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The thing about a diary is that it’s private. But when that diary is also the music you make, it begins to morph into a different relationship and responsibility. For Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Bren Joy, the autobiographical admissions that his music allows him is what brought him to the art form to begin with, and what has kept him there working diligently ever since. In fact, that the music he makes will have a life after he departs the earth is crucial to Joy’s appreciation for the work he does. He wants each song and each record to mark his thoughts cleanly and clearly in a given moment in time. He responds to and respects other artists like Taylor Swift who manage their work in this way, too. It’s this impulse that inspired Joy to write and release his 2019 album, Twenties, and why he decided to release the deluxe version of the album last week. In short, he had more to say about this time in his life before it grows and shifts into a new era of creativity.

Professional hit song maker, Starrah (born Brittany Hazzard), can trace it all back to when she was four years old. For the songwriter, who has since gone on to co-write tracks like Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” inspiration first hit when she heard the 1994 song “Candy Rain” by the group, Soul for Real. More than the music, though, she was struck that the singing group included a kid in its ranks. This was an early light bulb moment—you didn’t have to be an adult to participate in music. Just a few years later, around 10 years old, the songs began to come. Starrah was on her way. She began recording with a rudimentary app on Microsoft Windows, recording herself over herself. Now, all of that inspiration and hard work is paying off. This month, Starrah has released her debut solo LP, The Longest Interlude, and the new album marks the beginning of yet another fruitful era in Starrah’s already illustrious career.

Jamie Stewart, co-founder of the eerie indie rock group, Xiu Xiu, is no stranger to hardship. But thanks to the beauty of music, Stewart has long had a space where he can turn those difficulties into something new and, perhaps, especially beneficial. In that way, he can be constructive. Not the opposite.

Recently, Stewart says, about a half-dozen people he was “very close” with personally and professionally betrayed him, lied to him severely or just “fucked” him over at various recent times. For the sometimes cynical, oft-agoraphobic Stewart, that could have been the last straw. He could have pulled the proverbial blankets over his head and shut out the rest of the world. But, to his surprise, something else happened. Friends and fellow musicians began to reach out to him and ask about his state and offer their help. It was healing. And to thank them for their care, Stewart wrote and recorded his band’s new record, OH NO (out March 26), with the idea of the duet at its figurative center.

The art of music production is as varied as the number of people partaking. Some release demo after demo, track after track, almost indiscriminately. Others, like the New York City-based trio of brothers AJR, are more reserved and meticulous. In one sense, it may seem that the fewer songs a band releases, the easier it is. But for AJR, it’s the opposite. The group combs over its music, finding the right sound here and the right one there.

The band has a mantra—Given that no one is perfect, therefore everyone fails. But the brothers work to “fail faster,” meaning that they endeavor not to linger on their errors, get past the inevitable junk as quickly as possible to better locate the gems. Since its inception in the early 2010s, the trio has produced a great many hits amongst the 50-something formal releases. The brothers’ newest offering, the forthcoming LP, OK ORCHESTRA, is set for release on March 26, and should produce more fans for the already popular family project.

For those familiar with the at times-frenetic, at times-pleasantly disorienting music of the Brooklyn, New York-based hip-hop group, Flatbush Zombies, hearing the new solo music from the trio’s co-founder and primary producer, Erick Elliott (a.k.a. Erick the Architect), may come as a bit of a surprise. Where the Flatbush Zombies might try to proverbially push you over the sonic edge, Elliott, in his recent solo EP, Future Proof, instead tries to reason with you, relax you and offer kernels of insight.

While one style is not inherently superior to the other, what the distinction exemplifies is that Elliott, like many great artists, has multiple sides to his aesthetic and creative mind. Further, it shows that he embraces both. This latter fact took some time to manifest, but, thanks to Elliott’s concerted efforts to do so, the musician has already established himself in a significantly new way, which, he says, he fully intends to continue to dig into, embrace and find a home in.

Dicky Barrett, front man for the Boston-born ska punk band, the Mighty Mighty BossToneS, has come a long way to find himself. Growing up in New England (and other parts of the east coast like New Jersey or Philadelphia), one can feel in the shadow of the esteemed New York City. As a result, there is often a palpable tone prizing the group over the individual. For someone like Barrett, who stands out, that can create something of a psychological dichotomy. One wants to honor one’s home but also one’s own originality. For Barrett, this would manifest itself in the music he made in unique ways. For one, when the BossToneS began, the group prided itself on writing “anti-songs.” They’d start with a ska riff and make a “left turn” to a punk rampage. At one point, a famous record executive challenged Barrett, saying he was “afraid” to write genuine songs. With the gauntlet thrown, Barrett and the BossToneS dug in and began writing in earnest. Not long after, they became household names. Now, the band is set to release its latest record, When God Was Great (out May 7), which is also one of its best.

Nashville-based songwriter, Maia Sharp, has begun to examine her orientation to the truth in her work in a brand new way. An accomplished and prolific artist, Sharp, throughout her career, has had the ability to write about virtually anything, from a simple observation to using misheard lyrics for her own new compositions. But in recent years, Sharp’s life has changed dramatically. Her marriage of 21 years ended. She moved from her longtime home in Los Angeles to Nashville. She endured a difficult bout with COVID-19 just after a tornado ripped through her Music City neighborhood. To sort through these events, Sharp has looked keenly at her life and written about it clearly. It’s more than therapeutic. It’s invigorating—as if stepping in a whole new realm of possibilities. It’s not that what Sharp wrote before was all fiction, but this new lens through which she’s writing feels fresher. It’s also the foundation of Sharp’s forthcoming new LP (out May 7), which includes the newest single, “You’ll Know Who Knows You” (co-written with Emily Kopp), which is premiering on American Songwriter here today.