Pop with edges this week. From a tragic NYC noir-pop track named after Dionysus to a Nottingham dance-pop reclamation to a Dereham synthwave runway, five artists making the genre work harder than it has to.
Kiki Kramer – dionysus
Greek tragedy meets stunning NYC late-night noir, with Kiki Kramer comparing a parasocial obsession to Dionysus possessing a village of women in The Bacchae.
dionysus is the third single from Kiki Kramer’s forthcoming EP and it lands like a thesis statement. She compares a parasocial crush on a rising celebrity to The Bacchae, the Greek tragedy in which Dionysus possesses an entire village of women into ritual madness. Manson references soak through the lyrics, growling refrains like ‘with you boy it’s bacchic, one of Manson’s girls, yeah my king’s been crowned.’ It’s wonderfully grungy, cinematic dark-pop with a video to match, perfect NYC late-night noir.
Originally from Northern California, Kiki Kramer studied drama at NYU’s Tisch before going full-time on music, drawing influence from Marina and the Diamonds, Melanie Martinez and No Doubt. Her debut ‘relevant’ surpassed 600,000 views and earned SiriusXM Pop Off! and MTV rotation. She’s signed to Suretone Records, the label run by Geffen / MCA Records Group’s former president Jordan Schur. Three singles in, she’s clearly building toward a debut LP that means something. It’s great.
AEvina – don’t wannabe a wannabe
AEvina describes herself as an alien in human drag, and don’t wannabe a wannabe is the banging, bedroom-recorded electronic-pop song that proves she means it.
don’t wannabe a wannabe is a bold genre swerve for AEvina, trading her ukulele-driven introspection for something built around Apple Loops and Splice samples. Recorded entirely in her bedroom, it sits somewhere between tropical house, electronic pop and synth pop, exploring identity, youth, and personal growth without losing the slightly surreal lens that runs through all her work. There’s a music video on the way and a European tour planned, and this single feels like the brief for the next chapter.
AEvina is a Jersey City artist navigating identity, perception, and contradiction through genre-fluid pop and electronic music. She often describes herself as an alien in human drag, and her work blends emotional vulnerability with a self-aware lens. Whether she’s writing on ukulele or pushing into dancefloor catharsis, the throughline is the same: figuring out what it means to exist, be seen, and keep moving anyway. don’t wannabe a wannabe is one more step into a sound she’s still defining. I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Carter Vogel – Close Call
Carter Vogel’s Close Call is a stunner of a bedroom-pop song about being someone’s right person at the wrong time, and the LA artist’s first real swerve into indie territory.
Close Call sits somewhere between bedroom pop and alternative, embracing the bittersweetness of fleeting summer romance and that ‘right person, wrong time’ moment. Vogel started the track on bass in the studio and says he immediately knew what it was about. Building on previous singles ‘Indigo’ and ‘Say My Name’, it leans further into his indie side than anything before, soothing as much as it hurts. There’s a quiet ache underneath the polish here that feels both new for him and inevitable.
A Baltimore native now based in LA, Carter Vogel started piano lessons at seven and was writing original songs by 13. His sound is rooted in jazz and blues, drawing on Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Alicia Keys, then pushed toward alternative pop. He’s a Berklee graduate who continued training at LAAMP, has played Hotel Café, The Troubadour, The Mint and Harvard & Stone, and toured the UK opening for Scouting for Girls. Close Call points to where he’s heading next, and I love it.
Lucy Crisp – Snakes and Ladders
Lucy Crisp levels up with a modern dance-pop anthem about no longer waiting for validation, the first taste of her Wildcard era.
Snakes and Ladders is Lucy Crisp’s first release of 2026 and a sharper, more self-assured turn for the Nottingham pop artist. It pairs ambition-fuelled lyricism with hard-hitting, slick production, building a modern dance-pop anthem about taking back control of your own destiny instead of waiting for someone to grant it. The synth work has bite, the vocals carry confidence rather than apology, and there’s a ‘not letting the venom take control’ undercurrent that gives the song its real engine. It travels well.
Derbyshire-born and Nottingham-based, Lucy Crisp blends moody pop with wildcard behaviour, building intimate, confessional songwriting on top of striking synth production. She cites JADE, Imogen Heap, Robyn and Lorde as touchstones and lives in the space between vulnerability and defiance. Her 2023 debut EP ’65 Roses’, released through Youth Music’s NextGen programme, drew on her life with Cystic Fibrosis and led to a sold-out BBC Introducing East Midlands headline. Best of all? This just slaps.
Balandor – Legs!
Legs! is the cinematic five-minute synthwave odyssey at the heart of Balandor’s 2026 collection, wrapping a workplace crush in mystery and runway-paced production.
Legs is the flagship single and foundation stone of Balandor’s expansive 2026 collection, a five-minute synthwave odyssey that wraps mystery and desire in layers of high-gloss production. The song tells the story of an unnamed workplace crush through evocative description rather than explicit detail. The extended runtime allows for a slow-burn cinematic build that mirrors a confident stride down a fashion runway, prioritising immersive atmosphere over immediate hooks. It’s built to soundtrack a late-night drive or a runway show, equally.
Hailing from Dereham, England, Balandor is a visionary independent electronic artist building a sonic universe where synthwave aesthetics meet high-fashion sensibility. He works entirely on his own productions, drawing on Duran Duran, particularly the seductive energy of ‘Girl Panic’. Each release is a chapter exploring the intersection of fashion, femininity and rhythm. Legs sets the high-gloss aesthetic that will define Balandor’s forthcoming 2026 releases, and the rest of the collection should reward early listening. More of this please.