New Orleans-native and R&B powerhouse Lucky Daye releases new single ‘NWA’ alongside OTF Chicago rapper Lil Durk.
With its mesmerising blend of trap, synth and bossa nova tones, the song further continues to showcase Daye as one of the most unique R&B talents to emerge from the US in recent years.
Taken from the upcoming album ‘Candydrip’ which is out 10th March 2022 via Keep Cool/ RCA Records.
As one of the most refreshing newcomers to emerge from California in recent times, LA-based artist SEB consistently treats listeners to superb cuts of indie and lo-fi pop.
His latest single ‘f**k it, i’m the man’ is an anthem for empowerment, and opens the door to the next chapter of his music, with a new body of work expected in the coming months.
“This song is about standing on your own and living your life according to you and only you. After a blowout argument, I ended up having to permanently cut off family members who did nothing but tell me how much of a disappointment I was. In the chorus I’m trying to be exuberant and confident but that’s only to mask the pain I’m feeling in the verses. From talking to people around me, I know I’m definitely not the only one who’s gone through this. I want fans who are living through that, to feel empowered to do them, regardless of what anybody has to say.”
Seattle-based artist Barrett Staples creates sounds that seamlessly fuse different genres together – from indie and alternative hip-hop through to pop, soul, R&B and funk.
In honour of Year of the Tiger, melodic new single ‘Evergreen’ is first to kick off monthly releases from Staples, and features background vocals from Vinslo.
Undoubtedly one of the stand-out releases of the week comes courtesy of Grammy-nominated songwriter Aldae.
‘Long Way From Texas’ is the artist’s stunningly raw debut, and it’s no wonder just how beautiful the track is when you consider that Aldae has also written songs for the likes of Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Machine Gun Kelly and Selena Gomez to name but a few.
“I wrote ‘Long Way From Texas’ during the beginning of the pandemic. I was living in Arizona at a friend’s guest house, trying to escape how wild LA was becoming. The song is a pure reflection of the world I was living in, and how I was experiencing it.”
Self-titled EP ‘Aldae Vol. 1’ is due to be released in later this year.
After spending the last year co-writing viral songs like ‘Somebody I F*cked Once’ for Zolita and producing for the likes of Dorian Electra, Nashville-based artist and writer Myylo unveils some exciting new solo material.
‘Being Born Kinda Sucks’ evokes the sounds of Y2K, as Myylo’s nostalgist lens reconsiders the aesthetics of Weezer and Sugar Ray to investigate problems plaguing us in 2022.
Taken from the debut album, which is out later this year.
Emerging form Nashville is newcomer FRONDE. Crafting music since the age of 12, this talent draws his inspiration from a variety of genres – ranging from lo-fi bedroom pop and indie, through to hip-hop and R&B.
Impressively, new single ‘Letters’ was written, recorded, produced and mixed by FRONDE himself in his bedroom studio.
“I don’t normally get letters in the mail from people I care about. I typically get phone calls or texts like a normal person. But I got a letter from someone in the mail and it really got me thinking about how things were before phones and how different and hard that it might’ve been to get good or bad news. I wrote this song from the perspective of me being broken up with via letters and the news of that coming as a shock. That shock then sends me on an emotional rollercoaster which I tried to convey both lyrically and dynamically.”
Through a thoughtfully balanced blend of glitch-hop, electro-funk and futuristic R&B, Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Milk collaborates with acclaimed producer JIMMY EDGAR (Lady Gaga, SOPHIE, Danny Brown) on new single ‘What Are We’.
The song finds Milk depicting the uncertainty and instability of a budding relationship, shedding her vulnerability as she goes through the motions of casually dating someone she desperately wants to call her own.
Halifax alt-pop duo Neon Dreams return today with their new release ‘Little Dance’. Meditative, joyful and celebratory in tone, the song embodies everyone’s unique dance under the sun.
The track was inspired by vocalist Frank Kadillac’s shark diving experience in South Africa following the band’s recent tour there:
“After finishing our first tour of South Africa we decided to go shark diving. I had a phobia of drowning but felt it was time to face my fears.I jumped in the water and opened my eyes. There was a shark staring right at my face, my heart was pumping so I panicked. As I was collecting my breath I started hearing this melody my head that kept getting louder… I left the Ocean to grab my phone and record the melody which eventually become the chorus of ‘Little Dance’.
Days before while attending a meditation retreat, I was walking through the garden observing how life works through the birds and little annoying flies when I had a perspective shift. Those little annoying flies were not annoying, they were dancing. They were finding purpose. They were falling in love. they don’t live long. But they do their best to enjoy each moment from sun up to sundown. One of the observations I wrote down in my book was… everyone is doing their own dance through life and if you see someone dancing in your direction you have the choice to dance with them or let them pass by and continue your dance… It’s just a little dance under the sun. We completed the the song with the help of a local Cape Town musician named Majozi and an amazing producer from Potchefstroom named Dolfe. I played then my voice note from the shark trip and it was like we were all hypnotised into a transcendental state. We started 9 am and worked all the way until midnight. This moment is the reason why I’m still in South Africa… not because of the tour but because of the magic in this place.” – Frank Kadillac, Neon Dreams
Just in time for the weekend, US talent Charles Fauna unveils a dance-worthy, emotion filled track in the shape of new single ‘Ciao’, drawing from the best of artists like Fleetwood Mac, The Weeknd and Bruno Mars.
“‘Ciao’ is both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in Italian which I felt spoke to the heart of this song. One thing ends and another thing begins. Creation and destruction. The cycles of life. At the end of a relatively dark record about loneliness, soul searching and change, ‘Ciao’ invites the listener, like the protagonist, to shut up and dance.”
Still only 18-years old, Swedish singer and songwriter Paula Jivén creates spellbindingly original pop songs that are deeply captivating in the most beautiful ways.
Her dreamy yet subtly eccentric new single ‘Someone Always Knows’ touches upon loneliness and lingering emotions from her childhood.
“’Someone Always Knows’ is just a really sad song. I wrote it two years ago when I was going through a pretty tough time with myself, and I took to writing almost like a coping-mechanism. I wanted a truthful song, something that just stated how I felt. Not a fight song for when you want to move on, just a song for when all you want to do is linger in your emotions. The lyrics debate loneliness and fear of abandonment. I’m also reaching back into my childhood, I had trouble finding friends and I remember feeling very lonely. There’s a very raw sadness to being alone, but not understanding why. Honestly, I’m a bit scared to release this song. It’s very close to my heart, and in a sense it’s like giving away a piece of myself? But on the other hand I’m so happy about sharing it with anyone who needs a really sad song.”
Debut EP ‘The Duality In Me’ is out later this year.
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After racking up millions of streams thanks to her collaboration with R3HAB on global hit ‘I Still Remember’, Mississippi singer-songwriter Caroline Romano returns today with some stellar music.
Taken from her debut album ‘Oddities & Prodigies’, new single ‘Grocery Store’ is an achingly gorgeous track that grapples with loneliness and the longing for connection.
“I spend a lot of time in grocery stores. It’s where I kill my time and where I look for more of it. I like to walk around the produce section and people watch. It makes me feel less lonely. I fell in love for the first time at a Kroger in Nashville, and I found myself still going back there in hopes that I might run into him between the aisles. It was “our place” in some weird sort of way. ‘Grocery Store’ is the kind of love song I can relate to because it’s real. We all spend so much of our lives walking up and down freezer aisles, and I don’t want to discount that as a place where beautiful things can still occur. I write what I know, and I know grocery stores, heartbreak, and looking for familiar faces in the checkout line.”
‘Oddities & Prodigies’ is out now.
Virtual being and artist Maie returns today with a deliciously dark and refreshingly complex slice of electronic pop in the form of new single ‘Kosmo’.
The accompanying video sees Maie journey through the metaverse in search of identity and meaning.
“I can travel to places normal people can’t. Visit worlds most people can only dream of. But I choose to be here. I choose to be with my friends. I choose to discover what it means to be human. I’d do anything to be here, where I want to belong.”
‘Kosmo’ was written and produced by Pete Nappi (UPSHAL, Anne-Maie, Little Mix, Madison Beer).
With two million followers on TikTok alone, American artist and producer Kyle Hume is already picking up significant traction through his beautifully emotive take on pop music.
A sad love song in its truest form, ‘Better Off Without Me’ was written out of the place that Kyle had found himself in past relationships; a place of knowing that you can’t be the person they need you to be – even if they can’t accept that and want to hold on.
Independent artist Tom Aspaul returns with another energising bop that flirts between sounding fresh and vibrant while still carrying tones of nostalgia.
Produced by Aspaul along with frequent collaborator Gil Lewis, new single ‘Kiss It’ was inspired by the iconic europop sounds from the ’00s:
“I’ve always been a huge fan of that period in the 2000s when the Romanian pop-girls were killing it. You couldn’t go anywhere in the Europe without hearing their songs. The beats, melodies and production were so thrilling and fun, there was nothing else like it at the time – so I listened to a lot of Alexandra Stan and INNA in my home studio and tried to capture that cold, dead-behind-the-eyes energy.”
“‘Kiss It’ was written during that brief window between pandemic lockdowns. Everything was open and it was slightly bacchanalian, albeit with a sense of impending doom. I wanted to explore my need for human contact after such a long time in isolation – I just needed to kiss someone, anyone. At the same time, I knew any encounter would be short-lived and temporary, as Covid was closing in.”
Aspaul’s debut album ‘Black Country Disco‘ was independently released in 2020, and has since garnered over 5 million streams. The record was awarded ‘queer disco album of the year’ by Gay Times, and received acclaim through several ‘Best-of 2020’ lists, including The Guardian, GQ and Albumism.
‘Kiss It’ is taken from the forthcoming album ‘Life in Plastic’, which is out later this year.
Hailing from the North-East is UK artist Sarah Johnsone. Having inherited her music taste from her dad, Sarah grew up listening to rock, blues, jazz, R&B and reggae.
‘Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl’ is an atmospheric piece of indie-rock that feels anthemic, raw and gutsy, yet still maintains a sense of emotion that is endearing to experience.
“I’ve found that my lyrics always tend towards the sombre side, so for this single I wanted to juxtapose it with energetic riffs and guitar solos. It’s the first recording I made with my band, which gave me way more scope and depth musically. The song is about falling for someone who you know is no good, but it isn’t a downcast tune at all.”
UK Tour Dates:
UK singer-songwriter Waves Rush In (aka Sam Branson) creates music that pays tribute to the human experience by taking inspiration from nature, mother earth and life experience on his travels.
Since launching early last year, this Oxford-based talent has released a debut EP alongside several singles and music videos, amassing 600k streams across all platforms and picking up media support from the likes of BBC Introducing and Alex Rain Bird.
Latest single ‘Intoxicated’ consists of two distinct parts, with tension-building verses that make way for relief-filled anthemic choruses – all tied together with an underlying guitar hook that serves as a bed for the story to build from.
“It’s written about lust and that burning desire for someone that you can’t really have in the way that you want and about the connection and release you feel when you finally get it. In the chorus’ there’s Vocoda to give a feminine and sensual sensation of being intoxicated that I’m sure many will identify with. I have my wife’s vocals subtly placed in the song to make sure she has a presence in it.”
Emerging UK singer and producer Moonkay constructs songs that are like none other.
With a distinctly unique blend of morose melodies that are layered on tense, crunchy bass tones, Moonkay’s sounds have earned him notable features from the likes of Earmilk, Onestowatch and Acidstag.
New single ‘Fell In The Deep’ focuses on the theme of isolation, and losing oneself within a never ending cycle.
“‘Fell In The Deep’ is an analysis on loneliness. I see the piece as an introspection on looking for purpose, and some of the negative emotions that can come with that. I think this is very visually clear in the contrast of the screaming vocals over the 808 bass and harsh percussion. The complexity of the sounds lends itself to the spontaneity of repeatedly hunting for purpose to no avail. This is in contrast to the more melodic sections, which can be seen as the sections of clarity, made more so obvious given the use of vocals and a clear message to the listener.”
Songwriter and producer Micah Banks is no stranger to the music industry, having worked alongside artists like P-Lo and Marc E. Bassy.
Featuring the talents of Calabasas and Atom, his new single ‘EASY’ takes on the concept of blaming the other person, and not the one you love who caused your pain.
Micah Banks | Calabasas | Atom
Fast-rising 17-year-old Sunderland newcomer Tom A. Smith releases his debut collection of songs today in the form of ‘EP1’, and with it comes breezy new single ‘Boltcutters’.
“It came from an idea about not wanting to fall for someone and them using all their powers for it to work. A bit of fun compared to the heavy stuff. Love playing it live as I have people singing it back already.”
To date, Tom’s music has earned radio play on the BBC (Radio 1, 6Music and Introducing), Radio X, KCRW, Triple J, and Amazing Radio, as well as being featured on The Times, CLASH, Louder Than War, NARC and RTE.
‘EP1’ is out now.
SAMA-nominated artist James Deacon continues to release some of the most impressive blends of indie-pop and rock to have emerged from South Africa in recent years.
‘Gone’ serves as a powerful and cinematic self reflection that explores depression, and shows a vulnerable side to the Deacon that listeners may not have seen before.
“I wrote ‘Gone’ whilst dealing with some pretty overwhelming bouts of depression. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression for a long time and for me personally it comes in waves. Music has and will always be my way of interpreting the world around me and the world within, so ‘Gone’ comes from a moment where I felt like the world around me was equally as chaotic as my own mind, so I sat down and pulled this one from the depths of my heart in the hopes that it might help people who are dealing with their own anxiety and depression.”
