BETWEEN FRIENDS Take Hold of the Aux Cord on 'i like when you shine!'

image

Sibling indie pop duo Savannah and Brandon Hudson, better known as BETWEEN FRIENDS, have spent the better part of 2021 releasing a series of EPs. Titled tape 001, tape 002, and tape 003, the unassuming collections culminate with i like when you shine!, a 25-song mixtape and veritable sonic playground.  

As you can likely imagine, a 25-song mixtape is certainly not easy to pin down. Throwing cohesion and tight narrative structure to the wind, i like when you shine! plays out like passing the aux cord between a close-knit group of friends whose music taste you deeply trust. It's a comparison made all the more salient with "aux," the album's opener, which serves as a symbolic passing of the aux cord from you to the duo.

BETWEEN FRIENDS spoke further on their mixtape, sharing, "This is a piece of us, something we have held very close to our hearts this year. A diary of some sorts and a sonic experiment. For ages, we have placed the mixtape format on a pedestal, from the history of frankie knuckles and dj drama all the way down to the old cassettes we'd find in our garage that belonged to our parents in the '90s. Making this was a fever dream and the most fun we've had in our studio to date. We hope that this finds its way well into your cars and your headphones. Made with luv at home by us for you."

i like when you shine! Is rife with intoxicating bouts of experimentation. From left field production detours to otherworldly pop and R&B forrays, no moment is quite like the next - the only constant throughout its 25-track run is the quality.  

i like when you shine! is everything a mixtape should be and more. Fully uninhibited by the worries and expectations of a traditional album rollout, BETWEEN FRIENDS is left to explore any passing idea to its fullest and wildest potential.

Listen to i like when you shine! below:

Related Articles

renforshort Takes Us Through ‘a girl's experience,’ Track by Track

renforshort Takes Us Through ‘a girl's experience,’ Track by Track

June 16, 2025 ‘a girls experience’ traces an alternative pop course through feelings of nostalgia, desperate crushes, and coming of age.
Author: DJ Connor
pop
Kevin Atwater Puts His Spin on Troye Sivan’s “My My My!”

Kevin Atwater Puts His Spin on Troye Sivan’s “My My My!”

June 13, 2025 Paying tribute to one of the iconic male queer artists that came before him, Atwater accesses a different side of this beloved song.
Author: Rebeccah Blau
pop
Dora Jar Lets Go of Feeling Lost in “The Explorer”

Dora Jar Lets Go of Feeling Lost in “The Explorer”

June 13, 2025 The track is both deeply personal and universally comforting, allowing Dora to effortlessly pull listeners into her ethereal universe of quiet introspection.
Author: Chancey Stefanos
pop