Music is one of our most influential cultural artifacts. It defines and identifies us collectively by genre, generation, geography. Music gives us a sense of communal self with those who enjoy the same bands and musicians that we listen to.

For each of us individually, music has the power to embed itself in our memories and define our most significant events. Music etches lyrics and beats into our psyches, depositing its remnants within our hearts. Those deposits lie dormant for years until an external prod finds a way to push play, then songs long forgotten burst forth, flooding our senses with whatever memories, feelings, and moods were attached to them.

In this issue, we offer perspectives on music’s place and influence, looking at how music unites, inspires, and reminds us of the most meaningful moments of life. Two features point to these truths. In “What Are We to Make of Poptimism?,” Ethan McCarthy analyzes how music criticism has been swayed by the poptimism—the current, widespread preference of pop music to rock and roll—that has also taken our culture in recent years. Rock isn’t dead however. Joel Heng Hartse provides his commendation of the beautifully deep and meaningful music of Lee Bozeman from the band Luxury.

Whether your heart beats to pop, country, or rock and roll, we trust you will find plenty here to enjoy.

-Erin Straza, Associate Editor

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