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THIS WEEK’S INDIE ROCK BOPS

This week’s indie rock trades volume for pressure. These are tracks that smoulder before they ignite, built on restraint and atmosphere rather than the big obvious swing, the kind of weight that creeps up on you and stays put long after the song ends.

Dave’s Manual – Electrical

Dave’s Manual is an excellent shot of late-night rock; earworm melodies, a youthful spirit and a whole lot of heart

After two tracks built on shadow and restraint, this is the one that throws the windows open. “Electrical” is all forward motion: hooky riffs, a chorus that lodges itself fast, and a few unexpected harmonic turns that keep you hooked. It’s loads of fun, and manages to carry that loose, late-night rock and roll buzz of a night out gathering pace, the energy of piling into town with your friends and deciding the evening is yours. Damn, I miss those nights.

Dave’s Manual are a power trio out of Minneapolis who deal in catchy, no-nonsense rock songs designed to stick. They describe themselves, with a nice bit of self-awareness, as about the most palatable rock band you’ll ever hear, and on this evidence the joke lands because the hooks back it up. There is no grand concept at work, just three players who clearly enjoy writing the kind of choruses you find yourself humming hours later, and that ease is its own kind of craft. A beautiful single.

Sutlej – Tell Me You Care

Sutlej make a superb racket on “Tell Me You Care”, a zinger of a grunge-soaked alt-rock track with the kind of melody that survives the noise.

Sutlej’s new banger sits right on the seam between heaviness and hook, dragging nineties grunge grit into something with a taste of a sharper modern edge. Guitars come in thick and a little anxious, but like all the best noisy lads, there’s a lovely melody underneath holding it all together. It has the coiled, restless energy of a band who clearly built this to detonate in a live room, and I’d very much like to witness this in a room one day.

Sutlej are a London three-piece made up of Lewis Maddison, George Power and George Butcher, and they made their name on stage before they had much music out, playing intense shows across two DIY UK tours. “Tell Me You Care” was produced by Alex Mountford, formerly of Dead!, who also handled their debut single Let Me Out. They cite Deftones and the nineties alternative scene among a wide spread of influences, but they definitely feel in their own lane. “Tell Me You Care” is a great single, and I hope there’s more like this coming.

DADDY DRWG – Black Thread

DADDY DRWG serves up a beautifully atmospheric anti-ballad that holds its tension like it’s daring you to look away.

Black Thread works by holding back. Distant, cinematic guitars hang in the space while layered vocals build a quiet kind of dread, and the track resists every chance to break into something bigger, choosing repetition and restraint over release. The tension is the whole event here, drawn out across a slow burn that never quite resolves the way you expect. Musically, I like the droll vibes, the drum machine, but it’s the moody, patient and slightly off-kilter chorus that pops this one into banger territory for me. ‘New phone, face down, buzzing, I don’t wanna talk no more, you keep calling’ is a highlight too.

DADDY DRWG, pronounced Droog and meaning Bad Daddy in Welsh, is the solo project of Cardiff songwriter and producer Richard Proctor, a Music Technology graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. It’s not my favourite artist name if I’m honest, but the tunes are good. He has toured internationally with They Walk Among Us and was one half of The MeMeMes alongside the late Cardiff musician Mel Daley. A cool CV, but it’s this banger that’s really doing it for us. Keep an eye on this lad.

Zak Coghlan – Jump The Gun

“Jump The Gun” is a soaring alt-rock anthem from Zak Coghlan, one of the most fully realised rock singles you’ll hear this month

Zak Coghlan is here with an alt rock zinger that’s hard to ignore. Driving drums and textured guitars push it forward with real urgency, while the vocal soars over the top with the kind of conviction you only get from a song played live hundreds of times. It deals in overthinking and emotional miscommunication, that frustrating churn of things left unsaid, and the heavier arrangement gives all that tension somewhere to go. The place it builds to is fantastic, genuinely euphoric and this should be screamed back by thousands of fans at festivals.

Zak Coghlan is a songwriter and producer from the Liberties in Dublin, now based in London, making his solo debut after fronting the rising Irish alt-rock band Sunburn. “Jump The Gun” is a heavier reinvention of a song from his previous band’s days, reclaimed for the solo project. It follows recent singles Composure and Lead Balloon, and arrives on a wave of live momentum, with shows across London, a first Manchester date, and headline gigs lined up in London and his hometown of Dublin. Exciting stuff, but the most exciting thing here is this banger. It’s great.

Tom Minor – Bureau of Change

“Bureau of Change” is a stunning bit of restless indie from Tom Minor, a song that hops genres mid-stride and somehow makes it all hang together wonderfully

Tom Minor’s latest banger is a track that refuses to sit still. In under four minutes it slips from indie rock into two-tone, then into tango and bolero and back again, and the wild thing is how naturally the seams disappear. Make no mistake; this could be an absolute mess. But amazingly, it works, as a kind of immaculately illogical harmony, every swerve landing exactly where it should. I bloody love it. A sense of playfulness that’s been lost in Englishness somewhere. It’s inventive, unpredictable and genuinely fun.

Tom Minor is a London N1 singer-songwriter who calls his style existential indie, drawing on new wave, punk, power pop, psychedelia, garage rock and soul. After years spent writing for other people, he now channels all of it into his own work, and “Bureau of Change” follows his sophomore album and the earlier single Change It!. The track was written and arranged by Minor himself and produced by Teaboy Palmer. More of this madcap wonderfull-ness please Tom.

THIS WEEK’S INDIE ROCK BOPS

Loud, melodic and built to last: this week’s indie rock bops move between punk liturgy, orchestral heartbreak and late-night power trio anthems with the confidence of bands who have nothing left to prove.

Perry Blocker Sand – Red Sails In The Sunset

Perry Blocker Sand’s “Red Sails In The Sunset” is an excellent rock reimagining of a genuine classic, giving it a fresh reason to exist

“Red Sails In The Sunset” has been recorded by Bing Crosby, The Beatles, Fats Domino and dozens of others since Jimmy Kennedy and Hugh Williams wrote it in 1935, and what Perry Blocker Sand brings to it is a harder, more driven rock arrangement that strips away the nostalgia and replaces it with momentum. It’s got a grit and a groove that really, really works. The whole thing shuffles along with style, and it definitely lands as a pop rock zinger, helping us to understand why the song has lasted. Perry’s vocal is fab too.

Perry Blocker Sand (Per Otto Sand) is an Oslo-based singer-songwriter and composer who has spent years building a catalogue that moves across rock, country, pop and beat music, working with a rotating cast of top musicians. His approach across the catalogue is rooted in melody and directness, and “Red Sails In The Sunset” is a natural extension of those instincts applied to source material he clearly knows well. Loads of fun, and we’ll be digging into the rest of his album.

TOTAL REVERENDS – Where Is God

TOTAL REVERENDS’ “Where Is God” is a lovely piece of punk energy: a Rome-born project evolving into a compelling and collaborative rock experiment

“Where Is God” is taken from a project born from a December 8th booking at a Rome venue, where Francesco Forni assembled a congregation of musicians and performers to subvert familiar sacred material into something rawer and stranger. It genuinely kicks off with bags of energy, brilliant guitar and a strong production. TOTAL REVERENDS are a new name to us, but we won’t forget them now. This single blends that punk energy with choral arrangement and experimental structure. It’s a heady mix, and we can’t get enough of it.

TOTAL REVERENDS is the duo of Francesco Forni, guitarist and vocalist whose collaborators include Niccolò Fabi, Marina Rei and Napoli Centrale, and Piero Monterisi, drummer whose credits span Renato Carosone, Tiromancino, Daniele Silvestri and PFM. The project operates as a modular ensemble, expanding and contracting depending on what the material requires, and the album that contains “Where Is God” represents its fullest realisation to date. We will definitely be checking out the album this weekend, because this single is fantastic. An essential listen this week.

Stale Jan – I Don’t Bend

Stale Jan serve up an excellent, high-voltage Norwegian indie rock anthem

“I Don’t Bend” is a track about refusal: refusing to buckle under manipulation, mob mentality or manufactured consensus. We need more of that these days, don’t we? I’m into the production, which is driving and high-voltage, which suits the lyrical stance, and the razor-sharp writing keeps the argument clear without reducing it to a slogan. It sits in the poppier end of alt-rock while carrying enough edge to make the defiance feel genuine rather than performed. It’s a brilliantly constructed track, the drums particularly standing out.

Stale Jan is a Norwegian indie-rock songwriter who debuted in 2024 and has built a consistent run of releases since, earning recognition as a rising voice in the Scandinavian indie scene. His tracks share a sonic catharsis and a contemporary directness, and “I Don’t Bend” is among his strongest statements to date. A brilliant single, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on Stale Jan this year.

cadzo – Windfall

cadzo bring the vibes with a brilliant piece of Colorado indie rock: 2000s Britpop instincts, a basement recording setup, and a band that went from formation to 49,000 Spotify streams in under two years.

“Windfall” sits in the melodic, keyboard-inflected end of indie rock that draws from Britpop and New Wave without being trapped by either. There’s a compelling mix of genres here, and it lands in a great place, with cadzo’s production approach keeping things feel immediate rather than nostalgic. I love the shimmer in the guitars, the switch up in drum patterns, and I’d really love to see this live because it sounds like bags of energetic fun.

cadzo formed in Colorado in 2023 between guitarist and singer Collin Orr and drummer Julian Ferrara, two longtime friends who rebuilt their collaboration with renewed ambition. Keyboardist Will Benson joined shortly after, and bassist Will Brauch came on board in 2025. Their third single “Larimer Street” accumulated 49,000 Spotify streams, and the debut LP followed in November 2024. It’s an essential listen this week; a fantastic single.

Reetoxa – Love Keeps Burning Still

Reetoxa’s new single is a superb orchestral rock ballad: epic, warm-hearted and pushes every one of our pop-rock buttons

The new single from Reetoxa, “Love Keeps Burning Still”, is here and it’s a pretty special track. It traces the arc of a specific relationship: Jason McKee met Lee at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 2003, married in 2011, divorced in 2016 after his dedication to music became incompatible with their life together. The song emerged during COVID lockdown, when McKee was writing up to ten songs a day, and was produced with Simon Moro using a European orchestra coordinated entirely over Zoom. A pretty impressive story, but it’s the track that’s the real standout here. A chorus that soars, and it’s no surprise that the result stunned the friends who first heard it, because the very same thing happened to us over at BOPS. It’s a brilliant, epic pop rock banger that we can’t get enough of.

Reetoxa is the Melbourne project of Jason McKee, a songwriter who spent thirty years developing his craft The experience sits wonderfully in the song: the emotional specificity and melodic generosity of “Love Keeps Burning Still” are not the work of someone at the beginning of a creative journey, even if it is among his first recordings. An incredible single, and we hope there’s more coming from Reetoxa.

THIS WEEK’S INDIE POP BOPS

this week’s indie pop bops move between weightless electropoetry and dancefloor-ready disco with a handful of sharp pop-punk feelings in between.

Lotta Svart – Magi

Lotta Svart serves up a stunning piece of Swedish-language electropoetry: pulsating rhythms, ethereal vocal layers and a wonderful melodic hook

“Magi” is the first release from a four-track project Svart describes as melodic electropoetry, a term that describes the approach precisely: atmospheric electropop built around pulsating rhythms and intimate poetic lyrics in Swedish, with cinematic electronic production creating a texture that is both grounded and weightless. The result is a dreamy production, hazy in all the right ways, and with a hint of William Orbit in approach. It captures a specific feeling of closeness with another person, the moment when time softens and peripheral noise fades. It’s a great moment to capture, and the song does it justice.

Svart is a Finnish singer-songwriter and producer known from early 2000s pop group I’DeeS and their hit single “Time,” and from the soul and pop project Tears Apart. Her solo work marks a clear shift toward something more personal and immersive, moving between dream pop, atmospheric electropop and poetic songwriting in Swedish. The four-track project of which “Magi” is the first instalment signals an artistic direction that is distinctly her own. This one is brilliant, and I can’t wait to hear more from this artist.

Matt Nation – April’s Fool

Matt Nation’s “April’s Fool” is a brilliant pop-punk single: a direct, sharp stunner that’s bound to make him many new fans

“April’s Fool” is built around a very specific subject: being with someone who presents a version of themselves that does not match who they actually are. It’s a compelling feeling, and an even better song. The pop-punk style suits that frustration precisely, channelling the energy of the feeling rather than smoothing it into something more reflective. The melody is great, and I love Matt’s vocal in this, but the standout is probably the hook. It’s great.

Nation is a Brooklyn-born artist, songwriter and music producer based in Los Angeles whose catalogue has moved across pop, alt-pop, pop-punk, alt-R&B and nu-disco, tracking what he describes as his life in each moment. He has performed at Mercury Lounge, The Bowery Electric, Hotel Ziggy and festivals including Boomfest and Kushtock, which is an impressive CV, but it’s this banger that is the real standout. A fantastic single, can’t wait for more.

Joseph Turner & The Dudes of Hazard – The Shadow Remains

Joseph Turner & The Dudes of Hazard deliver the best kind of dark Americana: hypnotic, ritualistic and entirely irresistible

“The Shadow Remains” started with a frame drum and layered percussion, and everything else was built around it. Best of all, everything just fits. The acoustic guitar riffs, the arrangement, the chant-like vocals, and the vocal phrasing, all sitting on that same hypnotic rhythm. It’s incredibly effective, drawing a subtle nod to the opening of Tool’s Aenima, not as imitation but as a shared instinct for the hypnotic and unsettling. That said, these guys are definitely in their own lane, as the whole uneasy vibe feels surprisingly enjoyable and, well, almost groovy.

Joseph Turner & The Dudes of Hazard is Turner’s project, with the Dudes acting as a rotating cast of friends and collaborators who arrive when the track needs them rather than forming a fixed band. Turner holds the creative direction; the loose, evolving cast gives the recordings their particular energy. The project is rooted in darker Americana and alternative music with weight and space. The results are standout, and we expect this one to do very, very well. A brilliant single.

Vela Jones – Star Light Star Bright

Vela Jones releases a gorgeous piece of shimmering, cinematic dream-pop with ‘Star Light Star Bright’

“Star Light Star Bright” takes the simplest possible starting point, the childhood ritual of wishing on a star, and builds it into a piece of atmospheric electronic dream-pop. The track explores hope, distance and connection through wonderfully produced shimmering synths that keeps things wonderfully open. There’s a compelling chord structure at the heart of this, and also an impressive visual world to accompany it. This isn’t synth pop by numbers; the melody is a beauty and has stuck with me all week.

Vela Jones is an Epsom-based artist whose project sits at the intersection of art-pop, alternative pop and cinematic synth-pop, combining a futuristic visual aesthetic with what she describes as classic songwriting values: strong hooks, emotional resonance and timeless melody. The project is built on the conviction that those two things are not in conflict, and “Star Light Star Bright” makes a very persuasive case for that position. A brilliant single, and we’re very excited for what Jones does next.

THIS WEEK’S DREAM POP BOPS

Hazy, melancholic and built for the quiet end of the evening: this week’s dream pop bops are the kind of tracks that make late nights feel intentional rather than accidental.

NUTRI3NT – Mercedes Laments

NUTRI3NT serves up an incredibly special electronic pop track: folk-edged vocals blend beautifully with synth arpeggios and 80s Moog bass

“Mercedes Laments” reunites NUTRI3NT with vocalist Daniella Goldfine for their first full vocal collaboration since “Losing You”. Literally zero surprise that this one was picked up by BBC Introducing, since it’s got a lovely vibe, and is produced like a dream. It kinda sits at a specific intersection: Goldfine’s folk-inflected voice placed over synth arpeggios and an 80s-style Moog bass line, the two elements creating a warm, slightly melancholic texture that sits naturally in the downtempo electronic space. The synth work is great, and the whole thing has a lovely contrast between the organic and the synthetic.

NUTRI3NT is a UK-based electronic music producer whose work centres on emotive, downtempo beats and breaks-based grooves, built around emotional vocals, samples and melodic hooks. Previous tracks “Losing You” and “Cold Outside” both received BBC Introducing support, and “Mercedes Laments” marks the next chapter of a consistently well-received catalogue. This is electronic music with bags of warmth and intimacy, and we can’t get enough of it. We’re very much looking forward to what comes next.

Never Enough In Love – Heart

Never Enough In Love’s “Heart” is a gorgeous piece of atmospheric folk-electronica: praised by Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Seye Adelekan of Gorillaz, and one of our faves this June

“Heart” is the fourth release from Never Enough In Love’s new EP, and a demo version of the track had already accumulated over 25,000 Spotify streams and featured in multiple Netflix TV productions worldwide before the official recording arrived. We’re not surprised, it’s genuinely beautiful. That combination of textured electronics, delicate piano and intimate vocals – with a touch of the ‘rave-y’ somewhere in the background – really works. Plaudits have arrived from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Seye Adelekan of Gorillaz, but it’s this lovely banger itself which impresses the most.

Never Enough In Love is the project of Worthing-based songwriter and producer Neil Durrant, whose music sits between fragility and cinematic depth, built on dreamy AF production and deeply personal writing. The project abandons ego and places empathy at its centre, and the quiet confidence of that approach has definitely won our heart. An essential single this month, it’s fabulous.

Aurealis – Cursed

“Cursed” is a brilliant slice of dark cinematic pop from Aurealis, the sound of unsettling dread set to a standout hook you won’t be able to shake.

Aurealis are back with a wonderful new single, which is definitely on the shadow-y side of dream-pop with just enough lights flickering. Haunting electronic production coils around layered vocals and a melodic hook that soars in the chorus, building a track that feels slightly uneasy but also is loads of fun. It captures that specific dread of feeling doomed before you have even started, every possibility shut down in advance, and then refuses to let that despair win outright. The tension never fully releases, which is why it’s such a compelling track, and it should definitely go on your roadtrip playlist.

Aurealis is a Nashville-based studio project that works through recorded music and immersive visual worlds rather than live performance, building each release around a strong emotional narrative. “Cursed” arrives with an official video that uses mirrors, shadows and a haunting presence to dramatise the song’s psychological world. That focus on the full visual experience is central to the project, an artist who treats each track as the soundtrack to its own short film rather than a standalone single. It’s ambitious stuff, and the results are great. Check it out below.

THIS WEEK’S ROCK BOPS

Raw, atmospheric and emotionally unguarded: this week’s rock bops move between Singapore cinematic pop-rock and Milanese post-punk, two artists working entirely on their own terms and arriving somewhere genuinely distinctive.

ProgAtom – In Every Heartbeat

ProgAtom serve up a wonderful Norwegian symphonic rock piece: a piano ballad that genuinely soars with a full orchestral crescendo and a whole lot of heart

“In Every Heartbeat” opens as an intimate piano ballad and expands into dramatic symphonic rock, tracing the growth and transformation of love through shifts in instrumentation and intensity. ProgAtom’s approach to the form keeps the arrangement purposeful rather than decorative: the semi-orchestral textures and atmospheric passages earn their scale by staying in service to the song. Which is something that stuff in this genre can definitely get wrong. Not ProgAtom though; this one’s great. The guitar work is brilliant, I love the backing vocals, and the whole thing genuinely soars in the chorus.

ProgAtom are a five-piece Norwegian progressive rock band built around Mattis Sørum on guitars, Arild Sveum on keyboards, Rune Ulen on drums, Åsmund Mjelva on bass and Tore Christer Storlid on vocals. Their sound blends melodic symphonic rock with ambient textures, uneven time signatures and classic 70s progressive arrangements, and their catalogue spans two albums, Sagittarius A in 2015 and Spiral in 2018. We’ll be digging into those, because this is a brilliant introduction to this band’s work, and we’re itching for more.

Seema Farswani – Evolved

Seema Farswani stuns with an essential cinematic pop-rock banger: built on a strong emotional core and a warm-hearted message about personal growth

“Evolved” was built with producer Rish at Level Music in Mumbai, whose guitars and backing vocals shape the track’s emotional arc from vulnerability through tension to release, and then finished by a UK team who understood the heart of the record. And it’s an incredibly compelling one, as the song builds into a pop rock masterclass. A great blend of languages, a hint of poetism with the ‘I’m alive’ and ‘I’m torn’ lyrics, and a whole lot of song craft. This one should be all over radio, it’s very, very hooky.

Farswani is an Indian-American singer-songwriter, composer and producer based in Singapore, an ICMA Finalist in 2025 and Berklee Summer Alumni whose music has been shaped by life across Dubai, Chicago, Singapore and beyond. Her debut EP Got My Mojo introduced songs in English, Spanish, Arabic, French and Algerian Rai, and earned coverage from Muse Chronicle and Indie Dock. Her approach to songwriting is wonderfully atmospheric, textured and emotional. We’ve featured a couple of her tracks, but this one is definitely the best yet. A great single. More of this please, Seema.

Silent Zero – Maths of Life

Silent Zero’s “Maths of Life” is an excellent piece of Milan post-punk: haunting guitars, hypnotic rhythm and a track about facing illness that earns every second of its dark atmosphere.

“Maths of Life” is the lead single from Silent Zero’s debut album, and it opens with a premise that refuses consolation. Nature is perfect, but your life is not, and there is no satisfying explanation for why you received an illness that will not leave. It’s a compelling concept that the track delivers in style, with the post punk stylings, haunting guitars and dark vibes matching it all up incredibly well. I love the driving bass, drum production and distant guitars, bringing to mind White Lies, but it’s the vocal that’s the standout here. You can feel the emotion in every word.

Silent Zero is a solo artist based in Milan who works entirely independently from a home studio, drawing from the post-punk legacy of The Cure and Joy Division and the modern atmospheric sensibility of Placebo and Editors. The project represents a genuinely personal approach to songwriting: raw emotion and lived experience translated directly into sound without the mediation of a band or a producer’s commercial instincts. “Maths of Life” is a brilliant single, and I will be digging into the album this week. An essential listen this week.

THIS WEEK’S HIP HOP BOPS

Defiant, atmospheric and built on storytelling that refuses to play it safe: this week’s hip-hop bops move from protest anthems to mythology quests to late-night R&B confessions, all of it made entirely on independent terms.

Deptford Sound Collective – Miss U #Tupac

Deptford Sound Collective’s “Miss U #Tupac” is a brilliant tribute anthem: proof that a revolutionary can be silenced but the revolution cannot.

“Miss U #Tupac” is the official soundtrack to the forthcoming biopic Tupac Shakur: Life & Murder of a Revolutionary & Music Legend. It’s an exciting moment for the track, not least because it really works, blending bags of raw emotion with epic and anthemic energy. It’s got the vibe of an expansive hip hop banger, but it’s the message which is most important; that the conversations he started still matter, the hope he carried still ignites. I’ve had this one all day, and you should definitely check it out today.

We’ve kept an eye on Deptford Sound Collective for a few singles now, and they continue to impress. As a group or musicians, artists and community activists from Deptford in South East London, their work is rooted in the protest song tradition of the 1960s updated for the present moment. Built on global solidarity and a clear-eyed response to threats against civil liberties, “Miss U #Tupac” is their boldest and most ambitious statement yet, and we really love it. An essential single this week.

William McLaughlin – Summer Vibes

William McLaughlin’s “Summer Vibes” is a superb genre-blending hip-hop single: Latin, West Coast rap and jazz rolled into one with a whole lot of style

“Summer Vibes” brings together Kidd Bask, a Chilean hip-hop artist, and Feez, an American rapper, alongside McLaughlin’s own multi-genre instincts, channelling the feeling of North and South America colliding on a London summer night. And we all know that there’s nowhere better than London in the summer. And we love how this track captures that sensation of a party that nobody wants to end: cold drinks, warm air, good conversation and the particular weight of a moment you want to replay immediately. We love it.

McLaughlin, who records as Billy G. Mac, is originally from Devon and now based in central London where he works as a chef in Soho. Music has been the consistent thread across twelve years of his life, and “Summer Vibes” is the track he has been building toward: eclectic, specific, and built from a listening diet that runs from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Led Zeppelin through Ella Fitzgerald, Kendrick Lamar, Cypress Hill and Django Reinhardt. It’s an interesting path; and it’s led somewhere very, very special here. A great track.

Lil’ Mike – Shuryo

Lil’ Mike serves up the best kind of French trap; stunning production, a brilliant flow and loads of attitude in this standout single.

“Shuryo” is the lead single from Lil’ Mike’s HotDamn EP, and this one really impresses. Recorded at Ingué’s studio, the song takes direct aim at those in positions of power who exploit and control young people. And we all know they’re out there, right? The production is an absolute vibe, the flow is tight and i love the groove on this. Tough, irresistible, and impossible not to add to your playlist. It’s ambitious too; with the slowed section taking things out in style.

Lil’ Mike is a rapper and dancer based in France whose HotDamn EP centres on fighting for rights, goals and freedom. His music is built on clear moral convictions and delivered with the precision of an artist who takes the craft of both writing and sonic construction seriously. “Shuryo” is his current single and the clearest statement of what the project stands for. We’re really excited about this one, and can’t wait to hear where Lil’ Mike goes next.

Ray Gibbz – Royal Ruby

“Royal Ruby” is an beautiful piece of storytelling rap from Ray Gibbz, proof that one person in a home studio can build an entire world.

Ray Gibbz latest single is rap as adventure. Rather than the usual themes, the track follows a cinematic quest to recover a lost royal ruby, an ancient artifact tied to heritage and myth, and the writing leans fully into that narrative ambition. Not your average party track then, and it’s genuinely refreshing as a result. It plays out like a chapter of a larger story, scene-setting and unhurried, drawing on ancestral imagery to give the song a scale most singles never attempt. The result feels closer to a short film than a standard rap cut, the work of someone far more interested in telling a story than chasing a trend.

Ray Gibbz is a self-taught producer, songwriter and rapper from San Diego who builds every track himself from his apartment, with no formal training behind him. He cites Nas as a touchstone, and that classic, lyric-first lineage shows in his appetite for narrative over flash. “Royal Ruby” was made start to finish at home, which makes its cinematic reach all the more impressive: this is DIY hip hop that refuses to let a lack of resources shrink its imagination. An essential rap track this motnh.

DEEP HOUSE BOP OF THE WEEK

Soul-drenched, piano-led and unflinching in its emotional honesty: deep house bop of the week is one of the most genuinely affecting singles to come out of London’s independent scene this year.

Reigns – Everybody Falls Apart Sometimes

Reigns’ “Everybody Falls Apart Sometimes” is a stunning piano-led ballad: co-written with Dee Adam at Karma Kabin Studio in Herne Bay from a place of raw grief, and one of the most emotionally honest singles we’ve beard this year

“Everybody Falls Apart Sometimes” was written and recorded at Karma Kabin Studio in Herne Bay with producer and long-time collaborator Dee Adam and co-writer Rory O’Hara. It opens beautifully, all orchestral swells before Reigns’ vocal enters over a minimal, atmospheric arrangement that strips everything back in the most gorgeous way. The repeated refrain, “everybody falls apart sometimes,” functions as both a personal reckoning and a collective acknowledgement, the kind of chorus that stops you in your tracks.

Reigns is a London-based artist signed to her own label She Wears The Crown Records, founded in partnership with Dee Adam, whose production credits include Mae Stephens, Kaiser Chiefs, Maribou State and KSHMR. Her catalogue spans collaborations with Low Steppa, Carl Cox, DJ Zinc, Ferreck Dawn and Benny Benassi alongside Waives, and her live work has included sold-out London shows and festival appearances at Pride, the Southbank and Camden Weekender. It’s an impressive CV, but it’s this song that’s the real star of the show. A stunning single, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on Reigns.

R&B BOP OF THE WEEK

Soulful, intimate and deeply felt: this week’s R&B bop is the kind of track that reminds you why the genre exists.

Jaz Vernon – YKTV

Jaz Vernon serves up a stunning contemporary R&B comeback: multi-instrumentalist roots, and a vocal performance that makes two years away feel like deliberate preparation.

“YKTV” sits in the warmth between 90s soul and modern R&B, a space Vernon and producer Gamal have been building toward since they began working together in 2015. It’s just the right spot, as the track carries the gospel-inflected phrasing that came from Vernon’s early training on piano, trumpet and drums. It’s smooth, has a stunning melody and great production. Definitely one for the summer playlists, it captures that hazy, sunlit vibe beautifully.

Vernon is from Far Rockaway, Queens, and his multi-instrumental background feeds directly into his approach as a vocalist. His reference points, Brent Faiyaz and Bryson Tiller, describe a sound that sits in the vulnerable, introspective end of contemporary R&B without losing its emotional directness. “YKTV” is his return, and we definitely don’t want this guy to wait another two years before his next release. A great single.

THIS WEEK’S SYNTH POP BOPS

Dark, danceable and unexpectedly cinematic: this week’s synth pop bops range from slow-burning queer electro-pop to Y2K breakbeat dreamscapes to a sci-fi portal story six years in the making, all of it built to move you.

Valentina McQueen – On My Knees

Valentina McQueen serves up a stunning piece of Prince-influenced dark electro-pop filled with queer femme intimacy

“On My Knees” moves through queer femme desire and emotional tension with the kind of cinematic deliberateness that marks Valentina McQueen’s best work. The production draws from Prince and late-night 80s synth aesthetics, which is basically my fave genre, and it all comes together into a slow burning banger. It’s got an emotional rawness those tracks gestured toward, and definitely seduces you into Valentina’s world.

McQueen is an Australian electro-pop artist whose work explores sexuality, femininity, queer identity and empowerment with consistent directness. Her reference points span Lady Gaga, Tove Lo and Prince, and the combination of those influences gives her productions their particular quality: commercial pop with a genuine edge. We love this and hope there’s more coming from Valentina McQueen.

Nia Ray – Hearts in the Clouds

Nia Ray’s “Hearts in the Clouds” is an excellent Y2K-inflected synth-pop single: breakbeat percussion, gorgeous textures that captures the rose-coloured glasses beginning to crack.

“Hearts in the Clouds” is the second single from Nia Ray’s project If You See Me, No You Don’t, and it moves the narrative forward from the heartbreak of “Evergreen” into a more complicated emotional space: a digital dreamscape where escapism and reality blur at the edges. The production draws from Y2K pop melodies and drum and bass influences, and it’s honestly produced wonderfully. It all adds up to something genuinely colourful, bouncy that carries a slight sense of unease. There’s excitement here, but also a hint of the unstable, but overall, this is an absolute summer banger.

Nia Ray is a South Florida-based artist whose sound sits at the intersection of R&B, soul, pop and hip-hop, with an atmospheric, intimate approach to production that focuses on moments that feel familiar but rarely get spoken aloud. After stepping back to refine her direction, she has returned with a more intentional creative approach, and the If You See Me, No You Don’t project reflects this. It’s fantastic, and we can’t wait for more.

Nelida Oyma – Silent Haze

Nelida Oyma delivers a gorgeous instrumental electronic track filled with morning mist, melodic guitars and a groove ready for your next rainforest rave

“Silent Haze” is built on the balance between organic and electronic: melodic guitars running alongside synth textures and a steady electronic groove. It’s got a fantastic sound design, as it reaches into atmosphere and movement. Musically, it grooves along in a beautiful downtempo-ish way; think Tycho and Bonobo with a touch more nature. The subject is an early morning in a mountain forest: mist moving through trees, light filtering through cloud, the quiet of nature before the day begins. It’s a compelling idea, and the track does a great job of doing it justice.

Nelida Oyma is an indie electronic project blending hypnotic grooves, melodic guitars and synth textures into a modern instrumental sound. The project operates in the more melodic, groove-oriented end of instrumental electronica rather than the ambient or purely textural end. It’s a great place to be, and I love how this single creeps up on you in style. A great, atmospheric banger.

zekiizo – SHOTGUN

zekiizo’s “SHOTGUN” is a brilliant piece of NYC dance-pop: heavy pumping synths, big, distorted rhythms, and we’re loving every second of it.

“SHOTGUN” is built for the feeling of being pulled toward something chaotic and not particularly caring about the risk. The production places a heavy, pumping synth over a fast boom-clap structure, aiming for that late-night high-speed driving and the strange, compelling euphoria it produces. The subject is new infatuation, the kind that has a Bonnie and Clyde quality to it, and the arrangement commits to the idea wonderfully.

zekiizo is a self-produced Boston-born, NYC-based artist known for blending electronic, indie and experimental influences into genre-defying pop with a compelling stage presence. Her productions are built on a bold sonic identity that pushes creative boundaries with each release, and “SHOTGUN” is her most direct dancefloor statement to date. It’s a banger.

Paper Swords – Breathe In The Light

“Breathe In The Light” is a stunning piece of cinematic dark-pop from Paper Swords, the rare single that feels like the opening scene of a film.

Paper Swords’ new one is synth pop with the scope of a soundtrack. Cinematic synths swell beneath emotional vocals, and the whole track carries the weight of something larger than a single, a sense of story pressing in from the edges. I love a little ambition in this genre, which can sometimes feel a little thin, and this one has real atmosphere, dark and immersive vibes without losing the melody. And what a melody it is, it soars into the chorus and we’re fully sold.

Paper Swords is the solo dark sci-fi universe of Wyoming artist Phil Black, who wrote, performed, produced, mixed, mastered, filmed and edited the entire project himself over six years. The track opens a sprawling narrative about an engineer searching for his lost wife after an experiment tears open a portal to another dimension. That one person built the music, the 3D worlds and the films around them is staggering, and it explains why “Breathe In The Light” feels so completely realised as a world rather than just a song. A great single, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Paper Swords this year.

THIS WEEK’S ELECTRONIC BOPS

Cerebral, textured and built for active listening: this week’s electronic bops reward headphones, patience and a tolerance for organised chaos.

Night Wolf – Kickback (ft. The Fods)

Night Wolf’s “Kickback” is a gorgeous trip-hop rework: marimba, strings and a Sunday-morning vibe that make it one of the most satisfying collision-of-worlds so far this year

“Kickback” started as a remix of a The Fods track, but Night Wolf kept only the original vocals and backing vocals, rebuilding everything else from scratch. The new instrumental brings in some lovely strings, tasteful marimba to soften what was originally an indie-punk framework, landing somewhere between trip-hop and easy listening without feeling like either genre has been forced. The result has a genuine hip hop Zero 7 kind of Sunday-morning quality: unhurried, beautifully melodic, and lifted by the hopeful tone of The Fods’ original lyrics. It marks a deliberate step away from the darker, more cinematic palette of Night Wolf’s previous releases.

Night Wolf is a Luton-based producer and sound designer who has been releasing music since 2018, accumulating an impressive set of sync placements across Netflix’s “El Club,” Channel 4, Sky Atlantic, NFL, MLB and the 2018 European Athletics Championships, among many others. He has had multiple features on BBC Introducing and founded his own label, EscaVolt Records, in late 2025. The Fods are a transatlantic writing and recording collective rooted in indie-punk, with a rotating cast of collaborators across multiple countries. The two met via XRP Radio; Night Wolf was sent the project files and the collaboration grew from there. It’s a great single, and we hope they do more together.

Blacklight Beat Patrol – Dumpster Fire

Blacklight Beat Patrol serve up a brilliant piece of leftfield electronica: mechanical, cerebral and abrasive in all the right ways

“Dumpster Fire” fuses clockwork-like percussion with deep, distorted bass swells and digital decay into something that rewards active listening rather than background processing. Honestly this is produced like a dream, and after the new Boards of Canada album, it’s lovely to have some BoC-adjacent bangers to listen to. Stuff like this reminds me that friction and texture is good, and not everything should be comforting.

Blacklight Beat Patrol is the project of Scott R. Corneau, operating from a home studio in East Providence, Rhode Island since 2021. His catalogue spans debut LP Startup Sounds (2022), Whispers from the Void (2024), Meet the Blacklight Beat Patrol (2024) and Phizzle Phinkle Pop (2025), building a reputation for fractured rhythms, luminous calm and the kind of sonic identity that has no interest in mainstream accessibility. The mainstream is over-rated anyway, and who cares when his music is this good. An essential listen this week.

Arthur Roman – nighthawk

Arthur Roman’s “nighthawk” is our favourite piece of understated electronic minimalism we’ve heard this year; psychoacoustic distortion, a light arpeggio and a sound world you’ll want to climb into.

“nighthawk” is built on a consistent beat, psychoacoustic distortion effects, interesting chords and a light arpeggio running against the rhythm. Roman describes it as intentionally small, designed to be interesting enough to stand out while remaining subtle enough not to demand attention: music that works for study and focus without disappearing into the background. It’s not small in terms of vibe though, the thing shuffles along in a beautifully produced way, sitting carefully between ambient and electronic in a lovely way,

Arthur Roman has been drawn to electronic music since childhood, playing melodies on keyboards with their programmed beats from the age of 12. That early obsession with the specific sound of programmed rhythm and keyboard melody runs through his current work, which blends indie and electronic influences into understated, carefully constructed tracks. “nighthawk” is a straight up chilled lad banger, and let’s hope that Roman has some more like this up his sleeve.