This edition of POP BOPS shows how much great new pop is arriving to put a spring in your step. Today’s list features Cathleen Ireland, Cupid Spell, For Old Times’ Sake, Audius, and Barbonus – five fresh tracks, five different moods, all worth your time.

Cathleen Ireland – In the City

Cathleen Ireland delivers a cinematic pop vision, painting skylines in sound

Cathleen Ireland writes like she’s sketching the horizon. Every layer here shimmers with lightness, yet it holds a deep, emotional core. Her voice hovers close, intimate but sure, never overpowered by the atmosphere she builds. The production is glassy but never cold, painting skyscrapers in synth and air. There’s something cinematic in how the track unfolds, like a long zoom out from street level to skyline, reminding you of your own smallness but also your possibility. A song about space, and the human heart hidden within it.

Cupid Spell – Look Alike

Cupid Spell blends shadow and sweetness into unforgettable dark pop

Cupid Spell drags us down a darker street. “Look Alike” is shadowy, neon-lit, carried by a voice that feels like both a whisper and a warning. The synths curl, serpentine, creeping under the skin. It’s pop, but with menace. The beat drives steady, keeping the tension just under boiling point, like walking home at night and realising you’ve taken the wrong turn. Still, there’s sweetness in the chorus, a hook that refuses to let go. This is dark pop at its most addictive – unsettling yet magnetic, a song that keeps replaying in your mind whether you want it to or not.

For Old Times’ Sake- Return With Warmth

For Old Times’ Sake craft nostalgic pop that feels like home

“Return With Warmth” is comfort dressed as melody. For Old Times’ Sake have a knack for turning memory into music, and this track glows like a lamp left on for you. Warm guitar lines, steady percussion, and a vocal that feels both familiar and new – it’s nostalgia without being stuck in the past. The chorus lands softly, wrapping you up, making you believe in pop’s ability to soothe again. It’s a song about coming home, about choosing warmth over cynicism, about music as shelter. Sometimes the simplest feelings are the most radical, and For Old Times’ Sake know that better than most.

Audius – Trigger

Audius shows the power of pop at its most vulnerable and human

“Trigger” is intimate, stripped back, and haunting. Audius delivers a pop song that feels more like a late-night confession than a polished single. Sparse production gives room for the voice to crack and breathe, and that’s where the power lies. There’s no clutter, no hiding — every lyric lands raw, every silence matters. The tension builds quietly, never exploding, but leaving you with the echo of something you can’t quite name. It’s pop as vulnerability, a reminder that the genre isn’t only about gloss and shine — it can hold fragility too. A track that lingers long after the final note fades.

Barbonus – Absence

“Barbonus turns minimalism into a striking and hypnotic pop sound

Barbonus takes pop somewhere unexpected with “Absence.” It’s a track built on space as much as sound. Minimal beats, spectral vocals, and an almost ambient atmosphere stretch the definition of what a pop song can be. Yet, it works – gripping, hypnotic, impossible to tune out. The vocal feels ghostly, just out of reach, while the production opens up like an empty hall. It’s music about what’s missing as much as what’s present, and that tension makes it unforgettable. A song that breathes, holding you in the quiet until the quiet becomes its own kind of volume.

Follow pop BOPs to hear these artists.

Want to be featured? Get in touch with us via Musosoup.