An Oslo tribute to ancient Athens, a London dance-pop star stepping into a more personal register, and a Tønsberg vocalist with ten years of stage experience and a song about pure romantic bliss: pop this week comes in three very distinct flavours.
Grey & Purple Songbook – Athens, Your Spirit Remains
Grey & Purple Songbook’s “Athens, Your Spirit Remains” is a lovely piece of cinematic pop storytelling: the kind of song that takes a genuinely ambitious subject and makes it feel emotionally immediate.
“Athens, Your Spirit Remains” is a tribute to Athens as the birthplace of democracy and modern science, and it earns that ambition through the relationship between its lyrics and arrangement. Not your average pop tune then, but it all really works. The melodic structure works, it’s groovy in a kind of 80s way, and put together in a well-crafted way. The refrain, “Athens, your spirit remains, through the ages it complies” functions as a one of the more unlikely hooks this year, but it really works.
Grey & Purple Songbook is an Oslo-based project operating under the label Grey & Purple Inc., focused on what they describe as text-based music stories: compositions where the lyrical content and musical arrangement are developed together as a single system rather than separately. Their work moves across genres while maintaining a consistent commitment to culturally significant themes and narrative cohesion. Check it out, it’s a great single, and I wonder which city they’ll tackle next.
Allegra – Waterfall
Allegra’s “Waterfall” is an excellent step forward from one of the UK’s most consistent commercial pop artists: personal, direct, and well worth your time.
“Waterfall” arrives as Allegra moves from dancefloor-oriented collaborations into a more intimate, emotive pop register. The shift is a natural progression for an artist who scored a number 1 on the Music Week Commercial Pop Chart with her Tiësto remix of “Round & Round,” reached number 2 with “Love You Right Back” featuring DJ Alok, and has placed seven consecutive singles in the Top 3 of that chart since her 2021 debut. Producer Tim Gosden, who has been central to that run of successes, is back on board, and the track carries the same melodic instinct that has made their collaboration so consistent.
Allegra is a London-based pop artist who has built one of the more quietly impressive track records in UK commercial pop over the past five years, accumulating millions of streams, a Top 10 position on the Billboard Dance Chart in the US, a number 1 on iTunes UAE, and BBC TV features alongside her run of Music Week chart placings. Her collaborators have included Tobtok, Full Intention, Majestic and R3HAB. “Waterfall” marks a new chapter, with Allegra taking greater creative control of her direction.
TRiNA – Save Me
TRiNA’s “Save Me” is a gorgeous Britpop-influenced pop single: warm, nostalgic, and one of the most straightforwardly joyful love songs you’ll hear on any summer playlist.
“Save Me” is built around the specific feeling of falling completely in love, and it commits to that subject without hedging. The production draws on retro textures and Beatles-adjacent melodic instincts, blending them with modern indie pop energy in a way that feels genuinely fresh rather than merely nostalgic. The arrangement is warm and unhurried, which suits the emotional territory: this is a song about butterflies, not anxiety, and the production knows the difference. It is exactly the kind of track that earns its place on a summer playlist.
TRiNA is a vocalist and songwriter from Tønsberg, Norway, who has been performing solo and with bands for over a decade, including appearances at VervenFestivalen, Fjordbluesfestivalen, and Christmas concerts at Tønsberg Cathedral. She is currently the lead vocalist for the group Ragdolls and has been releasing original material since 2022, with “Save Me” among her most fully realised recordings. Her voice moves comfortably between pop, soul and jazz, which gives even a straightforwardly upbeat track like this a depth that keeps it interesting past the first listen.