March Recap

The 31 New (To Me) Albums I Listened to This March—This Time With a New Twist!

March is Women’s History Month, and that means 31 days of new albums by women!¹ I was hoping it would be a bit more difficult to narrow down my top five this month, and there were a lot more albums below ~7.5/10 than I would’ve hoped, but the five best I did listen to are all pretty phenomenal albums.

Additionally this month, I got to get back into one of my favorite parts of writing about music, and that is interviewing the artists themselves. My number one favorite album from this month was one I stumbled upon on Apple Music as a recommendation from the algorithm, something I rarely take seriously, and I reached out to the artist on a whim to see if they’d be interested in hopping on a call for an interview.

I am so excited to say that this month’s recap now includes the first interview I have ever done for The Broke Beat, and there’s plenty more to come, both from this artist, and hopefully even more artists going forward! Here are the 31 new albums I listened to this month, followed by a review of the top five, and finally, an interview with the artist behind my favorite album of this month’s 31.

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March 1st - Invasion of Privacy by Cardi B

March 2nd - Nothing's About to Happen to Me by Mitski

March 3rd - Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter by Em Beihold

March 4th - Clouds by Joni Mitchell

March 5th - Luck of the Draw by Bonnie Raitt

March 6th - Awake by Alison Wonderland

March 7th - American Hero by Towa Bird

March 8th - Spirit in the Dark by Aretha Franklin

March 9th - All Hail the Queen by Queen Latifah

March 10th - Keep Me Fed by The Warning

March 11th - The Hot Rock by Sleater-Kinney

March 12th - Born in the Wild by Tems

March 13th - What A Devastating Turn of Events by Rachel Chinouriri

March 14th - TYLA by Tyla

March 15th - Escape Room by Teyana Taylor

March 16th - Patchwork by Charlotte Day Wilson

March 17th - Live Through This by Hole

March 18th - Ys by Joanna Newsome

March 19th - Beauty and the Beat by the Go-Go's

March 20th - Future Soul by Tedeschi Trucks Band

March 21st - Jesus loves a primadonna by Nessa Barrett

March 22nd - Relentless by Pretenders

March 23rd - Born to Sing by En Vogue

March 24th - Post by Björk

March 25th - Timely!! by Anri

March 26th - Livin' by the Water by Abby Webster

March 27th - Ricochet by Snail Mail

March 28th - Do Not Disturb by Young Miko

March 29th - Lost Dog by Olive Klug

March 30th - Always Living Somewhere by Claire Ozmun

March 31st - Written into Changes by Avalon Emerson

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5. Lost Dog by Olive Klug (8.7/10)

Lost Dog was a recommendation that I prioritized over other recommendations almost entirely because of its length. It was late at night, and I had yet to listen to an album that day; I wanted something short and soft that would easily lull me to sleep by the time it was over. This album comes in at 28 minutes, and because it’s categorized as a folk album, it was exactly what I was looking for that night. My first and most poignant reaction to this album is that I have no clue how I had never heard of Olive Klug before this month. Their gender identity is at the forefront of their musical identity, an aspect of artistry that I will often seek out intentionally, and their sound reminds me of artists like Soccer Mommy, Lucy Dacus, and, honestly, many of the other artists whose music was definitive of my listening this month. As far as artist discoveries go, Olive Klug is one of the greatest I’ve come upon so far this year.

The guitar introduction on “Taking Punches From The Breeze” is simply delightful, and it is the perfect lead in to their equally delightful and gorgeous vocals. It becomes pretty readily apparent that this eight-track album is fronted by vocals and guitar, my achilles heel as someone whose musical knowledge beyond the sonic and study of poetry stems from two years of guitar lessons, forcing my guitar teacher to learn the specific style of Travis picking present on One Direction’s “Moments,” but I digress. Olive Klug’s Lost Dog is an inherently nostalgic album for me, harkening back to those days when I wasn’t yet a teenager, learning chords in my teacher’s basement, but with lyrics that directly relate to my life now. My favorite song upon first listen was “Opposite Action,” but “Cold War” has lyrics which, at the right moment, could bring me to tears, and “Train of Thought” boasts a summers in northern Michigan kind of vibe that is especially hard to capture if you aren’t intimately familiar with the feeling itself. This is an album that I’m very excited to get to know better myself, and I’m equally excited to see what Olive Klug does next.

4. Nothing’s About to Happen to Me by Mitski (8.8/10)

Mitski is an artist whom I’ve always been at least peripherally aware of, but whom I did not know the first thing about. In fact, if you were to ask me about a month ago who Mitski was, there’s a good chance I would have guessed something along the lines of a DJ, and a male one at that. I had no idea that she was one of the most popular indie singer songwriters around today. From the time she released Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, it seems like that album was all anyone could talk about. It took me two months, but I finally bit the bullet and threw the album on one day after realizing that she was a woman and therefore it was a perfect album for March, and that she wasn’t a DJ, techno being a genre I have to be in a specific mood to listen to, as opposed to her indie alternative, a genre I am always in the mood to listen to.

For starters, the album cover might be my favorite of the albums I’ve listened to this month, and might very well be among my favorites of the entire year so far. Admittedly, I hadn’t revisited this album for the second time until sitting down to write this recap, but my feelings didn’t really change. I was very impressed by this album the first time, and I’m just as impressed the second. In hindsight, this was the album that I was more or less expecting out of Snail Mail’s Ricochet (see entry three below), but I’m not at all upset that it was my first introduction to Mitski’s music. “Where’s My Phone?” is a phenomenal gritty alt-rock anthem, juxtaposed, and well might I add, with the soft ballad that is “Cats,” I really can’t express enough just how sorry I am that I mistook Mitski for a male DJ. The transition between these two songs alone is as flawless as it gets, and this album is chock full of those. “Lightning” was my favorite upon first listen, but I’m fairly certain that will continue to change as I continue to listen to this album. Even as I write this, “Cats” and “I’ll Change For You” have emerged as solid contenders, too.

3. Ricochet by Snail Mail (8.8/10)

I’ll admit, upon first listen, this album didn’t really get me the way all of Snail Mail’s catalogue usually does. She’s been one of my favorite artists since a friend first told me about her in college, circa roughly 2019, so I was very eagerly awaiting this one as her first full-length release since Valentine in 2021. At first, I thought it a little too stark a departure from her typical guttural vocals and gritty alt-rock sound. Leading with a track like “Tractor Beam,” I was very surprised by the change of pace set forth here. This album is not a traditional Snail Mail album, and after having waited five years for another Snail Mail album, it took me a couple listens to get past my irrational disappointment over that—especially after a fucking awesome, very traditional Snail Mail-esque rendition of the Smashing Pumpkin’s “Tonight, Tonight” in 2024. Once I finally did get past that disappointment, however, I came to realize that a departure from her typical sound really just goes to show her range as an artist, and that Snail Mail is one of the greatest artists making music today.

This album is, for lack of a better word, easy to listen to and love. Not that the rest of her music isn’t easy to listen to and love, but I would go as far as to say that this is her most accessible album to date. It’s soft, it’s sweet, and it’s just a nice album. There’s a pretty strong through-line across all 11 tracks, and the lyrics are actually among her strongest yet. “My Maker” is a standout for sure when it comes to the lyricism, “Butterfly,” too, and, my number one song from the album, “Reverie,” while maybe not the strongest lyrics on the album (though I’d definitely put that song’s lyrics in the top three), is a song on which I could probably write an entire dissertation. That said, I’ll leave it by saying it is as strong a closer as “Tractor Beam” is an opener. If you’re a fan of Snail Mail and you haven’t yet listened to Ricochet, or worse, haven’t given it a complete and even chance, you’re crazy. If you’re not a fan of Snail Mail, you’re even crazier, and I would actually go out on a limb and say start with this album and work your way backwards. Regardless, just listen to this album.

2. Livin’ by the Water by Abby Webster (8.9/10)

To be completely frank, I was not, and still am not, thrilled to have liked this album as much as I did. This album is a country album through and through, and as a self-proclaimed hater of country music, quite literally the only genre of music that I blanket statement do not like, I am pretty unpleasantly surprised that I came away from a country album thinking it was this great. Before I go on, I want to make it clear, I still hate country music. But I am mature enough, now at least, to admit that there are exceptions to the rule, and Abby Webster’s Livin’ by the Water is chief amongst them. What I will say, before I dive into the praise, is that there were definitely some heavy country elements that were way too much for me. “Long Weekend” is a prime example, when Webster’s vocals have way too much twang that it detracts from not just the song but the album’s overall quality in my eyes, or “BBQ Chips,” whose banjo is already too much by the time the vocals start in and make it even worse. Without that, I think this album could have earned a rating of closer to 9.5/10 for me, but I can’t ignore the way the country twang still, on occasion, makes me want to rip my ears off on this album.

That said, even on “Long Weekend,” the lyrics did the heavy lifting to make up for the twang. Songs like “Cat Steven’s Greatest Hits!,” “Calliope,” “Swimming,” “Entertainers,” and “River Rats,” just to name, you know, half the album, are the kinds of tracks that make me almost think I should give country artists more of a chance every now and then. The lyricism is simply unmatched, and when Abby Webster sings authentically with her entire chest, devoid of the obnoxious twang, her voice is truly beautiful. I listened to this album on a recommendation, and had I come upon it under legitimately any other circumstances, I would not have given it the time of day. I think the fact that this album was the first full country album that I listened to and enjoyed is probably clouding my judgement just a bit, or at least it was after just one listen, but after listening to this album a couple more times, it holds up, and I can’t deny that I really did enjoy it in almost its entirety.

1. Always Living Somewhere by Claire Ozmun (9.0/10)

Since switching to Apple Music and away from my beloved but devastatingly corrupt Spotify, I have stopped listening to as many algorithmic recommendations from the app. Though a big part of the reason for my switch away from Spotify was the AI slop on the platform, I’ve found that the AI slop on Apple Music is just as plentiful, and actually more difficult to avoid. The only Apple Music app recommendation I’ve listened to and not regretted thus far is none other than Always Living Somewhere, the debut full-length album by upcoming indie powerhouse, the Claire Ozmun Band. At worst, this album made me believe in giving the app’s algorithm a chance every once in awhile. At best, this album reminded me that some of the greatest music being made today is by small artists who value performing live and creating art with one another for the betterment of themselves, their fans, and the world at large.

I certainly have my favorites on this album, (“Goodman” for sure, alongside “Ferris Wheel (Out in the Rain),” and “Residue”) but all ten tracks are a fantastic showing of lyrical and musical artistry in every sense. Always Living Somewhere draws from any number of influences, and sonically, one can tell as much at any given moment; no two tracks are quite alike, and yet, they all boast the same distinct sound that I personally feel will become widely recognizable in indie alt-rock circles by the time COB releases their second or third record. This album impressed me so much upon my first listen, I actually reached out to Claire directly, and while in the middle of my second listen, I heard back. What follows is the first of what I hope is many artist interviews here on The Broke Beat, and I could not be more excited that it comes from the artist behind my favorite album of what is possibly my favorite month of new albums.

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Inside the Album with Claire Ozmun

When it comes to books, I hardly ever judge by the cover. I judge by the title, the author, and the synopsis. When it comes to albums, a cover would never deter me from listening, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t judge albums at least a little bit based on their covers. In the case of Always Living Somewhere, the title and album cover had me totally bought in from the jump. When asked about the album cover specifically, vocalist Claire Ozmun explained, “I just kept thinking about this picture…of my mom and my uncle with this huge snow bear sculpture that I’ve had on my phone forever. I remember the first time I saw it years ago, I was like, ‘This is going to be my first record cover.’” She went on, “So, in talking about other options, I just kept coming back to this…I know it’s simple, but I just feel like this is right…The impermanent nature of a snow creature, but it's also this big, foreboding, weird sculpture. Artistically, I think [it] makes sense.” An old family photo in and of itself breeds a sense of nostalgia, coupled with a title that similarly juxtaposes nostalgia and change, Always Living Somewhere—it’s almost like this album was meant to be pre-judged by its cover and title.

Beyond the optics, the music itself just oozes passion; Ozmun proudly claims, “My favorite part of being in a band thus far has been the live performances.” Something I personally have noticed in recent years, with the rise of technology and the deepening cracks in the integrity of the music industry at large, is that the artists who continue to perform their music live, in its purest, rawest form, are the ones who have what it takes to keep going. They’re the ones who stand out amidst all the ugliness and slop of commercial music in 2026. Ozmun continued, essentially crafting the words for me before I had to myself, “It’s the part that feels so fulfilling and magical, and so after a year of playing, I was like, ‘okay, these songs have definitely…reached a point where I would like to capture them just for my own posterity, just so I know what they sound like in these versions.’”

Of the ten tracks on the album, all of them are more or less worthy of the title of ‘favorite,’ something that, of course, changes fairly often for Ozmun. “A pretty consistent favorite for me is ‘Residue,’ which is the last song [on the album]. I just think it feels the best to play live, because it was so new in the recording process, I still feel the most connected to it in a lot of ways.” Drummer Izzy Sollohub, on the other hand, said, “I think my favorite is ‘Boycott Grapes’—we spent so much time orchestrating the full band songs on the album, and listening to that song always feels like hearing it for the first time, like taking a breath and diving in.” And, with a similar disclaimer that the answer frequently changes, bassist Lotus Rogers explained, “I’m going to say either ‘Stray Black Dog’ because of how fun it is to play live, or ‘Residue’ because I feel like it’s the distilled encapsulation of the album’s theme.” Though “Residue” seems to be among everyone’s favorites, it’s clear that every song on this album is a strong contender for someone’s favorite, and all ten tracks embody that vision that the band was so clearly going for: an introduction with clear and heavy regard for their live sound.

Some time ago, Ozmun had applied for a grant through the New York Foundation for the Arts—and then she promptly forgot about it. “They let me know in early ‘25 that we got a small grant, so that definitely lit the fire under my ass to [say], ‘Okay, let’s theoretically make this whole record this year.’” So she and the band got right to work. “Thankfully, it was songs that we had played live, all of them except for one, and I had a very strong conviction that because I liked how the songs were live so much, I wanted to record them live.”

She went on to explain the intricacies of recording, crafting the live recordings into more polished arrangements and dubbing it over with different instruments, and the relationship they built with their producer certainly didn’t hurt in crafting such a distinct sound, putting their stamp on modern indie rock. “Especially for our first album, it was really important to me that we’re coming out and introducing ourselves as truthfully to our live sound as possible.” Where many artists focus on establishing and maintaining their musical identity on their debut album, it’s rare that an artist equates that identity so deeply to their sound whilst performing live. In my eyes, that brands them as a band that plays music simply for the love of playing music, and that kind of band is precisely the kind of band I will never stop listening to.

Check out all things Claire Ozmun Band here. I’d highly recommend listening to Always Living Somewhere, for obvious reasons, but also because you can do so in the coming days and gain a little more context before the full-length interview drops right here on The Broke Beat!

As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you listen to any of these albums on my recommendation, thank you even more. Feel free to reach out with any and all recs, and if they’re anything like the recs I received this month, I promise I will absolutely listen to them. And stay tuned for the full-length feature on the Claire Ozmun Band, I truly can’t wait to share more of their story here!

1. Or, at least, women-fronted bands, of which there are a few in this recap, but as long as there’s a dominant female and/or nb presence at the forefront, it counts.