Luke Hemmings’ Solo Live EP, Nostalgia (Live from Los Angeles), is a Glittering Tribute to a Moment Captured in Time

There are few feelings in the world that compare to leaning against a barricade in a crowd of 4,000 fans as one of your favorite artists tells you that the concert you’re attending is being recorded. Back in June, while closing out the US leg of the Nostalgia for a Time That Never Existed Tour at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Luke Hemmings did just that. Looking out into the crowd with an irrepressible smile on his face, Luke told fans, “Also, we’re filming tonight!” Now, six months to the day since that show, the 5 Seconds of Summer frontman has released his first solo live album: Nostalgia (Live from Los Angeles).

Credit: Luke Hemmings on Instagram

While every fan would have of course loved to hear the full NFATTNE setlist immortalized in a live album, Hemmings strategically selected the 7 tracks that appear on the live EP, balancing between tracks from his debut When Facing the Things We Turn Away From and his 2024 follow-up, boy.  When announcing the album via his Boy FM Instagram broadcast channel, Luke advertised the album as being for “all of you who couldn’t make it to a show or those of you who want to go back to this summer. It’s one I never want to forget.” 

For those of us who were lucky enough to experience Nostalgia for a Time That Never Existed this past spring, Nostalgia (Live from Los Angeles) is a visual, visceral listening experience. The ethereal opening notes of ‘Intro/A Beautiful Dream (Live)’ conjures up memories of white lights piercing through smoky air as Luke walked on stage each night. The live recording is mixed with the most practiced of hands, allowing for the crowd during the build of “Can we just stay?/Stay/Stay” to shine above Hemmings vocal line. The pop of confetti as Hemmings dives into high-powered ‘Motion (Live)’ is discernible to attentive ears, the tangible magic of imagining an ocean of lights appearing as Luke exclaims, “Get those lights up!” in ‘Comedown (Live)’ twists your heart, and the wonderful irony of the joy of scream-singing “Take me alive/Make me a liar/Take me alive/Don’t look away until it’s gone” to close out the show and EP with ‘Starting Line (Live)’ is only emphasized by the visual of falling confetti and entrancing, spiraling lights illuminating the dappled light from a glittering disco ball.

Stand-out tracks: 'Close My Eyes (Live)' 'Starting Line (Live)'

My favorites: 'Intro/A Beautiful Dream (Live)' 'Comedown (Live)'

From its most minute details to its comprehensive composition, Nostalgia (Live from Los Angeles) is quite simply a heartfelt gift from Luke to fans, expressing gratitude for his groundbreaking year as a solo artist. The album artwork commemorates all the little visual nuances that establish the Nostalgia aesthetic, shared between Luke and the fans each night - from falling confetti to disco ball lights, from Luke’s bleached curls to illumination of the crowd in each of the intimate venues played around the world. Even the title itself is a hint to how Hemmings reflects on having had the opportunity to play his solo discography for crowds across the globe: it’s no longer Nostalgia for a Time That Never Existed, but rather Nostalgia for a time that did. 

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

Welcome Mat Out, Baggage Unpacked – Kelsea Ballerini’s New Album PATTERNS is Her Best Yet

Kelsea Ballerini embodies self-assuredness and a willingness to embrace imperfection like no one else. Her latest album, PATTERNS, released October 25 through Black River Entertainment, stands as proof. Since her debut with The First Time in 2015, Ballerini has subtly reinvented herself and her brand of country-pop with each release, but she truly found her voice—and mainstream success—with last year’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. The EP and its accompanying short film saw her confronting the demons of her divorce at 29, promising never to settle for less again.

Now, a year and a half later, that promise shines through on PATTERNS. Kelsea Ballerini has blossomed from the starry-eyed songwriter behind tracks like ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Legends,’ and ‘HEARTFIRST’ into an artist who confidently owns her musical and personal strengths. While PATTERNS isn’t her first rodeo, it’s undeniably her best work.

Stand-out tracks: “Baggage,” “We Broke Up” “Cowboys Cry Too (with Noah Kahan),” “I Would, Would You”

My favorites: “Patterns,” “First Rodeo,” “WAIT!” “This Time Last Year”

Credit: Black River Entertainment

The album opens with the soaring, acoustic title track, where Ballerini casually admits, “I’m coming apart at the seams/I got patterns.” The song’s sonic landscape mirrors the rich sunset and sprawling oceanscape on the album cover, with Ballerini atop a mountain of baggage. ‘Patterns’ also holds one of her best vocal performances to date; the bridge powerfully resonates: “Over and over and over again/It’s so much deeper than under my skin/Is this a battle that I’ll ever win?/When does it start and when does it end?”

PATTERNS delves into Ballerini’s growth across her relationships—with herself, romantic partners, friends, and family. In ‘Sorry Mom,’ she offers a heartfelt tribute to the shift from a mother-daughter bond to a woman-to-woman relationship, fondly capturing the evolution of their connection. Ballerini also explores her current relationship openly, and tracks like ‘Baggage’ and ‘First Rodeo’ celebrate the happiness and sanctuary she has found while acknowledging the inherent fragility of love. Ballerini’s discography has always been littered with clever metaphors and inside references, so the simple ‘Baggage’ lyric, “If you want that welcome mat, then roll it out with me,” is everything we need to know about how much she’s moved on from her past.

In many ways, PATTERNS very much feels like a rebirth of Ballerini’s 2017 album Unapologetically. Where she once saw love as dreamy and romantic, growing older has replaced that vision with something more raw, more vulnerable, and infinitely deeper. Tracks like ‘How Much Do You Love Me,’ ‘Two Things,’ and ‘Beg For Your Love’ see Kelsea grappling with the most human of emotions: anxiety, frustration, and desperation, all for the sake of love.

And, of course, Kelsea didn’t leave us without some country-pop crossover bops. Songs like ‘We Broke Up,’ ‘WAIT!,’ and ‘I Would, Would You’ are irresistibly catchy and completely scream-singable. With her upcoming One Night Only at Madison Square Garden and 2025 arena tour on the horizon, these tracks are undoubtedly going to shine in the setlist, with lyrics like: “At the end of the day, I’m a girl I’m afraid/Turn around, hit the brakes/Oh, and now you got me/Screaming on the phone, I’m screaming on the phone/Wait! Don’t go” and “I’ll think about these nights/Summer of ’24/When we lost count of all the ‘That’s what friends are for’.”

The crown jewel of PATTERNS is perhaps its most underrated track, ‘This Time Last Year.’ A reflection on her recent transformations, it’s a celebration of all the pain, effort, and growth that has brought Kelsea Ballerini to where she is now. She closes the album by singing, “I lost a couple good friends/Untied a couple loose ends/It’s all part of shedding old skin/And starting again/But, baby, baby, look at me now.”

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

Shawn Mendes Finds His Heart, His Freedom, and His Voice in Shawn

From the first notes of the first song, Shawn Mendes’s fifth studio album, Shawn, is refreshing, freeing, and well worth the four years it took for it to see the light of day. The thing about Shawn that is most striking is the tangibility of the emotion laced throughout the project; the intro ‘Who I Am’ sees Shawn flipping through his past regrets, simply stating “I don’t know who I am right now” and he even references the moment most fans knew Shawn was struggling with his fame and artistry: “It broke my heart when I canceled the tour.”

Standout tracks: ‘Who I Am’ ‘Nobody Knows’ ‘Heart of Gold’

My favorites: ‘Why Why Why’ ‘Heavy’ ‘In Between’

Released as the first taste of Shawn back in August. the upbeat acoustic track ‘Why Why Why’ sees Shawn emerging from the pains of the past, content with the unknown and the journey he’s experienced to bring himself back to where he is now. Somehow both turbulent and exuberant, ‘Why Why Why’ is everything Shawn is - reminiscent of his roots while also grounding itself somewhere deeper than his past music has. When ranked against past Mendes singles like ‘Stitches,’ ‘If I Can’t Have You,’ and ‘Treat You Better,’ ‘Why Why Why’ should have dominated the charts - it’s just that good.

What Shawn has that has been absent from Mendes’s previous work is the lack of fear to face even the harshest of emotions. ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Heavy’ touch upon grief, loss, and regret in a truly powerful way. He sings: “Honestly/It's been a while since I've thought of you/In the end we didn't talk much/I didn't know what you were going through.” From their multidimensional harmonies, resounding instrumentals, and lyrical rawness, these tracks turn a page into a new version of Shawn Mendes.

Even the tracks that spin the inner musings of Mendes’s growth back to the spotlight are soul-baring, with ‘That’s the Dream’ being a whimsical spin through his dreams for the future and ‘Nobody Knows’ being a resounding plea for a moment to live in the nostalgia of the past when fearing for the future. These tracks pull from the sonic inspirations of artists like John Mayer and Niall Horan, both of whom Mendes has acknowledged as influential figures in the creation of Shawn.

Perhaps best listened to in a snow-covered cabin in solitude, hidden amidst an evergreen forest, tracks like ‘Isn’t That Enough’ and its interpolation ‘In Between’ are innately human, as Shawn sings soft lines like “My hand's still shakin', my mind's still racin' My heart's still breakin' in two” and “You were saying, ‘Guess I'll see you never,’ with tears in your eyes/It's so like you to get clever when you don't wanna cry.” 

A cover of ‘Hallelujah’ is the culmination of Shawn, where Mendes has the opportunity to let his unparalleled vocal talent and deep gratitude for the battle he’s endured to refind his place as an artist carry him seamlessly through the recording. Shawn has allowed Shawn Mendes the opportunity to embrace the softer side of his artistry, holding on to the lightness and satisfying acoustic-pop of his roots while grounding himself deeper in his emotions, experimenting with folk-rock, and transforming into a version of himself that will carry his career into its next chapter.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED