Some songs you press play to, and immediately know that you’ll love. This is one of those moments. Swedish talent ruus is a singer songwriter who works closely with producer DIMD to create an eclectic and alternative edge to pop.
“Sometimes you hang out with people you don’t necessarily like, but because you don’t want to create a bad mood in the group, you smile and are polite. But sometimes you have to wake up and change the situation to feel good about yourself. Stop pretending some days.”
Raised in the world-famous hippie, self-declared autonomous region of Christiania in Copenhagen, Louis Jarto creates a larger-than-life Danish synth pop sound with a sense of playfulness.
There’s hints of early Daft Punk on this track, and generally just a perfect vibe for the summer.
“‘Good to You’ is an emotional riot with festival attitude.”
Crafting a retro-synth sound into something current is not an easy task, but somehow, London based American-German producer Isanna has managed to make it sound perfectly simple.
The vocals and lyrics are so powerful on Golda May’s new release that it really doesn’t need much in the way of instrumentation. Listening to this is quite a stunning experience.
“Sometimes you want to be heard and understood but you don’t have the words yet to communicate your thoughts properly, so you’re speaking in a kind of jumbled long winded sentence with the occasional pause and worry that you’re saying it all wrong. Despite the fact that you’re not speaking poetically or eloquently, it’s important that you’re heard and you need to be heard.“
“That’s the feeling I tried to capture in ‘Hear Me Out.’ I feel this way again now, struggling to communicate my frustrations of our current government administration and its constant failure to lead effectively and thoughtfully, finding myself once again lost and scared with how to express my thoughts but still really needing to be heard. Now is our time to speak and to listen, and we will make sure that they hear us out.”
A song that reminds you to look at the better things in life, no matter how hard it gets. And suitably so, the track is a stunning piece of escapism and hope.
“The heavy moments are often filled with pessimism and it’s easy to miss the surrounding beauty, but beauty is still there. Just like the sun. It’s always there. It never leaves.”
A genre-defying French talent who creates a unique and intriguing sound. The lines are blurred between this song being indie, electro and hip hop. Give the track a couple of spins, it get’s so much better with each listen.
Written during the lockdown that the UK was facing, this release is an effortlessly cool take on disco-funk, with elements of soul and RnB.
“Like many people, I have used this time to try and act consciously and reflect on what gives me meaning and purpose. The message of ‘This Moment’ became more hopeful – a reminder to acknowledge and celebrate the moments in our days worth savouring, no matter how small.”
In addition to being the lead singer and songwriter for London-based group The Riversiders, Alfie Crews also created some fine bedroom pop with subtle, mellow vibes of hip hop and soul.
This is an insanely catchy fusion of pop, indie and RnB. It’s both bonkers and charming in equal doses.
“I would wake up one day, and my car would be towed, or someone broke in my car, and stole my guitar the first week. Just life and classic LA shit, funny artist stories.”
This beauty was co-written by Starrah, Ali Tamposi and Blake. The song is featured as part of Apple’s ‘Behind The Mac’ campaign.
An interesting mix of bubblegum pop with a raw, grungy feel.
“This song epitomises everything that is the first era of Baby Queen. There is something about the stream of consciousness and the inner turmoil the lyrics are expressing that feels like home. When people ask me what Baby Queen is, I almost always just play them ‘Buzzkill’ and they almost always just understand”.
A trans-atlantic effort went into the making of these visuals for Danish RnB starlet Fjer’s ‘First Place’.
“I decided to make this video with my friend James Tirado across the Atlantic, during the COVID-19 quarantine. I filmed in my apartment, he filmed in his. We edited it together. I wanted to show the modern day version of a conflict – karma sure is a bitch in this one haha.”
