"Ticker Tape Parade" by Absent City is one of those soft pop-rock numbers that would sound right at home soundtracking a partly cloudy beach day or the lull that strikes in the middle of road trips. The song has that oddly small Midwestern town vibe, like it found fun in itself in a place where there isn't much else to do but look inside yourself and pull out the pretty parts that make your day memorable. The vocals are shrouded in some kind of demurity reserved for indie singers and songwriters.

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I sat in a prairie throwing tennis balls into the spacious abyss for my beloved German Shepherd pup to fetch and bring back to me. I was home for the semester thanks to COVID, and this was my life now. Remote learning. The great outdoors was now my campus. The further I yanked my arm back to hurl the tennis balls yards away, the harder my dog ran to please me and bring me back the one thing I could never get tired of momentarily losing. I watched him gallop on four legs to the ball, but I never lost sight of his furry mane and sunny disposition. He stayed in shape this way, and I could always cuddle him. I was just a boy and he was just my dog and we were just stretching out the last few rays of sunlight on a beautiful fall day before it was time to go home and listen to "Ticker Tape Parade" by Absent City and do it all again tomorrow.

Club-friendly beats and 80s inspired sheen aren’t usually associated with deep internal reflection. Sam Dust is here to challenge this notion with his first single in five years, “What Moves.” Dust, better known to fans as LA Priest, is opening up and getting candid about his deepest relationship concerns, directing his deepest fears toward us by asking, “What moves you to act the way you are / What moves you to fall into their arms?" He does this right before expressing the internal struggle of moving forward into the unknown by proclaiming, “But I know where I came from / but I don’t know where I’m gonna go.” Despite forcing himself to step back and hold himself accountable, Dust’s voice remains neutral throughout the song, perhaps making it easier to distract us from the tough themes of hard-to-swallow self-reflection. “What Moves” willingly moves us to dance into the unknown, while remembering to remain quizzical and true to ourselves. GENE will be released on April 24 via Domino Recording Company.

Niia’s “If You Won’t Marry Me Right Now” masterfully blends a number of different auditory aesthetics that culminate in a passionately delivered track that rolls over you in waves. Soft keys and gentle vocals greet you at the outset, but the song quickly finds its way to a bigger collection of sounds. Strings contrast with bass to foreshadow the crescendo that awaits you. Niia’s lyrical delivery increases in tempo, teasing you as the moment feels ripe for a shift, but you wait. "If You Won't Marry Me Right Now" ebbs for a moment until two vocal tracks build together and converse with increasing passion lamenting that they “wasted so much time / six years of my life” an amid this peak Niia’s grand vocals escort the song to an end, ready to be played again by someone looking for something refreshingly different to vibe to this Valentine’s. Be sure to check out her sophomore album II: La Bella Vita, which dropped today, February 14.

Bedroom folk-rock trio Sour Widows continue their streak of creating sleepy, harmonically driven singles in their latest track "Open Wide." The song opens with a warm, guitar intro that leads us into a sonic place of depth and intimacy. Maia Sinako's mellow vocals make a cozy entrance, acting as a guide throughout the single's growing dimension and dynamics. Susanna Thomson's complementary vocals join the journey as the track dives into themes of freedom, expression, and darkness, taking us through many climatic and meditative twists and turns. The last lyric we hear is, "Cause the dark doesn't stop until I open wide," right before we are sent into a big interlude, showcasing the band's dual-guitar dynamic. As the song ends, Maia and Susanna's voices melt together, singing, "My body wants to let every fucking word fly," before the thematic guitar riff from the beginning of the track makes one final appearance, bringing "Open Wide" to a fading resolve.

Have you ever heard a story from a friend so many times that you wish you were there? To be a part of their memory even though it’s an impossibility? On Clever Girls’ new single, “Spark” we find songwriter and guitarist, Diane Jean, exploring this idea. “I buried your tooth hoping baby / I could grow another version of you, maybe” they sing, casting this sentiment amidst a verse of melodic and thoughtful guitars, painting the desire to absolve someone of any past trauma and start new. The band does an incredible job of pulling you in with sonic tenderness on this song. They welcome you into their narrative and then shock you with their true spark. In this case, it’s the burst of bold, driving guitars that hit in the chorus with the reminder that “You’re not the spark,” of the past but you’re now new fuel to their fire.

Lose yourself in the upbeat emotional ballad that is “Heliotrope,” the new single from LA-based indie rockers Runnner. With a full, gorgeous arrangement that feels all-encompassing, the track is atmospheric and evocative as it explores the highs and lows of love through one pressing question: “Is this the conversation you want to have?” A catchy acoustic guitar strum feels hopeful and raw over a thrashing drum beat that sways like a pendulum, giving the song an easygoing sort of flow despite the constant build-up of momentum and intensity in the instrumentation. Best of all are the strings, which swell with complexity and elevate the arrangement by adding a layer of tenderness and starry-eyed whimsy, tying everything together in one big, beautiful bow. Nostalgic and endearing, “Heliotrope” feels like a grand romantic gesture you’ll want to experience again and again.

As music has pushed itself to a place where genre labels are more of a suggestion than a guarantee, bands like Sorry have found success through their chameleon-esque ability to not just adopt a different style from track to track but to make that style uniquely theirs in the process. “More," the third single released by Sorry in the lead-up to their debut album, sees the indie rockers trying their hand at grunge. Singer Asha Lorenz attacks this track with a gruff, discontent growl in her voice—a fitting approach to adopt given the tone of the lyrics. The rebellious opening line finds Lorenz declaring “I want more, and more, and more, and more," and it sounds convincingly demanding over the genre-standard distorted guitars and punchy drums. The track breaks away from the intensity a bit during the chorus, opening up into a real earworm of a vocal melody that drives home the purposefully repetitive nature of the song—taken as a whole, it’s chant-like and alarmingly effective at planting the lyrics into the listener’s subconscious. Sorry’s debut album, 925, is out March 27; if the singles are reflective of the whole record, listeners can expect a masterclass in genre-agnosticism.

Australian singer-songwriter Harmony Byrne has kicked off her 2020 in a big way. This year brings a new single release and the announcement of her first Australian headlining tour, which opens February 20th. After releasing four singles in 2019, the 2020 release of "Good Idea" is surely just that—a good idea. The crooning of the slide guitar and the echoing of Byrne’s image-evoking voice create a sound reminiscent of Eagles and Joni Mitchell mixed with Faye Webster. While the sound of this song is cohesive to the rest of her discography, it tells a story that is entirely new. "Good Idea" reflects upon the longing to escape and describes feelings associated with loss. The chorus leaves the listener haunted as it discusses the impact our own recklessness can have upon others, “Running a red with your headlights down / Seemed like a good idea at the time / But others are following along your road / And some aren’t as lucky as your first line.” An album release is surely right around the corner.