We Speak Pop
EIGHTY NINETY RELEASE NEW SINGLE “2 CARAT”
Eighty Ninety — the indie-pop project of NYC-based brothers Abner (vocals, production) and Harper (guitar, production) James — are back with their brand new single, “2 Carat,” out on all streaming platforms today.
“2 Carat” welcomes in a new era for Eighty Ninety as they head towards the release of their debut full-length album, due out later this year. Blending organic instrumentation, atmospheric production and poignant lyricism, the track is an alluring introduction to a new chapter in the Eighty Ninety journey.
“Our upcoming album is about falling apart and learning how to put yourself back together, and the unexpected moments of joy that come along the way,” the duo add. “The first single, ‘2 Carat,’ is about coming to terms with the realization that the right person may have come (and gone) at the wrong time, when you weren’t whole enough to be able to recognize or reciprocate their love. It’s about the struggle to free yourself from cycles of questioning and regret so that you can make space in your life for a fuller self, new joy, and new love.
”Last year saw the release of Eighty Ninety’s second EP, ‘The Night Sky,’ which served as the follow up to their highly successful debut record, ‘Elizabeth.’ With the release of their two EPs and a number of hit standalone singles, Eighty Ninety have cemented themselves as ones to watch in the indie-pop space.
Their songs fuse intimate storytelling, sticky melodies, and minimalist pop productions built on acoustic instruments and electronic sounds in a style they call “808s and telecasters” — a shorthand for both their music and their anything-goes mentality in the studio. To date, they’ve racked up over 31 million streams and have received glowing reviews from tastemakers like Billboard, Alternative Press and Ones To Watch.
Listen to “2 Carat” on all streaming platforms: https://ffm.to/2carat
Watch “2 Carat” music video: https://youtu.be/BF9o7-pxuMg
We Speak Entertainment
IRENE MICHAELS JOINS THE RECORDING ACADEMY — AND WHAT THAT VOTE ACTUALLY MEANS
Awards nominations tell an audience an artist’s work has been noticed. Recording Academy Voting Membership tells a different story: that the artist has been recognized as a peer within the industry itself. Irene Michaels was recently named a Voting Member of the Recording Academy — the organization behind the Grammy Awards — and the distinction carries weight well beyond a title on a bio page.
Voting Membership isn’t handed out casually. It’s reserved for performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and other creators actively working in the recording industry, and it comes with real influence: Voting Members are the people who ultimately determine Grammy nominees and winners each year. For an artist to be recognized at that level is, in effect, the industry saying her work belongs in the same conversation as the artists and professionals shaping the awards themselves.
That’s a meaningful marker for Michaels’ ongoing music career, which has moved from EPs and singles to Josie Music Award recognition and now into this kind of institutional standing. It reframes her not just as an artist building a catalog, but as a working member of the community that evaluates and honors that catalog industry-wide — someone whose judgment on music now carries an official vote.
It also adds context to everything else happening in her 2026: a triple nomination at the 12th Annual Josie Music Awards, an EP in Golden that’s earning recognition on its own merits, and a career that has spent the last several years steadily building credibility as a serious recording artist rather than a novelty comeback story. Recording Academy membership doesn’t arrive for artists still proving themselves — it arrives for artists the industry has already decided are part of it.
For Irene Michaels, whose career has spanned modeling, acting, publishing, and now music across multiple decades, the Recording Academy recognition is less a single headline than another data point in a larger pattern: an artist whose reinvention keeps being met, at every stage, with the industry taking her seriously.
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