Sitting somewhere between electronic pop, hyper-pop and experimental art-pop, ‘As Per My Last Email’ begins relatively slowly before steadily accelerating as the pressure mounts. NOIA’s vocal undergoes its own transformation alongside it; initially sounding drained and exhausted, her distinctive Catalan-accented delivery becomes increasingly frantic while robotic processing adds another layer of detachment. Electronics begin to glitch and collide, rhythms grow more restless and what started relatively controlled gradually descends into wonderfully frazzled chaos. It’s an incredibly effective piece of sonic storytelling, capturing the sensation of an overworked brain with far too many tabs open until the whole system finally begins to malfunction.

NOIA describes the track as “the slow collapse of hyperfunctionality”, where a person becomes “a broken, over-wired robot still sending polite replies”, and its magnificent accompanying video takes that absurdity even further. Office furniture is transplanted into forests and onto beaches as NOIA continues attempting to work, creating a world that is simultaneously dystopian, surreal and brimming with dark humour. Watching the boundaries between work, life, nature and machinery completely disintegrate feels ridiculous – until you realise just how little exaggeration is actually involved. ‘As Per My Last Email’ is weird, witty and increasingly unhinged, turning the horrors of being permanently “on” into one gloriously glitchy nervous breakdown.

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On the heels of Donzii‘s debut LP Fishbowl comes the newly announced For The People – a collection of their first two sold out EPs repressed together on one vinyl, sandwiched between never before heard tracks. The first of these new offerings is ‘Disco Rosie’ which arrives alongside an official video. Donzii has signed with Born Losers Records for the March 23 release of their vinyl compilation. Aptly arriving on Valentine’s Day, ‘Disco Rosie’ is four minutes of pure musical excess that could fuel any night of strobing lights, full dance floors and swaying sweaty bodies. The official video starring the band and a collective of friends feels like a psychedelic walk through a previous decade. Keeping things short and sweet, the band said, “’Disco Rosie’ is for lovers.”

Oakland band Blues Lawyer joins Dark Entries for their third full-length, All in Good Time, a record of pop-rock songs about living in a world that wants to put your existence on the clock. This week the band shared the Monty Python-inspired video for ‘Make Up’ ahead of the album release on Friday: Rob Miller said: “‘Make Up’ is about reluctantly accepting that a relationship has run its course because neither person is willing to be vulnerable and open with each other anymore. In typical Blues Lawyer fashion, we chose to make light of the song’s lyrical themes and made a Monty Python inspired video where Elyse and I’s characters embark on a heroic quest only to (spoiler alert) meet our demise. The video was directed by Blues Lawyer drummer/vocalist, Elyse Schrock and frequent collaborator, Richard Alex Olsen.”

Iconic singer-songwriter-rapper-artist Brooke Candy arrived fully charged this Valentine’s Day with her new single, ‘Juicy Fruit.’ Co-written by Candy, Jesse Saint John (Britney Spears, LIZZO, Saweetie), Nick Weiss and Cecile Believe, the sex-positive, electro-powered track is joined by an official music video. “It’s unique and a lot different than what I’ve done in the past. The visual taps into a different era that I cherish. It’s a little bit ’80s, and I want to run with that,” Candy tells Jack Irvin or People Magazine. “I’m just happy to still be able to make music, express myself through art and make a living doing it. I feel really lucky.” “If I can make someone smile with this song or video, that’s incredible, and I did my job,” Candy continues about what’s to come. “That’s all I want — to bring a little bit of positivity to the world.”

Eaves Wilder has shared new single ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ The London songwriter has signed to Secretly Canadian, with her debut EP Hookey set to land on March 24. Dubbed by its maker as being “about bunking off”, it touches on some incredibly personal topics. New single ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ is a case in point. A tongue-in-cheek indie burner, it actually touches on mental health, and the (lack of) services available to those in need. Still only 19 years old, it discusses her experiences with the British mental health service CAMHS – while also asking for a bit more help for those who need it. So, over to Eaves… “I first entered the Child and Adolescent Mental Health services – or CAMHS – when I was eleven. Although they did finally help me, and I left at the age of fifteen, ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ is basically a stream-of-consciousness, scream for help rant/report about what it’s like in those awful, quiet waiting rooms, and consulting rooms. As CAHMS is so dangerously underfunded by the government, the deal is- the closer you are to death, the higher up the waiting list you go. Which on average is around 16 months. And people with eating disorders are competitive anyway, so it’s very easy to look around the waiting room, and think, ‘I need to be the most ill person here. I need to get … ill-er than the girl with the bandages on her arms, or the tube up her nose – or I’ll never get treated. I’m going to make my way up that list.’ The key thing is getting your diagnosis. There’s no treatment until diagnosis. You don’t know what is happening to you. And a lot of people doubt you are ill anyway. They (friends, family, teachers) think that you’re making it all up, I think that’s easier for them. And so the biggest question is, over and over: “Are you diagnosed? Are you diagnosed?” [via Clash]

Next month, Gisela Fulla-Silvestre, the singer and producer who records as NOIA, will release her full-length debut gisela. Now, NOIA has teamed up with Ela Minus, the Colombian dance-popper who released the great ♡ EP with DJ Python last year, on a new single called ‘didn’t know.’ On ‘didn’t know,’ NOIA and Ela Minus sing in both English and Spanish over a slinky synth-beat that never sits still. It’s a haunted, evocative synthpop jam that still really moves. Lola Blanc directed the track’s very stylish video. In a press release, NOIA says: “’didn’t know’ is an ode to my friends in nyc. an ode to all the bad dating we’ve done in this city and how we’ve survived through staying together and laughing together. it’s also an ode to the nightlife of this city. I borrowed a couple of dialogue lines from Mad Men for the lyrics: this song is playfully centered around the idea of singing to the ultimate fuckboy, don draper. I have collected so many whatsapp audio messages (or whatsapp podcasts lol) from my friends sharing their late night experiences, so I wanted to bring those bits and pieces of dialogue into the song, that’s why there’s that sound design club bathroom moment in the song and that’s why you can hear them discovering the magic of autotune towards the end of the song. I had to invite Ela Minus to sing this song as a duet: she is one of my good friends with whom I’ve shared these experiences with, endless dinners in Brooklyn laughing away our love adventures. but also, when i started this beat (with a drum machine and not in the box as I usually make beats) I realized I was getting inspired by her amazing beat making style. so I sent the track to her during the pandemic and she recorded her beautiful airy vocals in it, half in English, half in Spanish. Musically this is my Prince song, it’s definitely a hot pink song. I wanted the voices to feel like a wall of airy rhythmic sexy vibes. but then the beat and the bass to feel chaotic and industrial.” [via Stereogum]

Paramore have released the music video for their latest single, ‘Running Out of Time’, from their recently released album This Is Why. Of the track, Hayley Williams says, “When we first started writing the album I wanted to challenge myself to write about ordinary things. I am horrific at time management and that feels about like the most mundane thing anyone could talk about… seemed like a fun challenge. It kept me from getting all deep and dark which is actually an easier place, internally, for me to dwell. Then again, expanding on those feelings isn’t all that different from the anxieties a lot of us feel about living on planet earth in 2023.” [via Dork]

Black Honey returns with punchy new rocker ‘OK’. The band’s new album A Fistful Of Peaches lands on March 17, led by comeback single ‘Up Against It’. Frontperson Izzy Bee Phillips used the lyrics to urge fans to be kinder to themselves, and these mental health themes permeate their new single. Out now, ‘OK’ punctures the happiness myth, and asks if something OK is actually something we should all strive for. If the guitar-based songwriting carries a real impact, then perhaps that is to drive the point home. Izzy Bee comments… “‘OK’ is a love story I wrote for my friend who was getting high all the time to dull anxiety. I didn’t want them to be struggling anymore and this song is like ‘I will stand by you and if you need a weird 10 mins where you smoke weed after drinking 8 pints till you whitey. If that’s what you need to do then it’s okay’. It’s too much to expect someone to be happy so just okay is enough. I’m also criticising myself for trying to be a Romeo-style hero when I’m so utterly ill-equipped to help anyone. I also somehow have the feeling of devotional dedication to a person that only rom coms ever show you and I didn’t really believe was real.” [via Clash]

Jessie Ware has shared a new video for her single ‘Pearls’, taken from her upcoming album That! Feels Good! The video, which was directed by Sophie Muller (Kylie Minogue, Rihanna) and Theo Adams (Elton John, Years and Years), sees Ware in a variety of dreamy, neon-drenched settings, which perfectly aligns with the ’90s-infused track. The song is a collaboration between Ware and Stuart Price, Sarah Hudson, and Coffee Clarence JR, and as Ware explains in a press release, it’s “a record that doesn’t take itself too seriously but demands you to have a dance. It’s inspired by divas like Donna Summer, Evelyn Champagne King, Teena Marie and Chaka khan and I guess attempts to show—in lightness—all the hats I try to wear (usually at the same time).” That! Feels Good! is the follow-up to Ware’s critically acclaimed album What’s Your Pleasure? In a statement, Ware said of the new record: “That! Feels Good! stems from over 10 years of understanding who I am, and who I enjoy being as an artist and the thrill of performance. It’s a record to be enjoyed, to sing and shout the words back at me and to each other. It’s a culmination of hard work and total pleasure appreciating the job I have and the worlds I get to dive into. I have never felt so ready for people to hear something I’ve made.” [via Dork]

LA-based pop trailblazer Grace Gaustad has shared their new single and video ‘The Cloud’. ‘The Cloud’ appears on Gaustad’s forthcoming multimedia concept album PILLBX: whts ur fantasy?, which will culminate this summer in an epic cinematic film. ‘The Cloud’ is a delicate and glowing art pop track, where Gaustad’s vocals are swirling and haunting around soft electronics. It’s an incredibly considered and mature track for the 21 year old, with the video depicting physical isolation in an overconnected digital world, featuring a cameo from Emmy and Golden Globe winner Mariska Hargitay. Speaking further about the track Grace says “‘The Cloud’ is a song about the epidemic of loneliness we all feel from the primary relationship we have with our cell phones. We’ve become so dependent on our phones that we now store the best parts of our life somewhere in the cloud, as opposed to enjoying them while they’re happening.”

Rising indie-pop trio Bailen has announced the release of their second full-length album, Tired Hearts, due out May 5 via Fantasy Records. The New York City based siblings have also shared the album’s first single, the alt-pop anthem ‘Call It Like It Is,’ along with its cult classic thriller style video. The sparkling ‘Call It Like It Is,’ co-written by Bailen and X Ambassadors’ Adam Levin and Sam Harris, is “an anthem for anyone who refuses to be taken advantage of,” the band stated. “It unmasks the ugly truth behind shiny veneers.” The track’s beautifully rendered, cinematic video, directed and edited by David Bailen, is a fictionalized account of a scary ‘catfishing’ episode Bailen recently experienced while on tour. “To save money on the road, we often stay with friends, family and fans instead of staying in hotels,” the group explained. “It goes to show what it takes to be in a touring band these days just to break even.” [via udiscovermusic]

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Bea Miller released a new song ‘cynical’ on February 15. The song is the second single under her own label Gauche Records, following ‘lonely bitch’ released back in January. It was written by Bea Miller, Cara Salimando, and Colin Brittain. Produced by Colin Brittain. Bea Miller said of the song, “’cynical’ has always been a word I’ve used to describe the way I view love and romance. When my last relationship ended, I felt like it had been destined to crash and burn. Because I was already prepared for that, it didn’t hurt me as much as it should’ve. I don’t think that’s great necessarily, but there was something oddly satisfying about being right.” The accompanying music video was directed by Gina Gizella Manning. It serves as the second installment of her twelve-part visual compendium, entitled “BEA MILLER’S CABINET”. She said, “In the video for ‘cynical,’ we wanted to showcase the monotony I’ve felt in relationships by essentially filming the same shot over and over again, with varying emotions.” [via pmstudio]

Following up the release of her ephemerally dreamy, glittery cyber and otherworldly EP, Dear Diary, Alex Sloane has premiered the music video for the sweet but venomous single, ‘Mine.’ A vintage decor princess bedroom, pages detailing nothing but one repetitive line of “Everything is ok,” the hauntingly sweet music video gives nods to Kubrick’s 1980 classic, The Shining. Featuring a breathlessly thrilling tempo and Sloane’s honey smooth, quaint but beyond recognizable vocal, ‘Mine’ perfectly infuses electronic influence with lo-fi and hyperpop. Displaying the movie-set reality behind the picturesque, cottage-core bedroom at the end of the music video, Sloane again reveals the danger of delusions, reiterating the main focus of ‘Mine’ once more. [via Earmilk]

Honey Revenge have released a new single and video, ‘Are You Impressed?’ The duo – vocalist Devin Papadol and guitarist Donovan Lloyd – continue to make their mark following previous singles ‘Rerun,’ ‘Ride’ and ‘Distracted,’ with their latest effort following their standard set so far of incredibly catchy and relatable. ‘Lost sight of what I’m working toward / It’s the same shit different day / Battles I have fought before / Will they ever go my way?’ go the lyrics of the second verse, with Devin explaining that, “Are You Impressed? is about dealing with a need to constantly be productive and well liked in a world where everything we do is documented and put online.” [via Kerrang!]

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London-based powerhouse Lily Moore has returned with her brand new single, ‘Hard Days Love’ via Believe. Showcasing her signature soulful and soaring vocals, the track was co-written by Lily and The Nocturns (Mimi Webb, James Arthur, Dylan and more), who also produced the song. The long-awaited ‘Hard Days Love’ is Lily’s first musical offering since her More Moore mixtape featuring Maverick Sabre (on track ‘In-between’) and Dan Caplen, and is the start of a brand new compelling chapter for her. Lily explains, “’Hard Days Love’ is about knowing when it’s time to give up. Being a musician is my favourite thing in the world but the last few years made that nearly impossible, and to lose that part of myself nearly over night was the hardest break up I’ve ever gone through! A sexy little cocktail of the world going mad and my own personal issues finally catching up with me, meant it felt like the world was putting a big old middle finger up to me and all my friends trying to make a life in London.” Alongside the release, the artist has also revealed the official music video which was directed by Claryn Chong (Holly Humberstone, flowerovlove, Tommy Lefroy). The visuals were shot at an arduous assault course near Brighton, which Lily was already very familiar with as she took on the challenge at school when she was just 14. Watch the video here. Lily says of the video process, “It has been a very long time since I did any music video. They’ve always felt quite scary to me and I get more nervous about them than I do for any shows. The beauty of this video was that I was so cold and busy concentrating on not stacking it, that I didn’t even notice any of my usual self conscious, annoying, little thoughts.”

Jessica Winter has delivered a third outing from her new Limerence EP titled ‘Clutter’, which sees her team up with Lynks and is accompanied by another Ella Margolin-directed video. Winter says of the new song, “I moved house and found love letters, photos and other bits from relationships over the years that at the time meant so much yet hold no significance now. I’ve carried these things around with me all this time and a spring clean was needed; physically and spiritually from all past and present relationships! Lynks embodies a divine solitary strength so there’s no one better than him to help deliver this message.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

The producer Yaeji has been putting out music for nearly a decade now — she’s released many singles, some EPs, and, in 2020, she shared a full-length mixtape called WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던. Now, she’s ready to put out her debut album. It’s called With A Hammer, and its cover art shows her wielding a large hammer, which per a press release actually has a name: Hammer Lee. With A Hammer will be out on April 7, and it includes contributions from Loraine James, Nourished By Time, and producers K Wata and Enayet. Yaeji is sharing the album’s lead single, ‘For Granted,’ with a self-directed music video. [via Stereogum]

UK songwriter Fenne Lily — who moved to New York City in the time since she released her sophomore album, BREACH in 2020 — has announced a new album, Big Picture, which was recorded at Brad Cook’s studio in North Carolina. Fenne Lily co-produced the album with Cook, save for one track that was produced with Christian Lee Hutson, with whom she’ll head out on an extensive tour later this year. Now, she’s sharing the album’s muted and shimmering lead single ‘Lights Light Up.’ “Iʼd never really written about love in the present tense before this, but even though I was still in love and not thinking about the end, there was something else going on subconsciously that led to a song about moving on before the moving on had begun,” she noted in a press release, continuing: “When it came time to record, the band and I had been playing it live for a while and itʼd become something joyful and positive, but when I started recording vocals, the lyrics made me cry. By that point the song was over a year old and I thought those wounds had healed but I guess it hurt to admit Iʼd been letting go of something while still trying to hold on.” [via Stereogum]

Los Angeles based Lisel (Eliza Bagg) just released the new song and video for ‘Immature’ from her upcoming album, Patterns For Auto-Tuned Voices And Delay, out February 17 on Ba Da Bing. The song features Bagg’s operatic voice, layered, cut up, and warped. The video straddles the experimental and pop realms, combining minimalist dance in the vein of Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker’s Rosas Danst Rosas and Yvonne Rainer with pop culture aesthetics that reference Beyoncé and Charli XCX. Lisel and two dancers walk in high-heels on treadmills, enacting something both bizarre and pedestrian.

The C.I.A.’s Surgery Channel is ripe with straightforward conviction. The trio made up of Denée & Ty Segall and Emmett Kelly have constructed a world where everything is piercing and pinpointed. Every word brings confrontation – The C.I.A. make you question what could be happening here…or what they’re after. Just ahead of its Friday release, they revealed a new video and single ‘Bubble’ — a story of anxious desire. We will be consumed by what we must consume. Restraint backfires and drives a person to madness. Or maybe that’s just what they want you to think. It feels as though Denée (vocals, lyrics) is whispering directly in your ear, amplified by the suspense of tick-tocking drum machine beats. Ty (bass, percussion, back up vocals) and Emmett (bass, synth, back up vocals) paint a jarring and dissonant landscape behind Denée’s story. Words are rhythm at The C.I.A.

Tāmaki Makaurau’s original pop royal Princess Chelsea aka Chelsea Nikkel has unveiled a new video for ‘Time’ from her fifth studio album Everything Is Going To Be Alright, filmed in Prague while touring the globe last year. Directed / edited by Julie Reynaud and made with support from NZ On Air, viewers are invited to peer inside a gothic storybook to encounter a vampiric PC roaming amidst the Czech Republic capital’s jam-packed graveyards, ancient cathedrals and cobblestone-lined streets under cover of darkness — pondering the future and glamorously garbed in outfits including red flowing velvet cape and an amazing chainmail style hoodie. The artist’s famously talented bandmates (recently acclaimed by Shayne P. Carter) Joe Kaptein, Jasmine Balmer, David Harris, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent and Joshua Worthington-Church make an appearance too, having a fun picnic with Nikkel in the clip’s closing moments. [via Under The Radar]

Black Honey have kicked off their 2023 with another taster from their upcoming album, A Fistful of Peaches, ‘Up Against It’. “This song is an open letter to my younger self,” Izzy Phillips explains. “And to every young discriminated and marginalised person out there. I want so bad to give them an anthem that was instead of “fuck the world” would give them a screaming discovery of new found kindness towards themselves. Troubled young people give themselves the hardest time of all. I want to tell them that you are hurting and things are harder than you ever thought they could be, but all you have to do is show up for yourself every day. Things aren’t always going to go to plan but I know that future you is fucking proud of who you are now. And you will look back on yourself with huge admiration. Give yourself a break kid, you were up against it.” It comes alongside a video directed by Izzy and the band, which you can check out below. [via Dork]

Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks has announced the follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams. My Soft Machine will be out May 26 and features the lead single ‘Weightless,’ out now.

It’s been a bit since we’ve heard from Gisela Fulla-Silvestre, the electronic musician who puts out music as NOIA. Her Crisàlida EP landed back in 2019, and now she’s finally ready to announce her debut full-length album. gisela is out at the end of March, and it features contributions from Ela Minus, Maria Arnal, and Buscabulla, whose Raquel Berrios duets on the glimmering lead single ‘eclipse de amor.’ “’eclipse de amor’ is like a movie set in a tropical night that ends with a knife and blood,” NOIA said in a statement. “A love story and a mysterious murder. It’s a song about duality, two people mirroring each other, an eclipse of love that ends up consuming you in the name of becoming something beautiful together.” She continued: I guess it’s an ode to toxic consuming love? This song is also an ode to old boleros. it has that energy of old romantic duets, but then the chorus feels like entering a future dystopian tropical video game party, so it holds those two very different worlds. I was very excited to sing this duet with Raquel from Buscabulla. She has a unique vocal tone, it evoques darkness and echoes from another era somehow. We complemented each other so well with the two characters of this song. Luifre (the other half of Buscabulla) recorded this retro synth line over her verse that gave it even more of a classic vibe. I started working on this song as part of the music for a film that needed a romantic bolero kind of track, and then the song evolved when i was making some beats for a reggaeton artist that he ended up not using. So in a way it always has felt like a very playful song.” [via Stereogum]

Wishing us happy holidays a month ago with her festive insta-classic ‘Meri Kirihimete’, Erny Belle aka Aimee Renata’s (Ngāpuhi) gifts us a romantic alternative to the nine-five grind with a new video for ‘Island Time’, from her acclaimed debut album Venus Is Home. Self-directed and produced by Renata, shot at Te Arai on analogue film stock by Ezra Simons (Earth Tongue, Soft Bait) and made with support from NZ On Air, the clip co-stars Navakatoa Tekela-Pule (Strangelove) as the Stetson hat wearing The Man From The Islands, tenderly strumming his acoustic guitar and dancing with the red-garbed songwriter on the sandy shore. Originally self-released in early ’22, Venus Is Home is being reissued in a new vinyl edition courtesy of Flying Nun. Erny Belle says, “‘Island Time’ is an ode to the Pacific. I picture myself and the times I spent looking out at the view from Te Arai beach, from the waters edge and my sister’s porch. I spent a lot of time contemplating my creative visions and the loss and prospects of love on the horizon. The chorus is a mantra on perseverance and self belief. Though there’s a lot behind the love story, I think really it’s a love song to pacific culture and beautiful brown people, maybe I needed to give myself that back. My good friend Navakatoa plays The Man From The Islands. He is also the bassist for the Erny Belle band, It’s special that we’ve been able to capture ourselves at this time, I think it’s really sweet we’ll be able to look back at it in years to come and be reminded of everything we were doing musically at this time. It was shot at Te Arai, which is a special place to me.” [via Under The Radar]

It’s been a couple years since Kali Uchis’ last album, 2020’s Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), but she’s kept busy. She’s playing a bunch of festivals this year and has been teasing a new project, which started with ‘No Hay Ley’ last fall. Now, she’s back with a new single, ‘I Wish You Roses.’ “This song is about being able to release people with love,” Uchis said in a statement. “It could be a friend, a lover, or someone else, but the point is to celebrate releasing people from your life without being resentful or bitter.” [via Stereogum]

Calva Louise have just released their new single, ‘Third Class Citizen’. It’s is the first single taken from their upcoming EP, Over The Threshold, which will be released later this year. Vocalist and guitarist Jess Allanic explains, “’Third Class Citizen’ is about the never-ending struggle to become masters of our own destiny by merging the real, the imagined and the dreamed”. The track is accompanied by an otherworldly music video that was animated and directed by Jess, which you can check out below. [via Upset]

Tragic Sasha, the moniker of London-based artist Sasha Gurney, brings atmospheric, futurism-infused alt-pop on her new single ‘Bottle It Up’. Vocals bathed in a rhythmic autotune with bouncing vocal chorus gently drench atmosphere over Sasha’s soft and sincere vocal deliveries, bringing ethereal melody to the cutting synth bass and organic drum beats. A minimal and industrial yet artistic video aesthetic reflects Sasha’s sound perfectly; modern and cutting-edge, yet somehow still a blend of old and new. Speaking on the songwriting process, Tragic Sasha shares, “I wrote ‘Bottle It Up’ a while ago with my co-writer Scott Colcombe about holding in emotions. I wanted the song to feel like a stream of consciousness that spiralled into chaos at the end. We wrote it in two hours- it was surprisingly easy to write and very cathartic!” [via Earmilk]

Get ready to experience a new level of pop perfection with the latest release from the multi-talented Asy Saavedra, a Swedish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and composer. As the lead singer and keyboard player of the electro-pop sister duo Chaos Chaos, Asy has been making waves in the music industry for years, and now she’s kicking off her solo career with her new single ‘Masterpiece’. With this playful new release, Asy teases us with a taste of her unannounced upcoming record and takes us on a journey through her unique and genre-bending production. ‘Masterpiece’ is a powerful anthem of self-empowerment and insecurity, with lyrics that delve into the theme of not feeling like a masterpiece at all. Asy’s powerful pop songs are known to be a force to be reckoned with, but her recent venture into experimental production takes her artistry to a whole new level. Asy’s ‘Masterpiece’ is a visceral construction of the playful dance between self-empowerment and insecurity. The song is forthright and relatable, with a vulnerability that is evident in the lyrics and in the way Asy’s voice breaks intentionally when she delivers the high notes in the chorus. The production on ‘Masterpiece’ is a tantalizing blend of pop and avant-garde, with sultry “oohs” that evoke the intimacy of the bedroom and hint at a messiness beneath the surface. Asy has a knack for crafting powerful pop songs, but her recent venture into experimental production has cracked open a sonic universe in which she challenges her own formulas and doesn’t hesitate to take the reins.This is just the latest chapter in Asy’s industrious music career. [via Wonderland]

Alt-pop sensation, songwriter, and filmmaker Zolita has released her new single and video ‘Ashley’ from her highly anticipated Falling Out / Falling In EP (out February 10). ‘Ashley’ is a stripped-back and heartfelt love song which picks up directly where her previous single ‘Ruin My Life’ left off. Zolita is getting ready for Ashley’s wedding while unearthing old memories of young love between her and the bride-to-be. The video is the next installment in Zolita’s new cinematic story that began with her recent singles ’20 Questions’ and ‘Ruin My Life.’ “‘Ashley’ is a sapphic love song written for my close friend, now girlfriend,” shares Zolita. “It’s a song about yearning, falling in love, and knowing the lows that inevitably come with a relationship will be worth it. It’s sickly sweet and one of the most earnest, heartfelt songs I’ve ever written. It’s the queer ‘Hey There Delilah’ I wish I had growing up!” [via QueerForty]

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