Swedish sweetheart Robin Carlsson’s, stage name Robyn, career traces back thirty years, but her ability to stick with the times and carve out immersive electro-pop made her a highlight of this year’s Austin City Limits. The 80-minute set closed out the festival on Sunday, transforming the defeated Zilker Park into a dance floor and giving tired listeners a shoulder to lean on. 

This year’s Austin City Limits Festival proved more than ever that audiences and those running festivals win when diverse acts perform.

With three decades of beloved music and a famous mural on the Drag, songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston’s influence on Austin and beyond is undeniable. After his sudden passing in September, a dozen musicians joined at the Mohawk to celebrate his life and remind everyone that “Some Things Last A Long Time.” 

A vibrant, young crowd surrounded the stage at the TC Superstar tour kickoff last Saturday, two weeks after the deluxe release of R&D. It may have been ACL weekend, but the venue was still packed with enthusiastic fans who were ready to dance (and maybe cry) to the local collective’s synth tunes. A long time fan myself, I finally had the pleasure of catching up with Connor McCampbell, also known as the Toyata Coralla Superstar, to find out what the deluxe album was all about.

The self-assured R&B star, Summer Walker, has women all over saying “forget him” with the release of her debut album, Over It.

Headlining the Honda stage the first Saturday of Austin City Limits, Robert Smith and company celebrated 40 years of guitar magic.

Donning a grandpa sweater, long trousers and Buc-ee’s nail decals picked up on the road, 22 year-old Atlanta indie-folk artist, Faye Webster, performs with the comfortability beyond her years and a vitality and charm that only her age could offer. 

We thought that indie-folk masterpiece MY WOMAN was the peak of Angel Olsen’s career. The release of All Mirrors on Oct. 4 shows us that we were dead wrong. In her most expansive and complex work yet, Olsen becomes the hero in her own story, carrying herself into a new life, one without unfulfilled love and empty promises. 

Brittany Howard’s album Jaime is the perfect example of a solo artist being vulnerable and taking risks. Her record employs her powerful voice fans have some to love to tell a story they needed to hear.

Charlotte Emma Aitchison is the future of the pop music landscape.

An erratic Matthew Shultz took the stage last Friday at the Moody Theater. With a dizzying on-stage energy and an overabundance of costume changes, the well seasoned singer proved the decade-old Kentucky band still has plenty vivacity left.