New Music Reviews: Ravyn Levae and Wild Pink

Pristine R&B or raw roots rock? Pick your poison – both are impressive.

Ravyn Levae

Blue Island

2026, 8.5/10
R&B artist Ravyn Levae is writing some of my favourite songs of 2026. She has an interesting background – her grandfather is a preacher and a former doowop singer. Her third album is named for her hometown in Illinois, also home to Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of CSI. Blue Island is mellow, suiting Levae’s velvety voice. But it’s surprisingly diverse, ranging from the gentle funk of ‘Sew Me Back Together’ to ‘Reputation’, where there’s little more than an acoustic guitar

I want this era to feel limitless and free. When I think about this next project and me walking into this next season, I see myself jumping over hills, in a way. I just want to feel that free with myself and with my music in the way that is moving in the world.
Ravyn Levae, PaperMag

‘Handle’ is a terrific single with an almost a capella hook – “oh my love, my love is like a landslide”.

The crisp guitars of ‘Familiar Dreams’ recall the innocence of an earlier era, like Amy Grant’s singles in the early 1990s. I’m also fond of the mellow ‘Find It One Day’, like an updated version of a 1980s power ballad.

Levae’s music is tuneful and warm – I’m bemused that she’s not a megastar.

Wild Pink

Still Coming Down

2026, 8/10
We’ve covered a couple of Twisted Teens records on these pages recently. Wild Pink are cut from the same cloth, country-tinged rockers with pedal steel and rough-edged vocals. Like Twisted Teens, Wild Pink are effectively a duo – songwriter John Ross and drummer Dan Keegan. On Still Coming Down, Wild Pink capture a sound that’s both raw and big, like an edgier War on Drugs.

I’m in my rock era, I guess. I think that record started on Dulling the Horns.
John Ross, Big Takeover

Still Coming Down is one of those records where the opener is so strong that it’s hard for the rest of the record to measure up. ‘Box Store’ is big and brash, powered by an enormous guitar riff.

The band was unable to feature the song ‘Mask’. A duet with Ratboys’ Julia Steiner, it recycled the chorus from ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, and Diane Warren refused to grant permission. But there’s plenty else to appreciate – MJ Lenderman plays a killer solo on ‘Dead For A Sec’, while ‘Plates Keep Spinning’ captures a raw, Neil Young and Crazy Horse sound.

Wild Pink had passed me by up until now, but they’re terrific, and I’m setting time aside to dig back through their previous records.