Cyn releases new video for her new single ‘Losing Sleep’ via Unsub Records. “I wanted to bring mine and Lissyelle Laricchia’s art direction to life!” Cyn says about the video, “I let the lyric ‘it’s a dreamlike reality cuz of you’ inform every artful decision. I wanted to create a dream world, liberated from the logical or familiar. I’m so grateful to the entire team for helping me bring this vision to life.” Maintaining a reputation for show-stopping visuals, the songstress pulled out all the stops like she always does. Once again, she teamed up with filmmaker and New York Times Bestseller, Kyle Newman [Fanboys, Barely Lethal, 1Up] behind the camera for the video. Newman says, “Cyn’s clever lyrics and unique sound elicit strong visuals. The song’s overall playfulness inspired our exploration of the surreal. The collage stylings were a creative and effective way to play with scale akin to Alice In Wonderland and setting by placing her in a multitude of unconventional locations.” The clip co-mingles live action, collage animation, and immersive backdrops to create a gorgeous aesthetic of its own. As she tries and fails to catch some shuteye, it finds Cyn on the moon sipping a cocktail, towering over the pyramids as a UFO circles, overlooking Los Angeles Godzilla-style, and dancing in a cowboy hat on a pasture. It evokes the deliriously catchy melodies of the track with commensurate cleverness.

Poppy has released her new single ‘Church Outfit’. It comes on the back of her newly inked record deal with Sumerian Records. Poppy performed a sold-out show in London last November, and dropped her last EP Stagger in October. Poppy adds: “It’s an artist’s responsibility to always change. I don’t think I’d want to be in my body if I was repeating the same thing over and over again. I’m only competing with myself. I will continue to write the story until I get tired of the book. Then, I’ll write another one.” [via Dork]

This week, the producer Yaeji released her her debut album, With A Hammer. Before that. Yaeji returned with one more album preview: ‘Passed Me By,’ which comes with by a video directed by Enayet and Zanzie. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Yaeji describes how ‘Passed Me By’ is directed toward her younger self, in particular the Korean-sung lyric “I almost didn’t recognize you”). “She’s always been looking at me, but I was always averting my gaze and rejecting her existence,” Yaeji explains. “And this is the moment I lock eyes with her, and I’m like, You’re there. I see you.” [via Stereogum]

Iraina Mancini has shared her wonderful new single ‘Cannonball’. A retro-pop amalgam, Iraina seizes on the best aspects of the past, blurring those impeccable 60s and 70s influences with a touch of modernity. A full album is incoming, with new single ‘Cannonball’ online now. It feels like the lost theme to a 60s spy film, a kind of Modesty Blaize character updated for the modern era. A female-forward slice of action-packed pop, it was co-written alongside Simon Dine, and produced by Sunglasses for Jaws (with the redoubtable Erol Alkan on additional production). The neat keyboard arpeggios in the background recall the Killing Eve soundtrack work constructed by Unloved, while the loping bassline is sheer McCartney. A psych-pop whirlwind, ‘Cannonball’ finds Iraina yearning for freedom. She comments… “I wrote ‘Cannonball’ about taking a chance in life and following your heart. It’s that moment where you meet someone or something and it knocks you for six! Your intuition kicks in and you’ve got to go with what it’s telling you. I really wanted to write something that grabbed people’s attention, I got lost in my head in an action packed, 60s stylish thriller film.” Equipped with some lovingly kitsch visuals, you can check out ‘Cannonball’ below. [via Clash]

It’s been about two years since the Japanese band CHAI released their last album, 2021’s Wink, and since then they’ve dropped a series of singles. Now, they’re back with a fresh song for us, the energetic and bright ‘We The Female!’ “We are human and were born as female, but we have both female and male aspects in each of our souls, each with our own sense of balance,” CHAI said in a statement. “We can’t just label ourselves into clear-cut, simple categories anymore! I’m not anyone else but just ‘me,’ and you are no one else but just ‘you’. This song celebrates that with a roar! Yooooooooo!!” [via Stereogum]

Indie-rock rising talent Mazey Haze (aka Amsterdam based musician Nadine Appeldoorn) releases her new EP Back to the Start and shares the video for its title track. The EP’s titular, opening track perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the project. Announcing itself like a Californian daydream, awash with synths, heavenly vocal harmonies and jangling guitars, the song’s accompanying video was directed by Pasqual Amade. The EP’s title track captures a certain struggle Appeldoorn has untethering herself from the umpteenth setback. “I’m just being very honest and very real, being like, ‘I went through all this shit for a reason, but now I’m clueless again,’” she explains. “But I think that’s basically what life is: you constantly get over these really hard, big things.”

Garage rocker Olivia Jean has shared ‘Raving Ghost,’ the title track of her third solo album arriving via Third Man Records on Friday, May 5. The track is accompanied by an official music video directed by Olivia Jean herself alongside Erica Salazar, a perfect complement to the slinking, noirish quality of the music.

Breaking up with a friend is a tricky scenario to navigate, not least because the moment of realization that the relationship isn’t working can take so much longer to come into focus. That is the central tension at the heart of ‘Aspartame,’ the latest single from New York-based May Rio. Named after the artificial sweetener that can cause digestive issues and increased blood sugar in some people, ‘Aspartame’ compares a friend whose company slowly reveals itself to be a similarly toxic influence on her life. Themes of co-dependence and low self-esteem are laced through the song’s lyrics as Rio sings “You’ve got a lil problem, It’s not my job to fix it” and “Maybe the problem, Was I just felt so lucky, Just to have anything.” The words are the main focus here, with a minimal percussive backdrop putting thoughts of how voids get filled front and center. Speaking via email, Rio says: “I wrote ‘Aspartame’ in one day. It was born out of an important but complicated friendship that I needed to exit. The song has a melancholy, but it’s also angry. In the midst of that crossover, I found empowerment. Like I said I wasn’t going to take this shit anymore, and here I am, not taking it anymore.” [via The FADER]

After teasing fans over the past week, via their social media pages, Dorian Electra has officially made their comeback. When an artist wipes their socials and updates their profile picture, it’s safe to assume that they’re about to enter a new era. Singer-songwriter Dorian Electra did just that, at the end of the March, leaving fans speculating as to what may be happening behind the scenes by asking them to “pledge to Freak Mode” via a link to their website. Now, Electra debuts their first release of the year with ‘Freak Mode’. Co-produced by Clarence Clarity (Rina Sawayama), the single comes with a music video which was co-directed by Electra and Weston Allen. [via Line Of Best Fit]

Nikki Lane has released the video for her single ‘Denim & Diamonds,’ the title track of her latest album, directed by Desert 5 Spot’s Wade Crescent and Chase Manhattan. Filmed in Los Angeles, the video is the result of a crafty production, emphasizing the underlying theme of women’s empowerment that the song conveys. The video has a vintage feel, with scenes of casual glamour following several women’s unique yet unifying experiences. The set design and styling consist of custom Western apparel with one-of-a-kind pieces from Nikki Lane’s new Nashville vintage shop, High Class Hillbilly. Amongst Black Leaf Flower floral arrangements, the singer-songwriter wears a Catherine D’Lish gown, a custom hat from Ben Kennimer, with diamonds and jewelry by Esteembale Objects. [via Flaunt]

Caroline Polachek has unveiled a new live performance music video for ‘Smoke.’ In the clip for her Desire, I Want to Turn Into You song, Polachek performs with her band amid volcano sculptures, smoke, and glowing red scenery. Polachek’s band comprises Maya Laner, Matthew Horton, and Russell Holzman. Watch the Matt Copson–directed visual below. [via Pitchfork]

American singer-songwriter Eva Grace has dropped a new music video for ‘always be a fan’ directed by B. It was written by Eva Grace and produced by Josh Nabors. Eva Grace shared on social media, “this song always hits harder in the car”. She planned to release one new song and corresponding music video every month for a year, starting in August. Eva Grace told Tucson Weekly about her music, “I love the idea of creating visual art that represents all of my auditory art. I’m extremely excited to have music videos to go with everything. I think that it brings new life to the songs and really illustrates the kind of feeling that I want people to get from the songs.” She continued, “I’m always writing songs and trying to beat myself and make better songs than I did previously. It’s really just picking my favorite ones that I’ve done. I only want to put out my best work.” [via pmstudio]

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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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