:!: :!: :!: :!: :!: Phil Collins' ghost is angry with me.

pretty catchy with an energetic vocal performance, I don't have much to say about this one - the mix feels like it could be a bit cleaner maybe to really lean into the pop vibes, but overall it's well done.

Arrangement-wise this feels like you stepping out of your comfort zone, and if that's the case then I think you would do well to go out of your comfort zone more often in my book. It definitely helps that I'm a sucker for 80s tinged synth pop. These lyrics are refreshing compared to the rest of the field because it avoids all the bad-luck cliches, and I really enjoyed the huge synth riffing and bombastic beats. This by far did the best job of sounding optimistic and joyful. Even warranted another listen once I'd finished reviewing just for fun!

This is really fun. It's a little too 80s for my taste but there's some great hooks and lyrical crafting in there. I could really do without the - what is that, wood blocks? lol, you leaned in too far. Execution: B+, idea: B+, hooks: A+

This sounds like it'd slot nicely onto either of the first two Chvrches albums and I don't care what anyone says, those drum fills are on point! Vocal, production and arrangement are all superb. All the twinkly little synth bits in the background are fantastic. Lyrically, this is the most subtle take on the Friday the 13th movies.

I'm a big sucker for that type of portamento-laden synth riff. I enjoyed the cheesy production (including the gated reverb on the drums, sorry Caravan Ray), those little touches of bells are lovely, but found the vocals kind of unappealing, there's some kind of slightly uncanny valley feel to them along with some musical theater vibes and it's a weird combo. Too processed-sounding, maybe? I would say they seem overly tuned, but there are also various pitchy moments that make me think they weren't tuned, or not tuned correctly? I think I kind of wished you were either singing higher or lower in your range; it's smooth enough, but something just seems off. The acoustic breakdown is a nice change in dynamics. The vocals in that part I guess were a bit more natural but also sounded a bit distorted to me, especially on the esses. (edit upon preview: probably your aggressive tuning there that you mentioned.) I like your prosody and rhythmic delivery--you do a good job matching lyrics to melody--and the imagery in the lyrics. Meets the challenge!