I should start by acknowledging that 2026 is a weird time to start a music blog, right? That’s a fair question. Our world is filled to the brim with content, and the internet hardly needs another music critic — particularly one with a biting, self-deprecating sense of humor like every other millennial currently in therapy.
That’s not what I’m setting out to do. I have no expectations for this project, and I don’t know if anyone will ever read any of it. But I do know this: I’m here to highlight music that brings me joy and ignites something within my cold, dead heart while we collectively watch the world around us burn. If you’re here, I hope this helps cut through the bullshit, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
I started this project because I felt increasingly powerless in a world backsliding into fascism, xenophobia, and ignorance — particularly by those in power. When I reflected on the moments in my day when I feel the best, it’s almost always when I hear a song that transports me to another world. Time stops, the stress of my day fades into nothingness, and I drift into some other plane of existence.
I’m here to write about the kind of music that you can get lost in. The albums that make you feel something. The nine-minute songs that fly by and make you realize at the end that you’ve been crying since the six-minute mark for some unknown reason (nope, couldn’t be me, that’s definitely never happened).
So, to sum it up: thanks for being here. On a somewhat regular basis, I’ll write here about emo, metal, pop-punk, alternative rock, and whatever else grabs my attention (looking at you, Frank Ocean). Sometimes it’ll be an entire album, other days it might just be a song that blew my goddamn mind. If nothing else, my hope is to spotlight art and artists who make a very dark world just a little brighter.
Follow the Good Tunes for Dark Times Instagram or check out the playlist on Apple Music or Spotify, which is updated regularly (or whenever I get to it, cut me some slack, sheesh).
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