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.
Hump day is the obviously best time to rock out, so here’s this week’s punchy mix of grit, reflection and classic bangers. From protest-rooted folk rock to seasoned blues storytelling, here’s this week’s rock bops ❤️🔥
Chris Oledude – The Choice
Chris Oledude delivers a vivid beauty of a protest, roots-driven rock moment
The Choice moves with a steady folk rock pulse, blending warm acoustic textures with purposeful, grounded instrumentation that reminds me of Rush. It’s on the reflective side but also incredibly direct, carrying a sense of urgency through a fantastic call and answer vocal arrangement. I’m a fan of Oledude’s work; and this by far is his most ambitious, together piece yet.
Chris Oledude draws from a deep lineage of protest music, informed by both classic folk traditions and progressive rock influences. The track reflects his long-standing commitment to social themes, channelling environmental concern and human decision-making into a focused, message-led release.
Rhys Hurd channels bold synth rock energy into a bright, questioning anthem built for big hooks
Who the hell am I? is all about those punchy synth lines and driving guitar work, serving up the most fun, vibrant, retro-tinged sound. The track feels immediate and has a real anthemic vibe, with a strong rhythmic push and a glossy finish. And there’s genuine craft to the arrangement, with verses cleverly pulling back a notch in order to make the most of the big chorus.
Rhys Hurd, emerging from the South West UK scene, continues to build a reputation for high-energy, crossover rock. This release highlights his hands-on approach to songwriting and production, pairing personal themes of identity and self-reflection with a colourful, accessible sound. This is loads of fun, and Rhys has got himself a new fan.
Aging Disgracefully craft a warm, guitar-led blues rock track that celebrates experience with depth and character
Blues Get Better With Age kicks off with a lazy drum part, and organ, before letting it all out with a deliciously thick, expressive guitar tone. The rich, earthy vocals are the standout here, balancing classic blues feeling with a clean modern edge. Perhaps best of all though, the hook is great and I’m transported to the a cosy alehouse, and the accompanying whisky, pictured on the cover.
Aging Disgracefully lean fully into their identity as a blues-rooted duo, using this release to reinforce their focus on authenticity and lived experience. The track centres on themes of ageing and resilience, pushing back against industry norms while embracing a timeless, story-led approach to rock. Essential stuff.
AYCE (All You Can Eat) is the project of Sara Bunge, Jessica Heming, and Ramsey Ord, and their debut EP is exactly what it promises: a generous, no-holds-barred spread of rock that refuses to sit still in one lane. With Sara’s raw, effects-free powerhouse vocals up front and Ramsey’s production threading the needle between gritty and gleaming, these three have something genuinely exciting on their hands.
We caught up with Sara and Ramsey to talk about the EP, the road to finding their sound, and why a perfect AYCE show might just be better than yoga.
“All You Can Eat” is a deliciously bold acronym for the band. What are you actually serving up for us eager listeners?
Ramsey: Jess actually suggested the name originally to mean “unlimited possibilities,” and that’s how we’re thinking about the music. We don’t want to get locked into too specific of a style and want to keep people guessing! The songs on the EP are all some form of rock, but they don’t necessarily all sound like each other. And I think that’s a good thing.
‘Go’ is my personal favourite on the EP. It hits that sweet spot between raw and polished. What was the production process like?
Ramsey: Once Sara came on board, the production became far easier and way more exciting. It was actually difficult to find that sweet spot because Sara has a strong enough voice that it didn’t require post-production effects, but most modern songs have a lot of effects. So we were trying to find that balance of having somewhat of a retro rock sound, but not too retro. Each song ended up with its own type of mix because of it.
The process had a lot of challenges, but we persevered. And honestly, it was a blessing in disguise that things took so long. Now we have a whole backlog of material ready to record, and the process will hopefully be a cakewalk compared to what it was.
We love it! If someone presses play on AYCE for the very first time, which track tells them exactly who you are?
Sara: I’m gonna say “Turn It Around” because I just love the juxtaposition in the music and lyricism. The sound of the song is dark, angsty, almost nightmare-ish, but the lyrics are literally just telling you “I know everything’s bad, but let’s try to turn it around, girl!” Like… okay! Sing me to sleep, why don’t you!
There’s a real sense of energy across the EP. What does a perfect AYCE live show feel like from your perspective?
Sara: I still have yet to crowd-surf… and dancing. Lots of dancing. A container to release whatever you’ve been holding onto through sound and movement. Like yoga, but a lot louder. And probably don’t wear leggings.
You’re getting some great traction on Spotify. What’s next? We’re excited.
Sara: We have new melodies and music rolling in, but before anything, we want to get out there and share our energy and gratitude with audiences.
Ramsey: We have strong roots in both LA and the UK and plan on doing gigs in both areas this year. Jess lives in Brighton, and Sara spent some of her formative years in the UK before landing in Southern California. We also plan on releasing more singles later this year!
Well, we’d love to have them on these shores. And AYCE’s debut EP ‘All You Can Eat’ is out now. Keep an eye on their Spotify and socials. This one’s just getting started.
Is there a better genre than indie pop? I’m not sure. Trendy people like it. Your grandma would probably like it. And kids will dance along too. We love this week’s indie pop bops; there’s emotional clarity, sharp pop instincts and cinematic synth builds. So let’s dive in 🏊♀️
Ava Valianti – Birthday Cake
Ava Valianti delivers a genuinely striking coming-of-age moment, turning bright pop textures into something compellingly dark
Birthday Cake opens with a polished pop sheen, a touch of indie cred, and all the song-craft of a Lana Del Rey classic. What follows is an introspective, airy journey, led by a steady, grounded vocal that stuns. It grows beautifully into a chorus section that lands easily, and even the short coda – a tinny phone recording that sounds like an early demo – grabs your attention.
Ava Valianti, a Newbury, Massachusetts songwriter, continues her shift into a more expansive pop sound, using the track to reflect on time, pressure, and self-expectation with notable clarity. She’s still young, but this marks a confident step forward, building on earlier releases while sharpening her emotional focus. It’s genuinely brilliant.
Luc Rushmere delivers dark, sermon-like synth-pop that frames desire as ritual and absolutely nails it
“Bonfire” is the most cinematic thing we’ve heard from London-based indie-electronic artist Luc Rushmere. Produced by Craigie Dodds (the man behind records for Amy Winehouse, Gorillaz, and Ed Sheeran), this is their fourth collaboration together, and by far their most dramatic. The track uses imagery of blind religion, prayer, and self-destruction to explore forbidden devotion, all delivered over a wall-of-sound chorus that you’ll be thinking about for days. It’s the kind of song that earns the word “anthem.”
Luc Rushmere sits somewhere between MGMT’s restlessness and M83 at full emotional volume: beat-driven, cinematic, and emotionally direct. He’s also quietly built a sizeable following under a previous EDM alias, a completely different sound, but proof of how he moves. This is the more honest version of that.
Me.Kai blends hyperpop chaos with a tender heart, cinematic strings against glitchy drops, and it all works.
Santa Barbara’s Me.Kai makes music that sounds like the inside of her own head, and “MISSMELIKEU” captures that perfectly. The track follows the push and pull of loving intensely while struggling to feel loved back with the same intensity, and the production mirrors it brilliantly. Tender, cinematic strings for the longing, glitchy dynamic drops for the turbulence, and a finale that releases all the accumulated chaos. It’s immersive, emotionally raw and just brilliant.
Me.Kai started her musical journey busking on the streets of Santa Barbara while attending UCSB, and over the past decade has built a reputation for raw vulnerability and emotional storytelling. She’s landed placements on Netflix’s All American and prominent Spotify playlists, and “MISSMELIKEU” leads a new hyperpop EP that marks a bold evolution in her sound. We’ll be watching this one very, very closely.
Tim Ellis offers a quietly poignant meditation on clocks and confusion from one of Brooklyn’s sharpest singer-songwriter-comedians.
Tim Ellis is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, comedian, and actor who has been documenting the full calendar year across four seasonal EPs. “Spring Forward” is the finale. The track opens his Remember Spring? EP as a gentle, witty, and surprisingly moving meditation on the disorientation of the clocks changing, that specific unmoored feeling when the time shifts before the world feels ready. Think Jonathan Richman’s deadpan charm crossed with a touch of Elvis Costello’s pop intelligence. It’s brilliant.
Tim’s credentials are wonderfully eclectic. He’s appeared on Law & Order: SVU, performed at Joe’s Pub and UCB Theater, and once worked in a marshmallow factory. He also plays guitar wrong, having taught himself after years of trombone, and that slightly left-field approach is exactly what makes his music feel so distinct. The lead guitar on the EP is handled by Phil from St. Divine and it absolutely slaps. There’s bags of character here, and we love it.
Spring is definitely here, so what better time to dive into some indie rock bangers. We’ve got stripped-back songwriting and brighter, full-band moments, but they all genuinely slap. So let’s rock ❤️🔥
Eddie Cohn – Weight of the World
Eddie Cohn delivers a beautifully thoughtful indie rock cut that genuinely stuns
Weight of the World unfolds with steady guitar lines, a wide and compelling production, and a genuinely fantastic vocal. There’s a lot of craft in this arrangement; and it really does keep things moving. By the time we have reached the fantastic middle eight, we’re barely a minute in. It’s punchy and fantastic.
Eddie Cohn leans into themes of information overload and modern pressure, shaping a track that feels both personal and broadly relatable. The release marks a continuation of his introspective songwriting approach, grounded in clarity and restraint. This is brilliant, you should definitely check it out.
Suzaman serves up honest slice of warm, homegrown DIY indie that you need to check out right now
Intro is built around soft guitar textures and a direct vocal delivery that keeps things intimate from the outset. The track carries a lovely sense of groove, all while holding a real emotional depth. There’s a lovely emotional DIY vibe which adds the kind of character that hundreds of tracks would kill for.
Suzaman, led by the creative instincts of Zak Crawford, focuses on authenticity over polish. Recording from a home setup, the project reflects a commitment to simple, purposeful music-making that prioritises feeling over scale. This really is promising stuff from Zak, so we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on what he’s up to next.
Amelia delivers a vibrant country and indie rock crossover that’s a one way ticket to our heart
Heartsville rides on lively guitar riffs and a rhythmic pulse that gives it a buoyant, forward-moving feel. It’s got a fantastic sense of character, driven by its upbeat arrangement – and would definitely be a favourite for my next road trip. The chorus, in particular, is a real earworm of a moment.
Amelia draws from traditional country textures while placing them within a contemporary indie framework. The track signals a confident step into a wider sound, with storytelling that centres on love and determination. It’s great, and an instant Spotify follow for me.
Dem Cowboys deliver a playful, genre-blending indie rock banger with bags of character
What Dem Cowboys Say leans on punchy guitar work and a tight almost hip hop groove that gives it a distinctive, offbeat charm. It’s got great production, which alongside the clear vocal craft and carefully balanced humour, definitely puts this into a standout track of the week territory.
Dem Cowboys position themselves within a more experimental corner of indie rock, blending stylistic cues with a clear sense of identity. This release highlights their ability to keep things engaging without overcomplicating the sound. Essential stuff.
Lightning G serve up our favourite indie rock moment of the month so far
Give Me A Break is anchored by deliciously thick guitar tones, just the right amount of cowbell and a steady, driving rhythm that has me punching the air in no time. It gives ‘Give Me A Break’ a grounded, no-frills impact. There’s a zero-fat approach to songwriting here, as the song glides through sections in a brilliant, crafted way. And the chorus is fantastic.
Lightning G taps into a more classic rock-influenced edge within the indie space, focusing on immediacy and presence. This release highlights a straightforward, performance-led approach that prioritises feel over excess. This is a banger, and I love it.
There’s a sunlit energy in the air, with all the right kind of warmth and gentle movement. So let’s present our chill house bop of the week ❤️🔥
SONICcontrol – Miracle of the Beach
SONICcontrol craft a serene, sun-washed chill house banger with a meditative blend of soothing textures
Miracle of the Beach drifts in on soft percussion and airy recorder tones, with a light rhythmic pulse guiding its calm flow. It’s got a really dreamy vibe which unfolds in all the right ways, bringing out warm synth layers and hushed vocal textures. The meditative, repeated vocal really nails that ‘anything can happen’ vibe and I love the 90s influence to the production.
SONICcontrol are a Finland-based group shaping a sound rooted in deep, emotive electronic music. This release centres on themes of love, freedom and presence, with a strong sense of place running through its beach-inspired imagery and reflective tone. It’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to hear more.
