt Maltese 

This Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for Matt Maltese! Since I first started listening to him, I’ve always been drawn to how descriptive he is. I remember first hearing about Maltese because his song “As the World Caves In” was trending all over TikTok. From then on I fell in love with his storytelling and ability to describe what love was like for him. Each of his songs feels like a mini movie, and I am always able to picture every verse in my head clearly. Whether it be on tracks like “Florence,” or one of his most famous songs “As the World Caves In,” he paints the perfect picture of love. His ability to describe relationships and bring out that longing for a partner has always and will continue to make me one of his biggest fans!

– Fenton Wright, Staff Writer

Kimya Dawson

As I watched the movie Juno for the first time, I fell in love not only with the performances of Elliott Page and Michael Cera but also with the incredible soundtrack. Once I learned that Kimya Dawson wrote many of the songs I enjoyed, I explored the rest of her discography. To this day, she remains one of my favorite artists. Her catchy, folky melodies always comfort me, and her clever lyrics and storytelling make me feel like I am in a storybook. In addition to her incredible music, I am also a huge fan of Dawson as a person. Earlier this year, I had the privilege to attend her performance in Boston. Throughout the show, I admired how she demonstrated care for the audience: from requiring masks to protect everyone’s health to staying after the show and hand-drawing T-shirts and portraits for her fans. While the upcoming holiday season makes me think of my gratitude for the artist, I am thankful for her work year-round.

– Annie Sarlin, Staff Writer

COIN

This fall was my first year of college, aka my first year being truly alone in a completely different and new environment as a so-called adult. I’ve had to do things that are completely out of my comfort zone like going to a concert by myself at a venue I’ve never been to. So, thank you COIN for making my first solo concert experience so good it’s my new personality trait. Also, thank you for making insanely good music that I’ve been jamming to since middle school, thank you for being a way for me to be closer to my dad, thank you for taking me out of my mind even if it’s for 3 minutes and 41 seconds. It’s important to remember the privilege I have to get to experience this music everyday of my life and not take it for granted because of how far it has taken me and how it will continue to do so. Thank you COIN. 

– Rebecca Kasuba, Staff Writer

Pixies

To say I’m grateful for this band would be the biggest understatement of the year. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved the song “Where Is My Mind?” it got popular online, where I heard it first, but then I started to hear it everywhere. It was one of those songs that just really stuck with me. This past year is when I started listening to more of their songs, relating more and more to each song. College is a hard place to adjust to, you’re in a new place, with new people, all just trying to have a good time yet still be students. The one thing that has helped me the most in this process has been listening to the alternative band’s songs. Not too long ago they released a new album called The Night the Zombies Came, since then I don’t think a single day has gone by where I haven’t at least listened to, at least, one song from that album, my favorite being “Mercy Me.” This Thanksgiving, I will be playing the band’s songs all throughout the house, with my family to, not just listen, but to also appreciate alongside me.

– Emma D’Addabbo, Staff Writer

Bastille

I’ve had the same favorite band for over a decade, which is wild considering that I’m only 20 years old. Since the 2013 release of their debut album “Bad Blood” I have been a massive fan of the British band Bastille. Their lyrics have gotten me out of countless dark times, and their music has a way of always offering me exactly what I need to hear with each and every release. From my all-time favorite album “Wild World” to their newest life-changing release “&” this band means more to me than any other group ever has. Thankful is an understatement about how I feel about this band. Thank you, Bastille, for making me who I am and being there for me during the dark times I had getting there. Thank you for everything.

– Ahni Brown Harbin, Staff Writer

Rio D/Colonel Starr

Is it cheating to do two artists? Well, what if one person heads both projects? Rio Dolmetsch is a staple of the local Boston scene, and his personal project (Rio D) and band (Colonel Starr) are both regular showings from Allston to Cambridge. From basement shows as Rio D to concerts at the Middle East with The Colonel Starr Unit, Rio’s sentimental lyrics and distorted riffs reverberate across the city. 2024 releases under both projects gave listeners memorable songs, such as Colonel Starr’s catchy “Pop Music (Got Me Into This Mess)” and Rio D’s sharp “Double Sided Sword.” I am grateful I have Rio’s music — with its 90s alternative sound and occasional folk twang — as autumn shifts toward winter. Friday, November 29, Rio is hitting O’Brien’s Pub in Allston at 8:00 p.m. for a concert you won’t want to miss!

​​- Gavin Miller, Web Services Coordinator

Halsey

If I was listening to anything in my busted, wired headphones at age 12, it was Halsey’s first album, Badlands. When I was in middle school, I was deeply infatuated with Halsey’s sound and aesthetics. My first general admission show was the tour for said album, where my mom left me and my friends alone at the still-existing Festival Pier in Philadelphia. Since the release of Badlands, I’m proud to say that I’ve grown up as they’ve continued to release their music. Her most recent album, The Great Impersonator, has resonated with me so deeply in my personal life. I’ll be old and gray one day, and still hear songs like “Panic Attack” and “Ego” and think about my early twenties.

– Ren Gibson, Staff Writer

Noah Kahan

It seems I’ll take any excuse to write about Noah Kahan, and that is for good reason! I discovered him only this year, and was made a lifelong fan after his show at Fenway Park. His music is both painful and comforting, and reminds me of what I love most about calling New England home. Being able to scream “I’m mean because I grew up in New England!” in a crowd of 38,000 healed something in me. His music is like the light at the end of a tunnel, or the blooming of a flower after a long, cold winter. I also love that he is an artist that transcends audiences, and is something I can share with my Mom and siblings. There is a lot of different music in out house, everything from Broadway to Biggie to Big Theif. But when Noah Kahan comes on, there is a no-skip policy! 

– Avieana Rivera, Music Coordinator