by NICK BUCHANAN
Editor

Working professionally under her middle name with a stylized letter for good measure, 20-year-old Holly Lapsley Fletcher is a derivative of modern-day pop and electronic R&B trends with the voice of an old soul. Her husky, well-supported pipes often occupy more space in her soundscapes than the clean, concise beats she lays out for herself, bearing great resemblance to Adele and the late Amy Winehouse. While it’s not hard to draw that comparison in a post-Adele world, don’t allow it to portray her as second-rate: On her debut album, Long Way Home, Låpsley exists in category of her own.

by NICK BUCHANAN
​Co-editor

​Like Beyoncé or Rihanna, Zayn needs not a last name for distinction. Like a cool kid on AIM or Yahoo! Messenger back in the day, he needs not your judgement for using alternating caps on his song titles. And like any young entertainer with a drive for more, he needs not four other band members dragging him down, as he's out to prove with his own solo debut, Mind of Mine.

The blueprints for a departed boy band member's solo album and a maturing child star's breakout album are nearly identical: spit the bubblegum -- bubblegum pop, that is -- out of your mouth, let those hormones write the hypersexual lyrics for you, and show them all that you're not a little kid anymore! Following a good portion of this recipe for success, Zayn went for edgy without the spectacles. Let's put it this way: if Bangerz was Miley Cyrus' way of telling the world that she's all grown up, Mind of Mine is Zayn's way of showing it.

by BRANDON UTLEY, JESSICA HOLLAN, and NICK BUCHANAN
Tystenac staff members and co-editor

We enjoyed making our lists of the top ten songs of the year so much that we decided to make lists of our favorite Christmas songs, as well! Get ready to jingle your bells and deck your halls to our Christmas favorites!

by BRANDON UTLEY, JESSICA HOLLAN, ANDRE DREW, and NICK BUCHANAN
Tystenac staff members and editors

Some members of the Tystenac staff have counted down their favorite songs of the year. Each member was required to limit his or her list to include only one song per artist -- which is a struggle, believe us -- and the songs had to have either been released this year or gotten a significant boost of popularity this year. Click "read more" to read our lists and listen to our favorite 2015 tunes!

by JC PORTIS
Staff writer

What’s happening, folks? JC here for Tystenac’s Dragon Fire Music Reviews! With the holidays approaching, everyone is playing their favorite Christmas songs. So I thought I’d do a comparison review two of my favorites: “When Christmas Comes to Town” from the Polar Express (sung by Matthew Hall & Meagan Moore) and “Where Are You Christmas” from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (sung by Taylor Momsen).

by NICK BUCHANAN
​Co-editor

"Hello, it's me..."

With three words, the ashes and rubble remaining from the spontaneous combustion of Adele's career were rekindled, four years removed from the release of the miracle album that blessed her with seven Grammy awards, four multi-Platinum singles in the United States, and 30 million album sales worldwide. Now, enter 25, the album equivalent to an admittedly average freshman entering high school under the ubiquitous shadows of her overachieving older sister who graduated from the same institution the year before. It's clear that Adele understands that 21 was a storm of success that comes only once in a lifetime, but she sure is doing her darnedest to double dip into the pool of popularity. 

by NICK BUCHANAN
Co-editor

"You're so cute," Ryn Weaver told me in the lobby of the Newport Music Hall after her gig on Friday. "Are you in college? What do you study?"

Off stage, Weaver carries herself as a warm, outgoing friend. As I stepped towards her for my meet and greet session, she dived in for an embrace before the photographer ushered us against a marble staircase for a photo opportunity. Five more hugs, a kiss, and two dozen selfies later, I was on my way out of the venue, surprised that the girl I had just met was the same girl who effortlessly captured attention from hundreds of audience members just an hour before.

by NICK BUCHANAN
Co-editor

Ellie Goulding has made a mistake: she revealed her intentions for a full-fledged pop invasion and her passion for pop and electronic music. 

In a world where the standard for quality music is often forcefully determined by old fogies and hipsters in front cameras with thick-rimmed glasses and distinguished aural palates who think anything short of moaning indie static is unsatisfactory, an affiliation with Top 40 radio is often looked upon with an eye roll or a look of disgust – even more so when an artist is particularly passionate about being part of the mega-pop gang. So when Ellie Goulding announced her third full-length album, Delirium, to be an experimental attempt at crafting a "big pop album," a large digital moan was nearly audible from one half of the Internet – the half that is still grumbling about wanting "old Ellie" back, that is.