Photo from hdwallpaper.com

By Rebecca Brooks
Staff Writer

As 2015 comes to a close, most people tend to reflect on what happened in their lives, as well as in the world, throughout the year. Some prepare for New Year’s resolutions, others just want the hectic season to be over.

For me, as the semester and year-end, I can’t help but reflect on the music I have found myself getting into this year. Though I’ve discovered a lot of new music this year of the old and new variety, three relatively new artists stick out in my mind: Melanie Martinez, Pentatonix and BTS.

Melanie Martinez

I found Martinez 2-3 months ago, when I kept seeing people talk about her on Twitter, so I decided to google her and see what the hype was about.

I learned that she was on the third season of the popular singing competition show “The Voice” as part of Team Adam. I then proceeded to give her album “Cry Baby” a listen.

I instantly fell in love with it, adoring the idea of the concept album she created around her alter ego, “Cry Baby,” and how each song was given a title related to kid-like ideals, such as Dollhouse, Training Wheels, Tag, you’re it and Mrs. Potato Head.

The album also has a very dark, eerie feeling to it that almost makes you question Martinez’s sanity, but also gives you an in-depth look into her personality.

Pentatonix

While Pentatonix is not extremely new, having been around for a few years ever since winning NBC’s “The Sing Off” in 2011. However, their careers truly started to kick off this year.

In just a year’s time, they won a Grammy for their a capella medley “Daft Punk,” released a documentary and their self-titled album consisting of entirely original material, as opposed to their covers, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first a capella group in history to do so.

I had never seen their Daft Punk medley in full, but decided to watch it. I ended up binge watching a ton of their videos, instantly falling in love with their unique sound.

I bought their latest album, and have been loving it ever since, my favorite songs including “Cracked” and “Light in the Hallway.” They may be an a capella group, but it is entirely different from what I was expecting, and would definitely recommend listening to them.

BTS

K-Pop has managed to get a lot bigger in America for the past year or so, even appearing on some American shows, such as when Girls’ Generation performed on David Letterman’s show.

I have listened to a few K-Pop groups here and there, but the only group that has really gotten me hooked is BTS, their name being an abbreviation for “Bangtan Boys.”

Some people aren’t fond of K-Pop because of its manufactured industry and mostly Korean lyrics, but that hasn’t stopped me from loving songs like “I Need U” and “Dope,” the latter being my favorite of the two. Their dancing is great, and their voices are even better, officially cementing me as a fan.

These three artists are just scratching the surface of all the music I have discovered this year, as I have become obsessed with dozens more.

However, if you are an avid music lover like myself, I would recommend listening to each of them. Hopefully in 2016, even more great music comes out for me to explore and reflect on by year’s end.