There’s an almost mythological quality to the world of Juan Pablo Wauters. The Uruguayan-born, Jackson Heights, NY-dwelling musician is best known not for a specific musical style, but instead for the crystalline sincerity that underpins everything he does: from the heartfelt earnestness of his lyricism to the playful rituals of his live shows (singalongs, covers, races). To be a fan of his music is to be invited into the ever-expanding cast of characters that animate his work - Wauters has a knack for fostering community wherever he goes.

A founding member of Queens garage act The Beets, Wauters began releasing music under his own name in 2014 with N.A.P. North American Poetry. Released on Captured Tracks, his solo debut had the same candid charm and DIY sound as his work with the Beets, but with a folk-inspired, introspective glaze that would become his signature. 2015’s Who, Me? honed in on those qualities, full of clever ruminations on the pace of day-to-day life sung in both English and his native Spanish.

After the release of Who, Me? Wauters spent several years touring and travelling the world, including a long stint in Latin America — from Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and Chile to Mexico and Puerto Rico — where he began working on his next project. Inviting local musicians to contribute to the songs he was working on, Wauters emerged with a collection steeped in the musical traditions of each country he’d visited. As a result, 2018’s La Onda De Juan Pablo and its follow-up, Introducing Juan Pablo, became his most expansive and sonically diverse records to date, tracing both his Uruguayan roots and his travellers’ spirit. Elements he’d flirted with in the past - singing in Spanish, traditional instruments like bongo drums and marimba, the collaborative spirit of his live shows - came to the forefront on these releases.

Wauters’ chameleonic songwriting has continued to evolve in recent years: on his latest effort, Real Life Situations, he’s delved deeper into collaboration, teaming up with Mac DeMarco, Peter Sagar (AKA Homeshake), Nick Hakim, Cola Boyy, El David Aguilar, and more for experiments in hip-hop, lo-fi R&B, and deft indie folk. With some of his recording plans hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, he mined older songs, phone notes, new material, and snippets from TV and YouTube to craft an aural document of the year through his eyes. Under his care, these small moments become coordinates for the peaks and valleys of human experience, coloring the album with Wauters’ unique shade of realism.

Perhaps this realism is what makes Wauters such an inimitable artist. His music has always sprung from the interplay between genre-hopping eclecticism and earnest, plain-spoken observation. Themes of loneliness, personal growth, patience, and companionship arise again and again in his work, just as they do in life. Each time though, he manages to breathe new life into them - to listen to his music is to navigate a rapidly-changing world with him in real time. His unique ability to produce that feeling - via his music, his live show, even his social media presence - ensures that no matter where his travels take him, he’ll be welcomed with open arms.

Sometimes the new EP from Pinkest sounds like it is at odds with itself. This is not a criticism; it’s merely an observation. There are times when it basks in the lazy glaze of soporific slacker rock and then there are others — opening gambit “The Spine” and “Superhero Song” specifically — when the band’s four-on-the-floor energy makes it seem like they’re getting ready to tear at the seams. Neither approach is innately better than the other, and the fact that the group can delve into both is certainly impressive. But the question remains about what type of record You Are a Camera wants to be.

First and foremost, it’s a guitar and hook-driven record; i.e. the sort of fun, rowdy, stereo-blasting effort we don’t get enough of around these parts. Guitarist and vocalist Ethan Smith understands the cathartic value of tension-release dynamics, and those moments when Pinkest decides to go for broke and smash the turbo boost button (see the extended outro of “The Electric Eye”) are positively electric. Meanwhile, the EP’s more moody offerings, such as the groovy garage swing of “Elvira,” underscore perhaps Smiths greatest strength; that is, his ability to intermingle the band’s messy exuberance with a kind of oddball poetic sensibility. “It’s your smell / put your smell in a jar / and I’ve got it waho / I’ve got all your power” he growls on the spring-loaded chorus, and even when he refers to having “seen all your movies,” it’s not entirely clear if he’s singing about a possible lover or the famed Mistress of the Dark.

Garage-y power-pop has long been a staple in Atlanta bars and clubs, but in recent years it’s seen diminishing returns as fans have turned their attention to other forms of music. It’s impossible to say whether Pinkest’s live wire energy and sharp, relentlessly catchy songwriting will bring those listeners flooding back, but it should definitely turn more than a few heads this year. As for what kind of record You Are a Camera wants to be? How about a fun, loud, infectious one? Yeah, that sounds about right.

Blake Gamel of Big Jesus Launches solo, six-song EP entitled Tangerine.

"Calling his fledgling project BG.FM, he set about composing new songs, learning how to record, and teaching himself new instruments to achieve the ethereal rock sound he was after. But what started as a creative outlet soon became a necessary compulsion. While COVID raged across the planet and turned the world upside down, BG.FM became a means of finding some measure of peace.

“2020 was exceptionally hard for everyone, me included,” Gamel says. “Faced with the existential shock of my lifestyle and income ceasing to exist in one day, I found myself in a dark and confusing world. In 2020 America and the world seemed to be crumbling and it was all very overwhelming. The only solace I could find was in creating once again…for myself. I dug my feet in, learned a few new instruments, taught myself how to record a demo, and created an album that was a safe space for me to crawl inside and escape.” " - Immersive Atlanta