Almost nine months after the January release of his charming Borderline album, the multifaceted artist Christian Kuria has returned, this time wielding a sonically pleasing new single to start those fall playlists with. “Enemy” flows together and settles into the ears of the listener with ease and cohesion, similarly to the way the song was created. As Kuria shared with vacancy. magazine, “My process is usually pretty meticulous. It often takes me several days or even weeks to complete a song, but it’s really exciting when a tune comes together without a struggle. 'Enemy' was one of those songs; I wrote and produced it in a day. Everything just worked, and I wasn’t afraid to try a new approach stylistically.” 

“Enemy” is a harmonious sensory experience of its own, carrying colorful guitar riffs, a dreamy soundscape and a celestial vocal palette that will uplift listeners into the clouds. The alternative R&B track spoils us with its excellent production, just like that of his well-loved renditions of contemporary music on YouTube. Yet Kuria is an artist whose own music and sound is ever-growing and will therefore be everlasting.

In “AUATC (Ate Up All Their Cake),” Bon Iver’s crew is rolling deep: the voices of Bruce Springstein, Jenny Lewis, Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), and Elsa Jensen meld together with Justin Vernon’s helium-ed vocals into a buzzing confection of a track. A commentary on capitalism, its lyric “shed a little light” also winks at James Taylor’s 1991 civil rights song.

At 2:22, "AUATC: is likely just a snack—following Bon Iver’s release of "PDLIF" in April, speculation hints at the possibility of a forthcoming 5th album of acronym-based titles.

Available via Jagjaguwar, the track was released with an accompanying statement including its full cast of credits and a call for listeners to support five organizations “working tirelessly to foster a world that celebrates our humanity on a local, national, and global level.” Also, be sure to watch the music video featuring exuberant movement and dance from Randall Riley.

Emulating a Sylvan Esso style vocalization on this track, Fake Dad serves up a summer's end song with their latest single "Summer Hill." Dreamy, ethereal guitar ushers along the psychedelic and surrealist lyricism of this easy-going, vibey tune. "Summer Hill" is about living in the moment. It's an observational tune about the quick passage of time. 

The musicality, similar to the track's themes, is taking its time. It's gentle, plodding and intentionally placed. Andrea de Varona's vocals here sound exceptionally striking. In an effort to live in a headspace that appreciates daily beauty instead of wishing the day away, "Summer Hill" is a great reminder to stop and smell the roses (through your mask, of course).

Check out this new single from Fake Dad and listen to the rest of their tunes wherever you stream!

“thank u love u”— that’s all boylife, aka LA artist Ryan Yoo, wrote when he released his newest single. 

“boston” has a nostalgic kind of texture, like the intimate grit of an old mixtape. It gives body to that stickiness we’ve all experienced from a song when it transports us back to a very specific time and place—a person, a scent, a state of emotion, a certain cast of streetlight. I’ve lived in Boston, but the magic of this song is that “Boston” can represent any place where you’ve dreamed in or dreamt of. With soft organ and reflective gospel-like call and response, it offers a reminder that the relationships and experiences we have in these places shape us for better or worse. For that, we can appreciate them, grow, and also let go with a simple “thank u love u.”

Evolution is a natural part of being a musician, and tracking the evolution of an act from their first release through the rest of their career is one of the most rewarding aspects of following an artist. Some artists hop between genre and sounds as they see fit, incorporating new elements as a means to progress their sound or diversify their fanbase; others opt to take their initial approach and refine it, working within their existing soundscape to find new angles and methods with which to improve their art. When it comes to British dream-pop duo Jadu Heart, it seems that they have opted for the latter. “Burning Hour"—the sixth single from the duo’s forthcoming sophomore effort Hyper Romance, out September 25—traffics in the same ethereal vocals and jangly guitars as a majority of tracks from their debut album, Melt Away. However, there are clear signs of artistic development on display throughout the track; the songwriting is more direct, there’s less hesitation to be loud to get a thematic point across, and the duo’s voices seem more complementary to one another than ever before. The end result is one of the most addictive singles yet from the duo and one that will keep expectations high ahead of the album’s release next month.

“No Risk," the recent single from Cults, is a tribute to brave beginnings, and a testament to the power of dynamic manipulations. Through their expert instrumental arrangement, the band is able to communicate three unique interpretations of the same set of lyrics and take the listener on a complete journey. The first time through the chorus, the vocal is accompanied only by a piano. When the singer opens with the line “no risk, no believing or leading,” there is a hint of doubt; like she’s not yet fully convinced of the sentiment, and needs to say it out loud in order to believe. The second time through a driving drum beat bursts in, and it feels like the journey has officially begun; risks have been taken and there’s no going back now. The final iteration mirrors the first, just vocal and piano. It feels like the protagonist is taking a moment to glance backward, both reflecting on how far they’ve come and recognizing the doubts that still persist.

To close out the song the drums return in all their inspirational fervor, and the singer delivers repetitions of the title, “no risk.” Here, the song acknowledges that stepping into the unknown will always be frightening, but reminds us that such is the cost of new experiences which often prove to be worth the risk.

“We can’t seem to find a reason to stay quiet,” urges Ela Minus on “megapunk," a new single that propels revolutionary fight from its blistering opening line. The Brooklyn-based Colombian singer’s staccato speech-singing over a trance beat manifests her passionate movement for change within us. Post-punk and new wave influences drive the hallucinogenic beat while her message on the current political climate sits in the heart of punk rebellion, drawing undoubtedly from her time as the drummer of Colombian hardcore band Ratón Pérez when she was just 12 years old. “When I wrote this song last year, I was worried it would lose context if not released immediately,” she said on the track. “I could not have been more wrong. This is the perfect time to put this out. We have to keep going. Ánimo y fuerza.” The track is accompanied by a hallucinogenic music video following her black, white, and pink punk aesthetic, and marks her second single released on Domino.