Two tracks this week that both know exactly what they are for, making you feel good and making you move. One from a London vocalist teaming up with a Dutch producer, one from a Philadelphia attorney who moonlights as a prolific EDM producer ☀️
Jules Davidson – Find A Way
Jules Davidson’s Find A Way is London EDM meeting Dutch trance, with the kind of vocal that carries you all the way to summer
Find A Way is the second collaboration between London vocalist Jules Davidson and Dutch house and trance producer SPYZZD, and it is immediately clear why they keep working together. Jules’ vocal has a natural warmth that cuts right through the electronic production rather than getting swallowed by it, and when the drop comes the chorus actually has something to lift, instead of just a filter sweep chasing an empty hook back into the mix. It’s tough in all the best ways.
Influenced by Röyksopp, London Grammar and Eli and Fur, the track is built to feel good in a car with the windows down and the road open. The arrangement is summer-ready without being overly nostalgic, leaning on a confident mid-tempo groove that keeps the energy high without ever feeling rushed. If the first collaboration between Davidson and SPYZZD felt like a test run, this one is the version where the formula clicks properly and the partnership starts paying off. More of this please.
DJ Cards’s Grab That Fall Feeling is warm, melodic progressive house from the Philadelphia lawyer who drops beats and clearly knows exactly how to do it.
Lose It in the Lights blends progressive house energy with light trance elements and a warm seasonal atmosphere, and it is excellent pre-summer listening on a dull afternoon. The arrangement unfolds like your best ever holiday trip to the balearics, and atmospheric layers build wonderfully into the drop. The result is a track that sits as comfortably on a run playlist as it does on a late drive, and we love it.
DJ Cards is a Philadelphia-based attorney who produces under the nickname The Lawyer Who Drops Beats, disciplined and detail-driven by day and bold and creative in the studio. He has gained real traction across global media outlets with a signature sound that fuses atmospheric elements, driving rhythms and powerful hooks, and this latest release keeps that approach intact while leaning further into the melodic side of progressive house to close out the season. This is huge.
We’ve got beautifully crafted folk tracks today. A London multi-instrumentalist who made percussion from household objects, a Florida songwriter finding parallels between human migration and ducks, and a Sydney artist making self-deprecating folk-pop about never getting anything right.
James Garland – It’s love
James Garland’s ‘It’s love’ is intimate, handmade folk-pop with the evocative fingerprints of household objects
It’s love was written to celebrate a four-year relationship, and London-based James Garland performs every instrument himself, including unconventional percussion built from tapping household objects and manipulating paper, all captured in the home he shares with his girlfriend. Vocal harmonies and instrumental textures layer into a rich sonic landscape that feels handmade in the best possible way, and the fact that you can hear the room in the recording is a feature, not a flaw.
Garland is a conservatoire graduate who started with jazz trumpet, met his partner while studying music in Cardiff, and currently lives with an opera singer, which probably explains some of the harmonic confidence underneath the song. It’s love is his first release featuring his own lyrics, and it shows beautifully, with a lyric that trusts the listener enough to stay specific rather than chasing a universal line at the cost of the actual story, which is harder than it sounds. It’s cute, compelling and we love it.
Liz Nash’s Ducks Fly to Florida is warm, witty folk-pop from Florida’s most charming music chronicler, pulling migration and community into one neat parallel.
Ducks Fly to Florida is the third installment in Liz Nash’s Florida Songs collection, slice-of-life songs from her small hometown of Mount Dora, and this one finds a beautiful parallel between human migration to warmer climates and the seasonal movements of ducks. It produced beautifully, and wrapped in laid-back acoustic warmth with a Beach Boys backing vocal feel. The arrangement unfolds carefully and the vocal is just really, really lovely.
Nash’s first Florida Song, Nana and the Gator, inspired a student-led art project exploring swampland culture and community care, which is a genuine cultural footprint for music this deliberately unpretentious. The third installment keeps the tone conversational and the hooks easy, the kind of writing that makes a small town feel universally recognisable, and suggests the collection could keep running for a while yet without ever running out of small-town ground to cover and Sunday-morning details to notice. I love this.
Michelle Sutton’s electric toothbrush is sincere, self-deprecating folk-pop about trying your hardest and still getting it wrong, and it is deeply, painfully relatable.
electric toothbrush is a folk-pop song about feeling like you cannot do anything right no matter how hard you try, and Michelle Sutton delivers it with the kind of self-deprecating warmth that makes you want to give her a hug and also laugh out loud. The specificity of the writing is what sells it, small domestic details that open out into something bigger, and a stunning vocal performance that sits halfway between confessional and stand-up.
Sutton is Sydney-based on Wangal Land, has been releasing music independently since 2020, and previously dropped the defiantly joyful Jesus Loves Fat Girls Too, which gives a decent sense of her range. If Camp Cope’s emotional directness and Maisie Peters’ wry pop-literate songwriting are both on your playlist, this one is absolutely for you, and the track rewards repeat listens as the jokes layer and the real sadness quietly sharpens underneath the melody and the laughs. It’s a beautiful track, we’d love to hear more.
Three very different corners of hip-hop and R&B. A theatrical Manchester artist building a track around EMDR therapy and lucid dreaming, a Lafayette musician who caught a 7am flight without sleeping, and a Long Beach artist turning adversity into a self-affirmation anthem. Three absolute bops 🕺
JESUS THE APOLLO – HUSH HUSH! (lucid dream edition)
JESUS THE APOLLO’s HUSH HUSH! is sonic cinema built around lucid dreaming and EMDR therapy, avant-garde UK hip-hop at its most ambitious and most self-aware.
Built around the concept of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy and the healing potential of lucid dreaming, the track samples a famous lullaby and flips it, with the protagonist refusing to be lulled into submission and instead taking control of the dream realm. The whole thing was created spontaneously, the instrumental built in hours and the intro freestyled in one take, and it pulses with wonderfully unnerving numerological significance without ever tipping into academic exercise.
JESUS THE APOLLO is a Manchester artist whose horror and sci-fi inspired live show The Martian: Live debuted at The Eagle Inn in 2024 to praise as a multimedia feast. Amazing Radio’s Mark Ryan called HUSH HUSH! dark and wonderful, which feels about right, and the lucid dream edition leans further into the atmosphere. That blend of theatre, avant-garde production is what makes him a very exciting prospect. We absolutely love this.
Gino V.’s Taking Planes is a true story about going the distance for connection, late-night drives, early flights and no sleep, wrapped in a stunning 2000s R&B package
Taking Planes tells a very specific true story, finishing a casino gig at 1am, driving three hours to New Orleans, and catching a 7am flight to Philadelphia without sleeping, all to meet someone special. The production bridges classic 2000s hip-hop and R&B with modern sensibilities, and Gino V. himself describes the feel as a cool night ride with the windows down on a Friday. It’s produced like a dream, and vibes along gloriously.
Gino V. is from Lafayette, Louisiana, and he is a drummer, singer, rapper, writer and producer who does the whole thing himself rather than leaning on a team. That multi-instrumental instinct shows in how the record is arranged, with space for the drums to breathe and room for the vocal to sit forward without getting buried. Taking Planes is the kind of single that makes you want to hear the rest of whatever project it sits on. Essential stuff.
X.A.E.’s Take 5 is a self-affirmation anthem built from lived adversity, direct, purposeful, and genuinely uplifting
Take 5 is described by Long Beach artist X.A.E. as the pivotal track on their upcoming album, the one that lifts everything and everyone up, and the song earns that framing. It is built as a direct address to anyone who has been knocked around and made it to the other side – we all know that feeling – with a chorus that asks you to pause and take stock of what you have already survived. Honestly, i think it hits cos it means something.
X.A.E.’s creative philosophy says most of it: you are who you are because of the journey you have been on and the obstacles you have been through, and you would not be here if you did not make it through. That kind of directness, turned outward as encouragement rather than used as a flex, is exactly what makes Take 5 land as a full-volume anthem instead of just a nice idea on paper, and it is why the track carries. A true bop.
Five synth pop tracks this week from every corner of the genre. From a Sydney-LA electropop artist on situationships to cinematic 80s synths and a 16-year-old Romanian bedroom producer. Let’s go!
Jeffrey Chan – Rebound Boy
Jeffrey Chan’s Rebound Boy is a stunning, sleek electropop cut about being someone’s in-between, where nothing is defined but everything still feels real.
Rebound Boy taps into the cultural conversation around ghosting and situationships with the kind of specificity that makes a song actually land. The production pairs glossy synth pop with a lovely new wave pulse, giving the track a finish that matches the subject matter, while Chan’s vocal carries the emotional weight without tipping into melodrama. It’s a song for anyone who has been stuck in that in-between space and wanted someone to name it out loud for them.
Jeffrey Chan is a Sydney-born, LA-based pop artist with over two million streams behind him and a project built around nightlife, connection, and the messiness of modern relationships. His catalogue leans into pop territory where club-ready production meets diaristic lyricism, and Rebound Boy fits neatly into that world. If you grew up on late-2000s electropop and are looking for a modern update with sharper songwriting, this should click on the first listen and stick around after. It’s a genuine banger.
Hera Anderson’s Main Character is a pop anthem about the courage to see yourself as the lead in your own story, with a music video out day one.
Main Character landed on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube on the same day, with the video live immediately so fans could experience the release in full rather than staged out over weeks. The song itself centres on empowerment and self-recognition, and Anderson has been vocal that it exists to remind listeners that you get to be the lead in your own story, not a side character in someone else’s. The chorus is definitely anthem-ready, and we love it.
Anderson has shaped the release around that message, and it shows in how the audio and visual lean on each other rather than competing for attention. Vocally she pushes into the big pop belt in exactly the places you would want, and the production gives her the room to do it without crowding the hook. It is the kind of release that rewards repeat plays, with little vocal and production details surfacing every time you come back to it. It’s great.
moonvine’s cherry spice is a vibey AF dance-pop debut about the moment you stop overthinking and start feeling genuinely good in your own skin.
cherry spice leans on instinct, rhythm and attitude rather than polish, with a wonderfully conversational vocal that sits low in the mix and lets the groove do the work of selling the hook. The track has already picked up early organic traction on TikTok with creators running with the sound ahead of the official release, which is usually a solid sign that the hook is doing its job on first listen. For a debut, it is remarkably sure of what it wants to be.
moonvine is a Berlin-based sibling duo, and this is their first official release together under the project name. The record came from the two of them meeting in the middle after working on different things separately, and cherry spice reads as the product of that shared shorthand. Expect the next few drops to push further in the same direction, building out a sound that is playful, a little wry, and with everything we need in synth pop for 2026. Essential stuff.
TIANA’s good girl, gone bad (supremacy) is a bold pop-trap record about reclaiming your power, with a heavy bounce in the lineage of Rihanna and Billie Eilish.
On good girl, gone bad (supremacy) the intent is explicit, it is an anthem for anyone running their own show and done asking permission for the privilege. The sound sits between modern alternative pop and cinematic indie pop, with a trap bounce that gives the track real physical weight, and the vocal performance switches between whispery menace and full declaration in a way that keeps the energy moving from bar to bar. It sounds fantastic, and definitely built to be played loud.
TIANA is a 16-year-old singer, songwriter and producer from Romania, and she writes, records, mixes and masters her own songs entirely in her home studio. That level of self-sufficiency at her age is genuinely unusual, and the sonic fingerprint here feels entirely her own rather than borrowed wholesale from a production team. If this is the starting line, the ceiling is high, and supremacy is already a strong argument for paying attention to what she does next. Exciting stuff.
One standout track this week from Cruel Ploy’s album EVOL. This is a stunner and You’re Offended By Your Shadow is the best way in. ✨
Cruel Ploy – You’re Offended By Your Shadow
Cruel Ploy channel glitching distortion and live-wire guitars into one of the sharpest moments on EVOL, confrontational and uncomfortably human.
You’re Offended By Your Shadow is the track to pick from EVOL, a moody, industrial-leaning piece that uses tension as its main instrument. Glitch textures rub up against live-wire guitars, the vocal is part accusation and part self-examination, and the whole thing moves with the mechanical pulse of a band that clearly enjoys sitting off-axis from the pop-punk mainstream. It’s got a touch of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead in mood, and that’s exactly what makes it land.
Cruel Ploy are a four-piece alternative outfit whose own bio says it better than anyone else could: they didn’t form, they surfaced. The band have built a catalogue on tension, glitch textures against live-wire guitars and emotionally unstable pop hooks, and EVOL is the full-length that pulls all of that together. A real banger, check it out below.
Two deep house tracks this week at opposite ends of the day. A Dutch chillout producer drifting toward a sunset, and a Romanian veteran linking with vocalist SBSTN for a late-night groove that straddles underground and mainstream. ✨
Psyborg – Daydreaming
Psyborg drifts you away from reality with wonderfully warm vibes, dreamy vocals, and trumpet melodies built for summer 2026
Daydreaming is the kind of track you want playing as the sun goes down, slow and unhurried with a deep house pulse underneath the chillout. The percussive, compelling sound world and trumpets are a great choice, giving the track a kind of unique vibe that synths alone wouldn’t quite reach. I really like the dreamy vocals too, and the whole thing has got me right in that golden-hour mood until the last note.
Psyborg is a Dutch producer whose sound lives in that soft-edged pocket where sunset vibes meet house sensibility. This is his first track of 2026 after a steady run of sunset-themed releases, and it’s clearly the one he’s leaning on. You can hear the attention paid to every element, from the trumpet melody to the vocal layering. It’s fantastic, and straight on all our summer playlists.
Almud teams up with vocalist SBSTN for a proper 4 AM moment, a beautiful underground groove with enough melodic pull to chart anywhere.
Neon Lights pulls off a neat trick: it sits comfortably underground while keeping a hook that could land on mainstream radio. The groove is late-night, the bassline a real groover, and SBSTN’s vocal threads through the middle with real attitude. It’s the kind of record you’d hear at 4 AM in Berlin, but it would also slot into a festival main stage without blinking. And that’s exciting.
Almud is a veteran Romanian producer with decades of releases, remixes, and club sets behind him. He’s been consistent for long enough that every new track carries the weight of a known quantity, but the craftsmanship still lands every time. This time he’s brought SBSTN in on vocals, and the pairing clearly worked; both names get equal billing and it shows in the balance. It works brilliantly, and I’ll watching these guys closely this year.
Three different angles on pop this week – orchestral depth from a Dundee composer, upbeat bedroom pop from Denmark, and a proper love letter to the dancefloor from a Hastings DJ. Brilliant stuff. ✨
Marley Davidson – Fragile
Marley Davidson delivers wonderfully atmospheric cinematic pop with a story that’s impossible not to root for.
Fragile is a genuinely stunning piece of music: orchestral, atmospheric, and deeply personal. Marley Davidson is a neurodiverse (ASD) composer and singer from Dundee who writes songs that “penetrate deeply into the heart and soul,” and that’s not just press-release hyperbole. Fragile was recorded at Gardyne Studios and mastered at Abbey Road London with Andy Walter, and that craft shows in every layer. It’s not your typical pop song. It’s richer and stranger than that, which is precisely what makes it memorable. And having grown up in the North East of Scotland, I can tell you this isn’t typical of most musical output in the region.
Marley Davidson’s background is extraordinary. He’s recently been touring with The Korgis (of “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” fame), co-wrote a track for their new album, and has previously supported Justin Hawkins, Blossoms, and Russ Ballard. His debut single reached the top ten of the worldwide heritage charts. He describes his music as “not for people with the attention span of a steakbake,” which is both accurate and the best bio line we’ve read this year. More of this please, Marley.
LaNyna makes brilliant bedroom pop with a real story behind it, written in the hardest of circumstances and it shows in the best way.
You Drive Me Crayze is a bright, danceable pop track from LaNyna, a Cuban-Spanish singer based in Aalborg, Denmark. The song is upbeat and catchy in the way that only songs written from a deeply personal place can be. There’s something genuine underneath the groove that you can feel even if you don’t know the backstory.
And the backstory is one worth knowing. LaNyna started recording in 2022 after transforming her living room into a home studio. She was going through one of the hardest periods of her life. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and music was the one thing that brought her any happiness. “The only things in that moment make me happy was to start creating my own music,” she says. That kind of honesty in an origin story has a way of coming through in the music itself.
Harry P – Hey Mr DJ
Harry P delivers a proper love letter to the dancefloor and the people who run it, pure good vibes energy.
Hey Mr DJ is exactly what it sounds like: a celebration of music, of DJs, of the transformative power of the right track played at the right moment. Harry P is a Hastings-based electronic artist and working DJ who understands intimately what it takes to move a room, and that knowledge is baked into every second of this production. Born from the constant requests he receives to play people’s favourite songs, the track is essentially a love letter to the relationship between artist and listener.
The production is interesting. Harry worked with Dan Radcliffe to blend AI-generated vocals with sample beats, synthesised music, and layered bass sampling. Inspired by trance and electronic pioneers like Armin Van Buuren, Sash, and Faithless, Harry has been quietly developing a signature sound in his home studio that’s built specifically around those moments when the music, atmosphere, and lighting all align perfectly. This one’s a real heater, and we love it.
Alt pop is a wide tent, and this week’s five artists prove it. Synth pop from a songwriter back after four decades off, a cinematic breakup anthem, a ballad about stage fright turning into courage, haunting Brighton electronics, and a globe-trotting violinist. Dig in. ✨
Michellar -Do we love us
Michellar makes wonderful synth-pop with real emotional weight, from an artist who took four decades off and came back swinging.
Do we love us explores the complexities of relationships, that delicate balance between closeness and restraint, with a musical sophistication that belies its breezy synth-pop surface. The track started life as a slower, guitar-driven composition before transforming into something with much more infectious energy, recorded in San Francisco and produced and mastered in Romania by Marius Alexandru. The result sits in its own space: emotionally honest and loads of fun.
Michellar’s story is remarkable. She’s been writing songs since she was 15, then had a 40-year break from music. What reignited her? An acceptance to the deYoung Museum’s Open Call Exhibition in 2023 gave her the confidence boost she needed, and since then she’s released 22 singles in nine months. Twenty-two. Whatever she’s doing, it’s clearly working – we love it.
Keeana Kee delivers a breakup anthem with a twist: this one doesn’t mourn love lost, it buries it with full, wonderful intention.
Ex’s Funeral arrives as one of the more striking singles of the year so far, a bold, cinematic alt-pop track that reframes heartbreak not as devastation but as personal rebirth. Keeana Kee’s “Exotic Pop” sound blends genre-blurring textures with emotionally charged songwriting produced by Sergio De Anda, and the result feels less like a breakup song and more like a declaration of independence. The music video, set in a western-inspired landscape with Von Dutch pieces and Thelma & Louise energy, is a genuinely striking visual.
The track also features the musical debut of internationally renowned supermodel Valery Kaufman (Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, Vogue), who co-stars in the video and contributes vocals for the first time. It’s a bold creative left turn for Kaufman, and she pulls it off. Keeana Kee herself is a queer New York-based artist whose work explores identity, empowerment, and emotional evolution. This is the freshest breakup song we’ve heard in ages.
Exzenya writes a soft, sincere ballad about the exact moment stage fright transforms into something beautiful.
The Fans Applauded is built around a very specific, very real experience: standing on stage, overwhelmed with fear, questioning whether you can go through with it, and then something unexpected happens. The audience starts to sing along. The fear turns into courage. It’s a simple idea told with real warmth, and Exzenya’s strong female vocals carry it exactly as far as it needs to go. It’s compelling stuff.
Exzenya is an independent artist who makes emotionally driven, storytelling-focused music under her own label Exzenya Productions. Her previous single “Drunk Texting” was a satirical R&B-comedy blend drawn from a real-life incident on a chaotic Miami trip. She has a knack for finding the universal in the very personal, and The Fans Applauded is her most heartfelt work to date.
Third Bloom makes haunting, compelling electronic music that leaves you quietly changed. A lot of wonderfully things happens in these eight minutes.
“Haunting and compelling” is how Third Bloom describes their own music, and that’s just about exactly right. Grace is a chillstep/trip-hop/electronic piece from the Brighton-based musician and visual artist who has built a reputation for dark, unsettling sonic structures that are somehow also beautiful. The compelling sound world, standout vocals and core message means that it rewards headphone listening in a dark room.
Third Bloom is known for his deeply atmospheric approach to both music and visual art. The aesthetic is consistently unsettling in a way that pulls you in rather than pushing you away. Grace is the latest expression of that, and it’s one of his strongest pieces. If you like your electronica, dark, beautiful and with all the best kinds of meaning, look no further.
Oslo Green is a violinist-turned-producer who’s been everywhere and brought it all home: wonderfully global, cinematic, and deeply personal.
MaYbe is the lead single from Oslo Green’s album No Strings Attached, and the album title is a joke. There are a lot of strings. A classically trained violinist and producer, Oslo Green spent years travelling across NYC, Nairobi, Milan, Tel Aviv, Berlin, London and more, writing and producing on the go, absorbing different musical languages and blending them into something singular. The result is pop that’s simultaneously R&B, Motown-influenced, chamber-pop, and cinematic. It’s great.
The album arrives as a fully cohesive world: “a promise I clearly couldn’t keep, both in relationships but also when it comes to the amount of strings I recorded,” as Oslo Green himself puts it. He’s also a co-founder of the creative collective NYADO, and his background spans jazz, composition, orchestral work, and Afrobeats. This is the kind of debut album that makes you follow the artist very closely. Compelling stuff.
Some lovely, smooth, late-night vibes are running through this week’s selection, with artists leaning into intimacy, melody and modern R&B textures. So hey, let’s get stuck in, shall we? ❤️🔥
Sophia Bolinder – My Own Company
Sophia Bolinder delivers a confident, emotionally rich R&B cut centred on resilience and standing up for yourself
My Own Company moves with a slow-burning groove built on warm keys and understated percussion, giving space for its brilliantly, reflective vocal to lead. The track channels classic R&B influences while keeping a contemporary softness, and there’s a craft to how it grows into the chorus.
Sophia Bolinder, a Stockholm-based artist, positions this release as a statement of independence and growth. Drawing from soul traditions and personal storytelling, she leans into themes of self-worth and emotional recovery with clarity. We love it.
Zaydon blends heartfelt vocals and polished production into a genre-crossing R&B track that’s got us falling in love
Falling in Love glides between smooth R&B melodies and pop-leaning hooks, anchored by layered vocals and a clean, modern beat. There’s a huge amount of chemistry between the vocals here, adding a natural lift to the chorus, which really slaps.
Zaydon, emerging from the Los Angeles scene, marks a key moment here with his first professionally written release. His collaboration with BMO reflects an organic creative process, shaping a sound that feels both personal and accessible. It’s a real bop, and we’ve had it on repeat this week.
I3lly crafts a stunner of a moody, introspective R&B track shaped by late night atmosphere
Need You opens with a looping guitar line that carries through hazy synth textures and restrained trap rhythms. The vocal is the standout here, sitting close and intimate, reinforcing the track’s late-night tone. But maybe best of all, it’s not just all mood here, the chorus is a real earworm.
I3lly, a Canadian artist with roots in Beijing and Vancouver, uses this release to begin a wider narrative arc. His blend of melodic rap and alt-R&B draws on introspection, exploring longing and emotional distance with subtle detail. We can’t get enough of this one, and it’s cool artwork too.
BOYSARM delivers a vibrant Afrobeats-infused R&B crossover that’s a genuine vibe
Elite’s Anthem, pulses with percussive drive and bright melodic phrasing, merging Afrobeats rhythms with smooth vocal lines. The production feels expansive while maintaining a strong rhythmic core. It’s another one this week with a strong sound world, but also with a fantastic song at it’s heart.
BOYSARM, based in Lagos, brings a distinct perspective shaped by contemporary African sounds and global influences. This release highlights his ability to bridge styles while celebrating identity and forward momentum within the scene. It’s a real banger this one, and I’ll be digging into the catalogue this week. Essential stuff.
Fast riffs, sharp hooks and darker textures drive this week’s punk selection. So let’s dive right in 🛟
Drawing Room – New World
Drawing Room serve up a bright, high-energy pop punk banger with the sharpest of hooks
New World kicks in with fast-paced drums and crisp guitar riffs, locking into a lively pop punk groove that feels immediate and upbeat. It’s all catchy melodies, tight production and lovely dynamics. There’s a sense of four mates having fun here, which I love, and it comes across with ease in the track.
Drawing Room, from Basingstoke, channel early 2000s pop punk influences into a fresh, modern sound. This release reflects their focus on energetic songwriting and connection, positioning them as a band built for live impact and repeat listens. I’d love to catch a gig one day, as this is really great. More of this please, guys.
