On one of my daily YouTube music trawling expeditions, I came across a stunning artist from France named joanna and the video for her latest French language single, Vénus. I was immediately struck by the ringing beauty of its haunting avant-pop and dramatic yet classy R&B pop, as well as its video’s gothic magnetism. Vénus channels shades of Sevdaliza’s dark contortion and slivers of Rosalia’s vivid pageantry. Unfortunately, especially with my lack of French comprehension, I know very little else about joanna. But a deeper dive did uncover her prior single and video, Oasis, which you can ..read more

As always, I’m always incredibly excited to discover alluring new talent from right here in the Bay. CLRX, a Northern California native, makes her charismatic debut with So Clean, drawing comparison to the likes of M.I.A. and MØ with the R&B pop song. Hints of Rihanna and a touch of Sia also surface on the breezy debut. CLRX’s vocally carefree edge is rooted in her free wheeling teenage years spent in the Bay Area, recklessly skating through the Tenderloin and sifting through records at Amoeba. CLRX will be hitting the 2020 festival circuit with the likes of Austin City Limits and SXSW i ..read more

Ayelle must have an unquenchable thirst to bless us endlessly with her exceptional music. We’re fortunate it’s been a welcome year of monthly releases from the Swedish-Iranian songbird based out of the UK. Following her collaboration with Rationale last month comes Unpredictable, the latest in this 12 song, 12 month trajectory. With her latest releases, Ayelle seems to be spreading her plumed wings beyond her earlier sultry winding, seductive blistering ballads. Unpredictable is an airy floater of a pop frolic on which her voice delicately enthralls with poised, silvery beauty. Despite its f ..read more

I absolutely adore Låpsley and the English musician’s soulful brand of alt R&B and electronic art pop. Her debut full length Long Way Home dropped in 2016; we haven’t heard much from her since. I’ve oft wondered whether she was working on new material, and tried to keep a lookout for any news from her, yet somehow I managed to miss out on her glorious return until just a few days ago despite My Love Was Like The Rain arriving a couple weeks ago. Without further ado, let’s take in the magnificent beauty of the shadowy, graceful reflection that is her long awaited new single. There’s no mi ..read more

Usually, the thought of it being almost Monday tends to bring on the end-of-weekend blues, but San Diego’s almost monday counteracts those sentiments and more with their lively debut, an utterly irresistible slice of disco pop named ‘broken people’, complemented by a flashy chic music video. Its visuals, built around the credo of not caring what others think, being yourself, having fun, and dancing like nobody’s watching, are a nod to Risky Business and The Truman Show. I can’t help but dance like nobody’s watching, even while glued to my seat in the office, to these newcomers’ soulful mel ..read more

24 year old Los Angeles pop artist Ryan Nealon has been turning heads all year long with both his independently released originals and his covers. In fact, they’ve collectively garnered almost 160K streams in 2019. Sleepwalking, his latest single, a collaboration with Los Angeles songwriter Bret Paddok, features additional guest vocals by Kylie Rothfield as well as production by Zack Djurich (Kanye West, NAS, Teyana Taylor). It’s quickly entrapped our ears with its sooty marching drive and smooth crooning, which reflect the deep potency of anthems from the likes of Morgxn and Cobi, plus some ..read more

It’s near impossible not to melt to Ásgeir. The Icelandic musician’s smooth voice is like a serene lake on a snowy winter day, and his sentimentally stirring folktronica songs never fail to tug gently on our heart strings. It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Ásgeir Trausti, but he’s back and in fine form on gorgeous Youth, our first preview off a forthcoming album due out next year on One Little Indian. Ásgeir, who had the biggest selling debut album by a home grown artist at just 20 years old and the winner of 4 Icelandic Music Awards (as well as a prestigious Nordic Music Prize nominat ..read more

We were quite fond of Los Angeles’ Wildcat! Wildcat! a few years ago, even hitting up their sets when they toured to San Francisco, including their headline show at Popscene and when they opened for Alt-J at Popscene. But the group has gone silent for a number of years now, and we couldn’t help but wonder what its members have been up to. As it turns out, bandmates Michael Wilson and Jesse Carmichael have embarked on a new endeavor named Kid Nobody, and their first single proves these fellows are no “nobodies” in the scene. ‘ms. stress’ is our first taste from Kid Nobody’s debut EP out in ea ..read more

Los Angeles based Cody Randall is no doubt one to watch in the R&B pop scene. After signing to tastemaker label Hometown Records, Randall has unleashed his latest single, Good To Me, a moody simmering ballad on which he worked with producer Nick Lee (Baby Jake, Bipolar Sunshine). Good To Me fuses the hip hop infused drawl of Post Malone with the aching introspection of Cautious Clay. Cody Randall moved to LA three years ago after he was kicked out of the UK after living there for four years while studying in Liverpool. Good To Me is his knee-jerk reaction to feeling unwelcome in a place ..read more

Los Angeles’ TWIN XL has drummed up quite a lot of critical acclaim this last year with their alt pop, and they’re sure to continue their momentum now that they’ve released their latest single Messy. The supergroup of sorts, consisting of ex-The Summer Set members Stephen & John Gomez plus Nekocat’s Cameron Walker-Wright, self-produced and wrote their latest earwormy gem alongside Little Hurt (Colin Dieden, former lead of The Mowgli’s). Messy’s driving cadence, which evokes twenty one pilots, is melded with an infectious pop allure reminiscent of Lovelytheband. The group shares: “‘Messy ..read more