With a sound that seamlessly blends UK RnB with afrobeat tones, Liwa has already garnered over 200k views on YouTube alone through his previous releases.
Today sees the release of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, a song that reminisces of the time he met someone who he is currently seeing. Featuring a finessed production with smooth vocals and relatable lyrics, this track is sure to propel Liwa further into the spotlight.
Serving us melancholy electro-pop bangers the way only Swedes can, today sees the release of Julia Viktoria’s new single, ‘Complicated’.
This is a weekend-ready bop that describes the complications of searching for love, while still carrying lots of emotional baggage at the same time.
“Life is often complicated; in relation to others but also to yourself and your own feelings. It is easy to rethink, cancel dates and meetings, doubt yourself, doubt your own ability and send out mixed messages.”
No stranger to the music business, Rasmus Hagen is already a platinum selling singer/ songwriter and producer from Stockholm.
With over 120 million streams on Spotify alone, Hagen was the featured singer on John De Sohn’s hit single ‘Love You Better’, while also working alongside a roster of talents like Andrelli, Urban Contact and iamsimon.
Written with Alfitude favourite Aron Blom, ‘Learn to Love’ features the vocals of emerging Dutch artist Maxine and touches on tearing down emotional walls built from a previous relationship, slowly opening up to giving and receiving love again.
Shortened from ‘melancholic blue’, this Australian six-piece outfit are delivering some of the most exciting fusions of indie and electro-pop from the continent.
With relatable lyrics on love, ‘Cleopatra’ carries a nostalgic feel that feels sweetly emotive and so easy to fall in love with.
“A lot of our lyrics are about long distance relationships and learning how to move on after a breakup, but ‘Cleopatra’ is about falling in love and being so infatuated with your partner, it’s euphoric. I think everyone has and will feel that way at least once in their life. It’s really like nothing else to be all in!” – Oscar Sharah, Mel Blue
Sydney trio Mesmeriser create a sound that carefully balances garage rock with dreamy pop tones. The result is a collection of tracks that feel distinctively unique and utterly charming.
‘All In Good Time’ is a song that wrestles with the notion of being past your prime in an increasing ageist world.
“I was hearing the news that Billie Eilish had won a whole bunch of Grammy’s at 19. When you hear someone do so well at such a young age, it makes you question a lot of things as 20-something anyone! Let alone a musician.”- Myles Fischer, Mesmeriser
Emerging from the UK, Willow Kayne delivers a punchy and vivid approach to pop, packed with confidence and a playful attitude.
Inspired by real online abuse that she received on TikTok, ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ is an empowering anthem that deals with real life Gen Z issues in a refreshingly original way.
Delivering a hugely exciting approach to pop, Norwegian talent Sassy 009 creates dark and richly atmospheric soundscapes that are not only conceptual and captivating but also spellbindingly intriguing.
This really is some of the most outstanding electronic music to emerge from Australia this year.
Listening to ‘Silk’ by Moktar tells a story within itself. This is deeply rich piece of music that is thoughtfully balanced and beautifully unique.
“‘Silk’ has a lot to do with my struggles growing up in Australia, navigating racism. I was ashamed of being Egyptian and embarrassed by my culture. I was made to believe that being Middle Eastern only came with negative connotations throughout most of my life. ‘Silk’ represents how I feel today – the luxury of being comfortable and the ability to move around freely, both physically and spiritually.”
Already making an impact thanks to her cover of Drake’s ‘Passionfruit‘ (which amassed over a million streams on Spotify alone), ellie d. delivers a kind of pop which is stripped back and chilled, all the while being relatable and touching to the listener.
‘Reach Out’ reflects on the dilemma we all face after a break up, when we still want to stay in touch with that person yet we are unsure of what to do.
“I had just ended things with someone and wanted to tell them about this new job I got. But I also didn’t wanna be the first to reach out.”
If you have yet to experience the music from emerging UK talent Ella Rose then boy, have I got a treat for you. With an eccentric yet finessed approach to RnB-pop, this is a sound that is immediately seductive to anyone who presses play.
Featuring a verse from 24hrs, ‘Just Me’ speaks of Ella’s struggles with people-pleasing and her youth while living in Reading.
With warm hints of surf flirting alongside gritty indie-rock tones, Evenson’s new single is a breath of fresh air to the audible senses.
This talent continues to deliver a fresh approach to pop that has already garnered acclaim from the likes of Before The Data, EARMILK, TMRW Magazine and Lyrical Lemonade.
“This song was in response to everything that has happened in 2020, it was a really hard time for me. I questioned my behaviour, my existence, my purpose, I questioned it all. It was through the song that I learned to be okay with the chaos, I learned to live within the chaos and embrace it.”
A charming mix of bedroom-pop and indie from UK-based artist ST LUNA. This is playful yet future-forward sound that is not only easy on the ears but impossible not to fall in love with.
A superb fusion of indie, alt-rock and electronica come together on ‘HR’ from emerging British duo TEME.
Anthemic, rousing and emotive at it’s core, this is a sound which is is captivating and refreshingly original.
“The skeleton of this song came quickly when we were both sat around a piano in a studio. Bo played the riff, and JJ sang instinctively. We continued to craft this song during the first lock-down, when Bo lived on the rugged coast of western Ireland, and JJ in London. We sent voice notes, lyrics, samples back and forth, a novel approach, which yielded unique results.”
Taken from the new EP ‘HA LF’ which is out now.
Already somewhat of a star in Norway thanks to a committed legion of TikTok followers, Emma Schneider is also a talented singer and songwriter.
‘Are You Kidding Me?’ is an LGBTQ pop bop with a simple melody and catchy lyrics that tell of a universal dilemma when we are sometimes in love.
Emerging UK artist PinkPantheress finally returns with a new bop! Featuring production from Mura Masa, ‘Just for me’ is a sleek ode to old-school UK garage with melodic guitars and those signature saccharine vocals.
Deb Never joins forces with Jim-E Stack on new release ‘Sweet & Spice’, which is the latest single from her upcoming EP ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?‘ out 10th September 2021.
If you’re based in the UK then be sure to catch Deb as a support artist on slowthai’s upcoming Hell is Home tour.
With millions of streams and tens of thousands of Instagram followers under her belt already, Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Sofia continues her pop invasion with new single ‘Freaking Me Out’. The song serves as a commentary towards the terrifyingly fictitious nature of social media.
“I wrote ‘Freaking Me Out’ about the way I feel social society works today. Everyday we are influenced by social media in some way or another, whether that may be in fashion, lifestyle, beauty standard, diet etc. But what we see isn’t always true, and thinking about that really scares me. You never really know what you’re really looking at. Is what you’re seeing real or fake on social media? That sometimes makes it hard for me to believe in the reality I’m living.”
Hailing from London, NEDA introduces her sound to the world with debut single ‘Good Intentions’. A bold anthem emphasising the importance of knowing your self-worth, the song blends raw indie tones with NEDA’s distinctive and fragile vocals to create a sound that is refreshingly authentic and original.
“‘Good Intentions’ is about knowing what you want from someone and being prepared to walk away if those feelings aren’t being reciprocated. In the midst of writing this song I learnt about the importance of communication and being transparent and open about how you feel.”
Just in time for the peak summer heat, Toronto-born singer, songwriter and actor Johnny Orlando is back with a blissful slice of uptempo pop, self described as having ‘an ever so slightly 80s vibe with a 2021 edge and feel’.
“My goal with this track was to make a good song and have a good time while doing it. I just want to be able to make whatever type of music I’m feeling. I love all genres, and I also love the flexibility of doing whatever moves me musically.”
Kaz of J-Pop group INTERSECTION has just released a solo single and it’s the most sublime piece of music you’ll experience all day. This is a dreamy, conceptual and experimental sound that is really like nothing else I have heard so far this week.
‘Drown’ features vocals from Hikari Mitsushima and focuses on that feeling of being in a relationship, drowning in love.
“We expressed being drowned in the emotions as a message of this song. Depending on the listener, this may seem like a song that is about the romance of being in love with someone or a song about your own internal feelings that only you know about. It’s best to just listen and understand the way to be drowned by the wave of the emotions in your way, not to be fully explained by someone”. – Kazuma Mitchell
