Last week, we celebrated love in all its forms. That can mean love of a significant other, your family and friends, or yourself. Several songs in this Mixtape Monday look at different loves, good and bad, stagnant and changing. Of course, other subjects are tackled, but all eight of these songs really grabbed our attention this week. 

Curfew - Lil Dirt

Lil Durt’s answer to Valentine’s Day single: just get high, better luck next time. But then again, you don’t want to be totally alone, right? While the lyrics are a mixture of apathetic, desperate, and aggressive, the beats are complex and minimal. Lil Durt’s voice is transparent and genuine, and he can sing about being a little sad and not giving a fuck all in the same song and pull it off perfectly. 

Purple Rain - hextape

Stephanie Nicole Jones, better known in the local music circuit as hextape, has blessed us with her latest single. Hextape delivers a message of confidence and womanhood with an ethereal, haunting voice, which only makes it that much more empowering. She has another single and few other collaborations on her Soundcloud, and we hope that this means we can expect more hextape in the near future.

Easier - Pageantry

This is the b-side track of Pageantry’s latest release. “Olympia” is a dreamy indie pop experience, and “Easier” goes even further in that direction.  For a song about persevering in the face of difficulty, the song sounds like a collective daydream between Roy Robertson, Ramon Muzquiz, and Pablo Burrull, so effortless in its execution.

Missing You - Zilla ft. Trey Detroit

In another ode to February 14th, Zilla and Trey Detroit sing asking for a lost love to come back. The man admits that he took a good love for granted and now that he has a better world, he wants to share it with the person who always had faith in him. Trey Detroit’s smooth choruses and Zilla’s raps blend effortlessly in this ballad looking for love. 

Karenin - Family Tree 

Family Tree presented their three-track EP “Whatever Keeps You in the Air” as a quest about “finding, questioning, and becoming comfortable in your own space.” The second track is about the tug of war that comes as love grows and matures. The melodies drive forward at a quicker, more aggressive pace as Isabel Crespo’s vocals go from saccharine to a near scream, and back to a knowing complacency. The journey in each of these three tracks is exquisite to hear. 

Maybe Lions - Wirerims

Loosely taking on “The Wizard of Oz,” this song asks at its core, simply: “How do you do it? How do you live without love?” The driving idea is that love can protect, and it’s something calling to everyone. It’s a delicate subject, and especially given the heavy alternative style of Wirerims, it’s approached and tackled in an unexpected, yet brilliant way.

Lil Downfall - J3s Journal

Much like Lil Durt, J3s Journal can sing about something being totally messed up in such a way that you find yourself swaying along to his glossy vocals. In this track, he repeatedly assures his past love that "If you don't feel pain, then I don't feel pain," hiding a deep-seeded longing for what once was. 

Gold Funkin - Gold School 

Local beats master Lofty went down to Austin to work on this recent three-track release “3 Rounds in the ATX.” His consistent, technical beats complement the opening track throughout. It’s a great segue into the rest of the EP, and a good look into Lofty’s repertoire, which has roots in R&B, trap, and reggae.