US artist mel denisse has tapped into one of our favourite genres – 90’s trip hop – and delivered a sensational new single called ‘underneath the world’.
Inspired by the work of groups like Portishead and Blonde Redhead, this track contrasts a melancholic production with lyrics that speak of escaping reality with someone special.
“It’s about feeling like you’re in another dimension with someone, away from the noise of the world.”
We’ve made no secret of our love for this rising Nashville starlet, and we’re not alone in the fan club. mel currently attracts over 5k monthly listeners and has amassed more than 150k streams from just a handful of releases.
South London trio Summers Sons & C.Tappin have been a fixture in the UK’s jazz and hip hop scenes for close to a decade, crafting some of the most interesting sonic fusions to emerge from the country.
‘The Boogie’ is the focus track from their new album, ‘Lightworks’, which took eight years to complete. The record showcases the outfit’s evolved approach to music – prioritising live instrumentation over samples, while their lyrics touch on themes like family, friendship, and perseverance.
Since their formation, Summers Sons have amassed well over 35 million streams on Spotify. Check out more of their work here.
Texas-bred singer and songwriter colby! returns today with a bold new single called ‘Machine’, and we’re obsessed.
This track explores the hypocrisy of having fake friends who despise seeing you achieve but somehow come back into the scene again when you reach success. The artist explains:
“This is an empowerment song, but it’s about something really specific. When people see you growing, they want to hate on you. Then when they see you achieve what you’ve tried so hard for, suddenly they want to come back into your life. So it’s a very passive aggressive song, and we love that. I was going for kind of an M.I.A. vibe, and it leans more into the punk sound I’ve been wanting to explore for a while.”
Impressively, colby’s music has picked up attention from tastemaker outlets like Ones to Watch, Ladygunn, and Atwood magazines,while also commanding more than 550k monthly listeners on Spotify.
Canadian starlet Abra Taylor returns today with a sublime new single called ‘Choke’, and it’s well worth your attention.
An atmospheric and deeply captivating blend of alternative R&B and cinematic pop, this song is all about the dark side of love. When you give someone your all, only to realise that it isn’t enough. Abra elaborates:
“It lives moodily in the tension between vulnerability and resentment; giving someone your lips, your trust, only to feel them reaching for your throat instead.”
Taylor first came across our radars back in 2021 and has steadily built a solid fanbase since that time: to date, she has impressively amassed well over 2.5 million streams on Spotify.
Sarapata are a Kraków-based outfit who craft both sonic and visual artforms. Today sees the release of their latest EP,‘Hear the Silence’, which features a collaboration with fellow Polish indie-folk band Lor called ‘What’s Most Likely’.
This is an unapologetically experimental banger that bounces between being playfully sweet and painfully raw. The vocals initially seem dreamy and innocent – before turning almost primal in tone. The production is full of juxtapositions that keep listeners hooked throughout its duration, showcasing Sarapata’s flair for being bold.
Sarapata has been at the forefront of the indietronica scene in Poland for some time now and currently attract more than 30k monthly listeners on Spotify.
Blond in Car, the musical project of social media star Robin Schorr, has had quite the year. After going viral performing her song ‘My High Gummygirl’on an Omnichord in her kitchen, the self-proclaimed ‘groovy aunt of dream-pop’ has gone on to catch the attention of artists like SZA, Rosalía, and Lily Allen.
‘Shaky Day’, featuring Jay Som, is a thoughtfully crafted pop song that was inspired by the artist’s sister, who has always managed to be a source of source and comfort to her sibling.
“If you are lucky, you have that person in your life who will talk you down when you’re crashing out. For me, that person is most often my older sister Lynn, who knows me and my ups and downs. She knows just how to remind me that whatever mood is running rampant is nothing we haven’t seen before. And just knowing I can get her on the phone, gives me immediate peace and perspective – she’s my rescue remedy.” – Blond in Car
The track is lifted from Schorr’s new album, ‘GLIDER’, which is also out now. The record featured collabs with Mannequin Pussy, Jack Newsom, and Yumi Zouma, so be sure to check it out!
Atlanta native, Paris-based Jak Bannon returns after a 6-year hiatus, and it’s safe to say it’s been worth the wait. This Emmy Award-winning director, editor and musician seems to have an obsession with perfection, as you can see from his new release, ‘Hold Still, Please’.
The track serves as a taster for his new album, ‘Time, Full Speed’, and treats us to a heady fusion of cinematic pop and indie music. Alongside the impressive production, the visuals (directed by Bannon himself) showcase Paris in an unusual light – with people playing a city-wide game of tag. Elaborating on his new album, he says:
“‘Time, Full Speed’ is an album I made to process my relationship with time. I juggle with the reality that I can’t go back, go forward, slow time down, or stop it. Over time, I discovered that the feelings around love and grief don’t disappear, they change shape as we move through time at full speed. I don’t want it explained much. I’d like it to highlight what people may already carry with them, so they can resonate in their own way.”
The self-released record will be accompanied by 40 short films (made by animators and filmmakers from across the world), which will be released over the next year. To date Bannon’s music has garnered more than 3.5 million cumulative streams. We’re glad he’s back!
Following their recent back-to-back set at Aviator Nation Dreamland, Canary Yellow and Teal Teal have joined forces once again to drop one of the biggest bangers of the weekend, ‘Inside Out’.
The track blends a frantic garage beat with electronica, resulting in a sound that gets your pulse racing in the best possible way. This is melodic dance at its best, affirming both Canary Yellow and Teal Teal as two of electronic music’s most interesting outfits.
Emerging Brooklyn-based artist OXFLOYD is back with one of the week’s most captivating releases, ‘obsessed w u’.
Through its gritty and dark production, the artist sings about the toxicity that comes from being infatuated with someone. When you fall for a person so quickly that you ignore the red flags, leading to a destructive relationship:
“’obsessed w u’ was written about a stranger I had just met. Someone I developed an almost instant obsession for, not knowing at the time that none of it was real. A relationship built on lies.”
OXFLOYD has built a tonne of momentum in a very short space of time. He’s amassed more than half a million catalogue streams and currently attracts 20k listeners on Spotify. Praise from tastemakers comes from outlets like FAULT and House of Solo.
Atlanta’s NEANDERTHALZ make noise that commands your immediate attention. And we say that in the best possible way. This rising group craft a distinctive alt sound that is, at its core, human.
Their work fuses post-punk, hip hop, electronica, and rock to create music that steers away from polished perfection and veers more towards raw and impactful productions.
‘Feelz Good’ is a perfect example of their sound and is bound to gain a tonne of traction this weekend. The track is a statement piece, unashamedly raw and bold.
We first featured Kojo Kay earlier this year, and we’ve been so impressed with the newcomer’s evolution since.
‘RIGHT HERE’ is the artist’s sixth release to date and is lifted from his debut ‘TONEBOW’ mixtape. Like his previous work, the track was created alongside Jamie Kuse and draws listeners into an atmospheric blend of alternative R&B, hip hop, and pop.
“This song was driven by a deep emotional moment of feeling lost yet having the hope that I am also right where I need to be while also still headed where I hope to be. When I produced this track I wanted it to immediately feel like a wave of peace crashing down from the first second.”
Despite running less than two minutes total, this track makes a big impact. Over the past few months, Kojo’s music has been praised by Earmilk, Neon Music, The Word is Bond, and many more tastemakers.
In the lead-up to her debut album, musician and producer Sable returns with a gorgeous new single called ‘Daughterhood’.
The song was written and produced by Sable herself and speaks of the special relationship between mother and daughter. Sonically, it draws inspiration from production by Kate Bush and Bon Iver. And as we’ve come to expect from this Mancunian talent, the track showcases some beautifully crafted alternative pop.
Sable’s upcoming album, ‘We’re Getting Older Baby’, is out soon. In the meantime, you can explore more of the Berlin-based artist’s work on Spotify here.
It’s not often for us to feature two songs from the same outfit on a post, so soft siren’s new releases are really quite exceptional in our view.
Both lifted from the genre-bending band’s debut album ‘4AM’ (out now), these songs showcase some of the finest indie pop you’ll likely come across this weekend.
Let’s start with ‘Feeling Down’, the lead single from the album. Soulful vocals glide over a dreamy, lo-fi style of sound reminiscent of 90s trip hop. The song’s hazy charm has seen it rack up more than a million TikTok views when the band previewed it earlier in the year.
“The lyrics confront ego, escapism, & the realization that sometimes what you are running from is yourself.”
Following on, another stellar song worth featuring is the cinematic ‘I’ll Be Fine’, giving us a shoegaze-inspired production that feels tense and emotionally charged. There’s an essence of melancholy, mirroring the track’s lyrics, which speak of the struggles we have to feel human in the modern world.
“A song about existing like a ghost inside your own life. It captures the heavy, quiet desperation of trying to feel human in a world that treats you like a product or a number, exploring the existential angst and isolation of the modern era.”
All in all, it won’t come as a surprise when we say that the whole album by this hugely promising Californian band deserves a listen.
“The project brings together a carefully selected collection of songs and spoken word pieces written and recorded across different chapters of my life. Through themes of faith, perseverance, gratitude, struggle, hope, and healing, SamXVI identified a narrative running through the music long before either of us realised how significant it would become.” – Abby Power
Work on the EP began before Power received news of a cancer diagnosis and was completed shortly before her surgery. The record features both new songs as well as remastered versions of older releases like ‘Count Blessings’.
Through the EP’s journey, a central theme starts to emerge: ‘that while adversity can leave its mark, it cannot take everything. Faith, love, purpose, gratitude, hope, and human connection remain’.
It’s a powerful record, and one that has clearly had a tonne of heart and soul poured into it and is a testament to both Abby and SamXVI’s artistry.
Your weekend banger is here, and this time it’s a dark one. If you love your old-school UK garage, then you’ll appreciate Arya’s new single, ‘d e v i l’.
Released under Twitch streamer Jericho and Daniel Goudie’sNIGHTMODE label, this track sees the rising Vancouver-based DJ fuse a future-forward production with a nostalgic feel reminiscent of London’s pirate radio sound from the 90s.
Arya has amassed more than four million career streams to date on Spotify alone, where he also commands over 120k monthly listeners.
Electronic legend Iron Perez has been on the circuit for over three decades at this point, but ‘Evolution Mind’ is his first release in the production seat. And that experience shows, as this track is a masterclass in techno.
You don’t have to be a lover of the genre to appreciate the artistry behind this song. Crafted alongside Iron Perez, the production builds a cinematic soundscape that is nothing short of epic. It’s tense, bold and unexpected, leaving listeners hooked throughout its sonic journey.
At this rate, we’ll be shocked if Genevieve & Milo don’t become a global name in the next year or so. This emerging South African outfit has just released one of the most gorgeous releases of the season, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
‘What a Wonderful Thing’ is lifted from the duo’s upcoming ‘Moonflower’ LP (out 30th October) and draws listeners into a sonic landscape brimming with euphoria. Captivating vocals that tell of loving life glide over a production that balances pop with folk and indie. Speaking on the track, Genevieve explains:
“This is a song for embracing that inner madness but also the full spectrum of being alive – beauty, lust, grief and surrender. At its core the lyrics speak to the desire to be in love, not just in the romantic sense but in a longing for life. Embracing the gruesome and the beautiful, the painful and the revelatory. It is an admission of my deepest flaws but also my strengths.”
Support for Genevieve & Milo comes from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, Americana UK, and AnalogueTrash.
In recent years Lee Cole has evolved to become one of South Africa’s biggest artists. The acclaimed singer and songwriter returns this week with a new EP called ‘Letters to Myself, Pt.1’, (listen) from which ‘Something About You’ is lifted.
The whole record is full of gems, but we’re obsessed with the way this track fuses indie and house with dreamy electronica. With its euphoric sound and soulful vocals, the song is one of our favourite pop releases of the week.
Cole’s music has reached over 85 million listeners to date across radio and streams, while his live performances have included sharing stages with the likes of Robbie Williams in Cape Town.
Texas-born and LA-based artist Boy Sim is back today with your weekend banger, ‘Cloud Nine’.
Hyperpop and punk-pop merge together to form a sound that is immediately arresting. The sound feels nostalgic but also original and experimental. Lyrically, the track speaks of the rollercoaster of emotions after a break-up, when we try to move on and forge our happiness.
“‘Cloud Nine’ is about that weird period after a breakup when you start performing happiness so convincingly that it almost becomes real, yet you keep finding yourself talking about them. I wanted the chorus to feel almost absurdly sweet and euphoric, like I’m manifesting a perfect life out loud, even if part of me still isn’t really sure I believe it.”
Boy Sim has been featured by tastemakers like Paper Mag and BBC Radio 1, while his songs have landed on flagship playlists like Spotify’s Fresh Finds and Apple Music’s New Music Daily.
Rising soul starlet Babé Sila returns with a sublime new single that further affirms her status as one of soul’s most promising newcomers.
‘i would, i would, i would’ is an understated gem. The production’s stripped-back style of sound gives way to Sila’s gorgeous vocals alongside elements of spoken word. The song was inspired by themes of losing oneself when they fall in love, as Sila explains:
“’i would i would i would’ is about the kind of love that can turn into self erasure. There’s that intimate, almost erotic pull of giving yourself over to someone you love completely: physically, emotionally, instinctively. Then there’s the sadness in the act of folding your own edges until there’s nowhere left to stand. Beneath the intimacy of it all there’s the old female script: bend, accommodate, become for the man you love. The song stays inside the beauty and sadness of this surrender.”
Be sure to check out Sila’s most recent EP, ‘I Told The Sun About You’, here.
