A brief note from the editor

Dear readers, welcome to Listen Closely!

Before we start talking some music, I thought it would be good to give you a glimpse of what this blog is about. Listen Closely was born as an academic project that aims to present scholarship discourses around music in an accessible, entertaining way. The posts will raise issues of gender, sexuality, race, and the like, discussing the elements surrounding the music that can sometimes become problematic or, on the other hand, inspire change. There will be academic posts but also more “emotional” posts, because behind a scholar writing all day trying to meet deadlines and get some sleep there is always a human.

In this regard, be kind to each other and to the writers. You are more than welcome, if not encouraged, to leave a comment with your thoughts under the posts. Just remember that we can all have different perspectives, especially on delicate themes such as the ones that will most probably be discussed here. Listen Closely also aims to create a solid community and a safe space to exchange ideas, improve, and expand the discussion further. Under the contact section of the website, you can directly get in touch with me, your editor, for responses that you don’t feel like posting publicly but still want to get through to us. Also, if you’d like to read about a specific topic from Listen Closely’s perspective, you are welcome to make suggestions! Unless you are a music scholar and want to pitch me your blog post for it to be published here.

Finally, let me just give a good shoutout to my brilliant friend Another Motif Studio for creating such a cool, sharp logo for the blog.

Enjoy your readings and remember our motto: #musicgetspolitical!

Alice Lombardo, editor