Essay Portfolio

Freelance essays and articles across pop culture and travel

-Film

-Music

-TV

-Travel

-Culture

-Interviews

-Books

-Comics

-Film -Music -TV -Travel -Culture -Interviews -Books -Comics

Selected Works

How Shinedown Went from Drugs and Angst to Inspirational Advocacy

A music essay examining the hard rock band’s evolution of sound and style, as inspired by lifestyle changes

GENRE: Music Analysis

PopMatters

Tame Impala Seek Truth Through Imperfection in ‘Deadbeat’

An assigned album review for the Australian multi-instrumentalist, blending critique and appreciation for a critically mixed collection

GENRE: Album Review

PopMatters

Some Criticism About Criticism

​A commentary on ethical criticism and the responsibilities critics have in power dynamics

GENRE(S): Culture, Criticism

PopMatters

MUSIC

  • Keith Carne’s “Totally Liminal” Takes Us to the Beautiful In-Between

    Keith Carne offers a laidback glide through smooth vocals and buoyant electronic horns, with its protagonist recognizing the strange beauty of his current stage.

    PopMatters

  • ROREY Offers a Glimpse Into Resolving Heartache

    ROREY pulls back the curtain on the vulnerable evolution of heartbreak in “Dying Fire”, her ethereal new dream pop single.

    PopMatters

  • 10 Synthwave and Ambient Songs for Swimming

    Paired with the proper music—synthwave and ambient electronic tracks—our next visit to the pool can transcend exercise into a meditative reconnection with embodiment.

    PopMatters

  • Kula Shaker’s Crispian Mills Discusses the Creative Life

    From physical media to ruminations on consciousness and what everyone is ultimately after, Crispian Mills answers questions like “Who are Kula Shaker?”

    (INTERVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Gorillaz’s ‘The Mountain’ Is a Shining Ode to Life and Loss

    On The Mountain, Gorillaz render the cinema of life, with its frankness and earnest-heartedness, as naturally as anything they’ve created.

    (ALBUM REVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Shinedown’s ‘Rock the Country’ Controversy Proves Nothing Is Safe from Politics

    Years of kindness and calls for unity from a band like Shinedown, whose very name implies radiant light, warrant a thoughtful, rather than reactive, pause.

    PopMatters

  • Col Gerrard’s Debut Grasps for Clarity Amidst Miscommunication

    Col Gerrard rejuvenates 1990s and early 2000s pop-rock on his debut album, and the London-based musician muses tenderly on the mishaps of a love-filled life.

    (ALBUM REVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Kula Shaker Rally the Poets of Light on ‘Wormslayer’

    Kula Shaker’s Wormslayer is for the seeker, the adventurer, and the soul who longs for liberty—all while soundtracking their journey to an epic musical mirror.

    (ALBUM REVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Tame Impala Seek Truth Through Imperfection in ‘Deadbeat’

    Deadbeat is Tame Impala’s electronic dance and house record, and it wants listeners to consider the multi-talented Grammy winner a loser.

    (ALBUM REVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Naked Eyes’ 1983 Debut Delivers Sincerity in an Ironic World

    Naked Eyes’ 1983 debut, Burning Bridges, is a good album for reflecting on our ironic modern world, as it can’t help but wax nostalgic for the sincerity of the past.

    PopMatters

  • How a Decaying Monstrosity Powered Tame Impala’s ‘Currents’

    It was a “gigantic, derelict, empty, silent monolith” that sparked Tame Impala’s imagination while composing one of the most memorable albums of the 2010s.

    PopMatters

  • Shinedown Wrestle Hard Truths and Modern Life in “Killing Fields”

    With “Killing Fields”, Shinedown burst back onto the emotional battlefield armed with sharpened convictions and a flame-throwing authenticity.

    (Written for Shinedown’s PR)

    PopMatters

  • The 10 Best ’80s and ’90s Love Songs For Wounded Idealists

    These ten love songs, marked by devotion, candor, emotional intensity, and touches of pain, invite perceptive listeners to unearth the simmering drama.

    PopMatters

  • Brian May and Benson Boone at Coachella 2025

    Brian May, Coachella 2025, and Modern Music Festivals

    Is a young person’s inability to recognize Queen’s guitarist, Brian May at Coachella, the cardinal music sin many believe it to be?

    PopMatters

  • The 10 Quintessential Tame Impala Songs

    Tame Impala’s deeply revealing songs disclose important details about Kevin Parker’s life and outlook and mark the cornerstones of his individuality.

    PopMatters

  • How Shinedown Went from Drugs and Angst to Inspirational Advocacy

    Hard rock band Shinedown are never quiet about their struggles and never will be as they assure fans that being “slightly awkward, kinda weird” is perfectly normal.

    PopMatters

  • Tame Impala: The Champion of Introverts

    Despite society’s antagonism toward introverts, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker steadfastly offers himself as a vulnerable, somewhat blushing symbol of the gifted loner.

    PopMatters

FILM/TV

  • ‘They Live’ in Your Mind in the Digital Age

    John Carpenter’s 1988 sci-fi satire is more relevant now than it ever was in the 20th century

    PopMatters

  • Surprising Parallels Between the King of Kaiju and King of Kings

    Godzilla has always been more than a monster. He even shares traits with God Almighty!

    Geeks Under Grace

  • Akane Yashiro: Nothing So Strong as Gentleness

    A deep-dive into one of the Godzilla saga’s greatest heroines.

    Asian Movie Pulse

  • Nefarious: A Game-Changer for the Christian Film Industry

    An analysis of one of Christian cinema’s darkest and most daring entries

    Film East

  • Volcano: A Subtly Brilliant, Half-Baked Disaster Epic

    A defense-of piece for one of disaster cinema’s most well-known—and well-loathed—films

    Film East

  • Should Christians Watch The Simpsons?

    Is America’s favorite dysfunctional family too dysfunctional for the pop culture-engaged believer?

    Geeks Under Grace

Books

  • ‘The Midnight: Shadows’ Illuminates Nostalgia’s Hidden Dangers in Shades of Neon

    In their music and now their graphic novel, The Midnight: Shadows, this synthwave duo weaves a distinct emotional identity around the narcotic effects of nostalgia.

    PopMatters

  • Translating Mothra Is Trickier Than Capturing Godzilla

    Jeffrey Angles discusses the perils and pleasures of translating Mothra’s tri-authored origin tale, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra, into English.

    (INTERVIEW)

    PopMatters

  • Mothra Is Luminous as an Icon of Soft Power and Femininity

    Whether defending her eggs, the Earth, or the people and kaiju she values, Mothra has consistently demonstrated caregiving instincts that finally have a lucid source in her feminine creator, Ajigo.

    PopMatters

Culture & Commentary

  • Some Criticism About Criticism

    ​Criticism done well is not antithetical to compassion; the two are closely interlinked as an act of kindness that prevents delusion and leading others astray.

    PopMatters

  • Are We Branded for Life?

    In our age of endless comparison, curated self-images and performativity, we willingly submit to the branding of our fickle identities.

    PopMatters

TRAVEL

  • Wallace, ID, the Tiny Idaho Town Hollywood 'Destroyed'

    Photo essay of the setting of Dante’s Peak (1997), a volcanic disaster movie filmed in Wallace, ID

    Go World Travel

  • Solo in Idaho: In Tough Times, the Right Choice

    A narrative photo essay about a multi-week solo trip across the Gem State—including the good, bad, and decidedly ugly

    IDAHO Magazine—requires purchase to read full article

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