Acclaimed Canadian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Casey Møøn returns with yet another slice of indie-pop perfection through his new single ‘glass’.
Inspired by the ways in which we superficially present ourselves whilst socialising, the song continues to showcase Møøn’s flair for crafting supreme pieces of pop.
‘glass’ is lifted from Møøn’s forthcoming ‘mirrors’ EP, which will serve as the second instalment of a trilogy of EP’s (the first of which, entitled ‘fountains’, is out now).
Fans of retro-inspired indie rock will be pleased to know of American newcomers Plushie.
Picking inspiration from legendary musical groups like The Beatles, The Monkees and Black Sabbath, this outfit create an uplifting style of sound that feels charmingly nostalgic, while still maintaining a modern edge.
Fans based in Oregon can catch Plushie performing live at the Eugene Saturday Market on the 1st October 2022 – more details can be found here.
Emerging from the American state of Louisiana is newcomer Endie (aka Ike Thomas), who’s genre-bending style of music is already gaining considerable attention from both discerning listeners and tastemakers alike.
Latest single ‘love like that’ serves as a lively alt-pop anthem that was inspired by all of the unpredictable feelings associated with being in love.
“‘love like that’ pulls a lot of my current emotions together into one body of work.”
With over 800k catalogue streams to date and more than 18k monthly listeners on Spotify alone, this is one rising artist worth keeping on your radars.
LA-based New Yorker Jenny Newman has released one of the most exciting indie bops of the week.
This singer, songwriter and guitarist has already begun to garner momentum as a rising alternative artist to watch, thanks to her witty lyricism and emotive productions.
With its uplifting fusion of indie, rock and pop, Newman’s new single ‘Danish Boy’ reminisces over a teenage romance that she experienced with a Danish exchange student, and serves as a taster to her forthcoming debut ‘Daydream’ EP (out 22nd October).
“I wanted the vibe of ‘Danish Boy’ to make people feel the same genuine happiness and excitement for life that the relationship gave me. It’s kind of a time capsule of young love and blissful naïveté.”
Acclaimed Toronto and New York-based artist j ember returns with one of the catchiest indie-pop bops of the week.
Lifted from singer-songwriter’s forthcoming 5-song EP ‘Should’ve Drowned’, new single ‘Baggage’ reminds listeners to practice the art of patience:
“‘Baggage’ is about wanting what you can’t have and teaching yourself to be patient.”
With a refreshingly honest approach to music-making, j ember currently commands over 200k monthly Spotify listeners and has garnered more than 15 million catalogue streams to date.
While busy crafting hits for likes of Annalise Azadia, American producer Mike Baretz still manages to find the time to work on his own solo project.
Following on from the release of ‘Take It That Way’, new single ‘Worth It’ continues to showcase Baretz’s beautiful vocals and impressive songwriting skills.
“For me, ‘Worth It’ encapsulates a see-saw of self doubt paired with an almost-delusional belief in and love for someone. It zooms in on insecurities and flaws, but packaged in a ‘happy’ tone. When the chorus kicks in, the blind eye is turned from the internal doubts and insecurities and focuses on that person that makes you forget about everything having to do with the real world, those insecurities included. I wrote it during a time in my life that was focused on the downfalls and negatives of a breakup; I felt like I needed to write a happy song that still tied into the themes of everything else that I was writing about.”
To date, Baretz has garnered over a million catalogue streams, while also accumulating an ever-growing fanbase across social media and on Spotify.
Los Angeles-based newcomer charlø (aka Charlotte Reed) is a singer, songwriter and producer – who up until recently was working as a real estate agent.
Following a serious ski accident (which resulted in broken back), Reed decided to shift her priorities in life and began chasing her dream of becoming a musician.
‘numb’ serves as charlø’s debut single, and looks at the ways in which our memories present themselves to us – particularly after distressing or traumatic experiences.
“’numb’ was written about a vivid memory of a traumatic event that only recently came rushing back to me. I have been reeling trying to figure out if this thing actually happened or not ever since. On one hand, if I let myself believe it was true, I think I’d break down. So I’ve remained in this sort of undecided state of numbness towards the memory. Since it was a memory of something that happened so long ago, I realised I can kind of choose how I want to relate to it moving forward.”
charlø has already worked alongside the likes of Grandson, Banoffee, Josh Rubin and Tabi, and is newly signed to Californian label Future Gods.
Here to cure your midweek blues are rising London-based electronic pop duo AR/CO.
As the musical project of Mali-Koa and Leo Stannard, AR/CO have gained a considerable following across the globe thanks to their uplifting take on pop.
New single ‘Night Feels’ treats us all to a feel-good and energising sound that reminds us the weekend is only a short while away.
AR/CO will play London’s Camden Assembly on the 26th October – tickets can be found here.
Now commanding over 330k monthly listeners on Spotify alone, it’s clear that emerging Minneapolis artist Miloe is becoming a fan favourite.
Alongside the release of his much-anticipated EP ‘gaps’ (out now), new single ‘rewind’ features PawPaw Rod and is a joyful fusion of indie and pop that marks both of these US talents as ones to watch in 2023.
Miloe is currently touring the US (dates below), and hits the UK shores early next year as well in this quest to become one of the newest global indie-pop stars.
Sasha & The Bear is the collaborative project of Brooklyn artists Sasha Daniel and Dov Igel, who have been crafting sounds since their formation in 2016.
Upon Igel’s mother’s recent passing, the duo decided to travel to the wilderness of Sweden’s forests to work on a collection of introspective songs that were inspired by themes of mortality and loss.
The experience resulted in a 3-song EP, of which new single ‘Wake Me Up’ is lifted. Lyrically, the track addressees the feelings that we can experience when someone close to us is gone, as the duo explain:
“It’s a reminder that we’re all mortals and that our time on this planet is limited – it’s a song about learning to live with the loss and embrace all the feelings that come with it and mostly to learn how to keeping on going with the loss side by side.”
Emerging Canadian-based talent Nuela Charles is back with a perfect anthem to kick-start the week with.
Lifted from Charles’s freshly released self-titled album (out now), new single ‘Heavy’ is an inspiring piece of soulful pop that carries with it some powerful and enriching lyricism.
“‘Heavy’ like most of the songs on the album, started out as a voice memo. This time I was staying at my grandparents’ horse farm. I was in my room in the basement just thinking about certain situations in my life and even though they felt like I’d never get through them, something in my head just said – it’s gonna get heavy sometimes, but then we’ll get to the good part.”
“I hope this song brings people comfort or some sort of re-affirmation that even when they’re going through the thick of it, that there’s hope, and things will get better eventually.”
A critic’s favourite, Charles has been nominated for three JUNO awards to date, while also receiving praise from the likes of Fader, Earmilk and Refinery29.
Track of the week. There’s been an abundance of new music emerging from Australia this year, with Perth-based Little Guilt adding to the continent’s ever-growing list of promising future stars.
Lifted from the band’s new EP ‘I Do Everything Around the House’ (out now), ‘On My Mind (all the time)’ showcases an emotive sound that features perfected blends of indie, pop and rock.
If you’re lucky enough to be based in Perth then you can catch the group performing live in October at The Sewing Room – tickets can be found here.
Fast-rising Berlin-based singer Noraa unveils her second release as an independent artist.
‘Sweet Summer Dreams’ presents listeners with a gorgeously dreamy and sultry fusion mellow pop and R&B, while Noraa’s unique vocals tell of the singer’s yearning for happiness in love.
“I wrote “Sweet Summer Dreams” in the middle of Berlin winter – I was at a difficult stage in my relationship , and it was always freezing cold. I don’t cope very well with winter in general, so I projected everything I was longing for at that moment into it. Warmth, peace of mind and being happily in love. It became almost like a mantra to me”.
An accomplished songwriter as well as a talented singer, Noraa recently co-wrote Sting’s collaboration with Melody Gardot, ‘Little Something’, which went on to achieve gold certification and accumulate over eleven million Spotify streams.
UK artist, producer and songwriter DanDlion is back with one of the catchiest slices of R&B and disco-pop that you’ll likely experience this week.
Written in LA and produced in the artist’s Hackney studio ‘Knock Knock’ serves as an introduction to DanDlion’s new phase of releases.
DanDlion explains that the song captures that freedom of “the first time you meet someone, and lose all your cool. It’s about someone who makes you feel like you can drop your guard.”
To date, DanDlion has accumulated over ten million catalogue streams on Spotify, while also commanding close to 100k monthly listeners on the platform. DanDlion has also collaborated with the likes of Channel Tres, Griff, Dermot Kennedy and Tom Grennan among others.
Acclaimed South London artist dexter returns with a sharp piece of emotive pop through the release of new single ‘Vexed’.
As the title would imply, the song was written as a way for dexter to deal with her own personal feelings of frustration and anger.
To date, this rising 19-year old has garnered praise from the likes of BBC Radio 1, NME, Clash and The Line of Best Fit. dexter has also performed on tour alongside Denzel Curry and acted as support for Fred again..
Not many pop newcomers work quite as hard as Arden Jones – and judging by the size of this emerging talent’s fanbase (over 300k followers on Instagram and 1.4 million monthly Spotify listeners), all the effort seems to be paying off.
With its infectiously catchy melody and uplifting production, new single ‘mr. sunshine’ might well be one of your favourite end-of-summer bops this year.
The track is lifted from Jones’s new ‘age tape 8‘ EP (out now), which in itself is part of a wider series of releases from the artist this year.
It’s been a short while, but Denmark has once again delivered an outstanding new pop prospect to the world.
As the collaborative project of singer & songwriter Line Gade and producer Sebastian Igens, ROYA create a sound that feels melancholic and emotive, while still maintaining some strong pop sensibilities.
Latest single ‘Kinda Sad’ looks into those moments when we are emotionally vulnerable following a break-up, and reminds us that even if we feel alone and sad, that it’s just a part of a process we have to go through.
“It’s written out of the embarrassment of finding yourself drunk and alone, longing for someone you know isn’t good for you anymore. Lyrically, we wanted to dive into those suppressed feelings to give them a life of their own. The song is a reminder to anyone in this messed up situation, that sometimes it’s more than okay to be by yourself and feel kinda sad.”
There really are very few independent music artists who have consistently pushed the boundaries of their art as exquisitely as Lyves.
Today marks the return of the acclaimed singer, songwriter and producer with the release of her new single ‘Shame’.
Refreshingly original, bold and future-forward in style, the genre-defying song continues to showcase this London-based talent’s natural flair for experimentation.
“It was written in a late evening jam at my former studio. I found this amazing drum sample and very quickly played a few ideas over it to create a vibe. It felt reflective of the mood I was in – I wanted to create something fierce that represented a side of me that I don’t often express musically. I imagined how this record would sound live and performed the vocals off a vocal stand, as if I were performing a live show. Those initial takes are the same ones used in the final version of the song. It just feels raw and unfiltered and somewhat chaotic, which I love but the lyrics behind it are very meaningful to me”.
To date, Lyves has garnered more than 60 million catalogue streams, picked up praise from some of the world’s most respected tastemaker publications and received airplay on national stations like BBC Radio 1 and KEXP.
Upcoming EP ‘Change’ is out on 18th November 2022.
It wouldn’t be a normal Friday on Alfitude without introducing you to some outstanding new pop talent. This time it’s the turn of Australian singer, songwriter and artist Royal Drue.
Empowering new single ‘Body’ is an anthem for self love, and was written as a way to encourage people (specifically ladies) to appreciate and embrace their moments of self pleasure.
“Society tells women to be demure and polite but ‘Body’ seeks to remove those expectations and normalise loving and exploring your body.”
Drue also serves as the lead singer and vocal director of Gospel/Techno crossover musical project Sunshine and the Disco Faith Choir, who were recently signed to Lonely Lands Agency (one of Australia’s most prominent booking agencies).
With summer being well and truly over across much of the world, ‘cuffing season’ has now dawned upon us – and what better song to usher in its arrival than ‘Slow Dance In The Morning’ by acclaimed Canadian artist Jesse Gold.
A mellow and charming slice of melodic R&B, the song is all about finding and appreciating that one special person who enriches your life with their support and love.
Since the release of his debut in 2019, Gold has gone on to become one of Canada’s most promising R&B talents, receiving critical acclaim from the likes of Ones To Watch, Billboard, Euphoria Magazine and American Songwriter.
