#40 - Change is the only constant 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! We wanted to start this week by saying thank 👏🏼 you 👏🏼 to all of our readers! Sunlighter has doubled in growth in the past month, and we’re excited to continue our journey of being THE music curator of tomorrow.

Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🌶️ Review of Gag Order by Kesha.

2. 💿 This Week in Music: SONGVIEW, TikTok chatbot, CD Baby pivots.

3. 🔀 Playlist Updates: Blanco, Louis the Child feat. Zachary Knowles, and Tyler Childers.

4. 🎙️ Goth Babe is our artist of the week.

Rating Rationale: So I started listening to this album about 30 minutes after hearing TikTok on the radio, which made me think: “wait, did KE$HA manifest TikTok?” Now professionally known as Kesha, the artist is back with her fifth and final studio album signed with Kemosabe Records, infamously owned by Dr. Luke, with whom she had a lengthy and controversial court case in 2014. With Gag Order being the final record within her contract with the label, it feels fitting that the theme centers on processing the grief and toll that Dr. Luke’s physical and emotional abuse had on her. We hear a myriad of influences on this record, from Evanescence, to Imogen Heap, to The Civil Wars (please come back), and Lady Gaga. The album is a roller coaster of emotions for Kesha, and the tracks that stand out most to us are “Fine Line” for the dissonant chord progressions alone, and “Hate Me Harder.” A special treat for us: an artist we’ve covered in the past, Skyler Stonestreet of The Sunshine State, is a contributing songwriter on “Happy” and “Too Far Gone.”

This Week in Music 💿

🕊️ Big Wheel, Keep on Turnin’: The iconic Queen of Rock ‘n Roll, Tina Turner, passed away earlier this week due to natural causes at the age of 83.

😬 173…6: Fetty Wap was sentenced to six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in a drug-trafficking scheme that involved smuggling controlled substances from the west coast to the east coast.

🤷🏻‍♀️ No Endless Summer Touring: Ten years after her last headlining tour, Miley Cyrus says she’s still on an “Endless Summer Vacation” and has no current plans to embark on tour.

🏆 #1 Records: Morgan Wallen becomes the first artist to sustain the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for at least 11 weeks. The last album to accomplish this feat was the Titanic soundtrack in 1998.

🤝 Londontown Bets Big on AI: It’s a recurring theme. London-based AI company, DAACI, acquired MXX (formerly owned by Triller) and WiSL to expand their offering and become the “ultimate creative music AI ecosystem.”

✨ Soothing Soundscapes: UMG announced a partnership with Endel, a “sound wellness” AI app designed to analyze existing artist catalogs to build a “soundscape” that matches their sound.

❓ Did You Know?: In 1984, the first pressed music CD was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” and a decade later, the first online credit card purchase was made for Sting’s album, Ten Summoners’ Tales. For more interesting tech (and music) facts, US-based venture capital firm Accel dropped a cool website detailing 40 years in tech.

👶 No One Puts Baby in a Corner: CD Baby shared it will no longer be selling…CDs. Formerly the champion of giving independent musicians the opportunity to release physical CDs and vinyl records, the company is shutting down storage warehouses starting June 22nd and plans to revamp its business model.

🔐 Protecting Creatives: Through breaking down ownership percentages on their SONGVIEW platform, ASCAP and BMI are on a mission to eliminate fraudulent activities within the music industry.

🤖 TikTokBot: In the Philippines, TikTok is testing a new chatbot called “Tako,” which is reported to be designed by a third-party AI provider to help assist with video discovery.

⛑️ Lil Durk’s latest album, Almost Healed is filled with fire producers like Alicia Keys, Dr. Luke, Metro Boomin, and Zaytoven, among others.

🎞️ To pair with his most recent and self-titled album, ILLENIUM dropped a 90-minute animated short film titled STARFALL.

🪐 Taylor Swift dropped Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), which includes more Lana Del Rey, Ice Spice, and a Midnights vault song called “You’re Losing Me” sold exclusively in CD format to fans at her Eras Tour in New Jersey this past weekend.

👀 Olivia Rodrigo said she’s almost done with her highly anticipated sophomore album, Offset plans to release his debut solo record with a feature from the late Takeoff, Dominic Fike hopes you Sunburn this summer with his upcoming album, and the long-awaited Barbie film tracklist has arrived, with Dua Lipa singing the debut single.

🔁 Swedish House Mafia are back and want us to “See The Light,” Conan Gray shared a new Max Martin-produced single, Roosevelt shared a new single and upcoming fall tour dates, The Cure performed a demo from 1997 at the Hollywood Bowl, and fans are speculating whether it’ll be included on their future album release. Both The Weeknd (who’s nearing the end of his Weeknd era) and Travis Scott dropped new songs at Cannes. The Foo Fighters debuted their first single, “Show Me How,” from their upcoming eleventh studio album, But Here We Are, with Dave Grohl credited on the drums in honor of the late Taylor Hawkins. The band announced longtime friend, Josh Freese, will be touring with the band as their drummer.

The Sunlighter Playlist 🔀

Artist of the Week: Goth Babe🎙️

Primer: We’re headed to the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the sights, but more importantly, the sounds of the outdoors.

Who is “Goth Babe”? No, this week’s artist isn’t an emo artist. Tennessee-raised Griffin Washburn (Griff), chose the name, “Goth Babe,” as a hat tip (and just a name that spoke to him) to indie band, Surf Curse, one he really enjoyed listening to during college.

Pursuit of Happiness and the Outdoors: Originally raised in Memphis, Griff started as a folk artist before navigating his early career into solo blues music and surf punk. In college, he started his indie project, Fuzz Ghost, which he later rebranded to Goth Babe after dropping out and moving to Nashville.

After a few years with little success, Griff decided to move to Brooklyn with the hopes of gaining a new perspective. Ironically, living in Brooklyn proved to be more mentally difficult and resulted in continued unhappiness and a deeper rift from music. A couple of years later, Griff became inspired by a group of professional surfers that were promoting a movie in Brooklyn, realizing that it was possible to make a living while traveling. He decided that it was time for another move, this time to the West Coast.

Griff moved to Los Angeles, living out of his old Ford Explorer for three years, while taking odd jobs like walking dogs to make ends meet. In 2018, his single, “Sometimes,” received industry acclamation that would help build momentum for his career. However, during that time, he also experienced the trauma of being held at gunpoint while living in his car, leaving him with PTSD and constrictive depression. Eventually, Griff found that even LA lacked the outdoor environment he was fond of during his youth in the mountains of Tennessee, which prompted him to relocate to Portland.

Mental Health and Conservation: Griff leverages his outdoor experiences as well as his Australian Shephard companion, Sadie, to not only help restore his mental well-being but also to establish the overall ethos of his music. As a way to give back, he donates a large portion of his income to conservation and climate impact organizations like “Protect our Winters” and “Conservation Lands Foundation.”

Creating in Nature: On days when Griff can’t go outdoors due to bad weather, that time is recycled for songwriting and production in his truck (he gets 100 watts of solar power to self-produce his music in his truck). His creative process typically starts with building a foundation of percussion and layered synths looped in Ableton before adding his vocals to complete a demo. If it’s a song that he consistently comes back to, it’s typically a song that he plans to fully produce and eventually release. Like all of his song and EP titles, his music is deeply in touch with his experiences, travels, and the positive forces of nature.

Current Label: Ongakubaka Records, an indie label repping fools for music. Here’s a link to his Bandcamp.

Genre: Surf punk turned indie that now embraces elements of soft synths, acoustics, and pronounced sounds of nature.

Influences: Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Tame Impala, Mac DeMarco, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Youth Lagoon

What’s Next?: So far, Griff has released numerous singles and EPs, but we’re still anticipating a full-length LP in the near future. As he progresses in his career, we’re confident that he’s an artist that will continue to stay true to his style of music, one that’s core to his travel experiences and mental well-being. Here’s an insightful Amazon Music short documentary about his struggles with mental health:

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See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya