“My Dead End Self” begins with technological reminiscence. The stillness around me is filled with the recognizable yet abrasive sound of a skipping CD. I am briefly teleported back to my childhood, recalling the countless hours spent playing the same albums on a purple boombox until they too developed that eerie but familiar skip. However, as the song continues, I am jerked from my reverie and tactfully reminded that, for all intents and purposes, CDs are extinct. We live in an age where music is produced, consumed and promoted on the internet, and the band Dirty Nice couldn't be any more aware of this phenomenon.

If the Talking Heads were a product of the late 2010s as opposed to the mid-1970s, they would probably sound just like Dirty Nice.With a sound that pays homage to previous new wave artists through skilled sampling and synthesizing, “My Dead End Self” is hauntingly existential, yet ironically emotive—"All I need in these dead-end times is a place to live my dead-end life." The track and its accompanying music video pulse with an impending sense of doom and engage in a one-way conversation with what seems to be the end of the world. While the track itself is only three and a half minutes, its message is profound and long-lasting, giving you something to think about long after the sound fades into the atmosphere.

dielines, the California-based indie-folk duo consisting of Daniel Berkman and Trevor O’Neill, prepare us for their upcoming album with their newest track "Chasing Rabbits." Though self-described as curators of "psych folk," this single lends itself to a softer, warmer acoustic sound that most people do not associate with the genre. Reminiscent of early Fleet Foxes, this track has the lyrical implication of an anxiety attack, but harmonically makes you feel like taking a drive on a winding mountain road. True to that analogy, "Chasing Rabbits" is full of twists and turns—Berkman's eccentric vocalization providing the majority of the intrigue and emotional gravitas.

Playful and fresh, “Ladybug” by Ottawa duo Deelo Avery and Julian Strangelove, otherwise known as Garçons, is a breezy, genre-busting jam. The leading track on their sophomore EP, Be Human, features a psychedelic rock guitar blending seamlessly with a funky, r&b-inspired beat, while muffled percussion offers a fluid, lazy groove. The instrumentation feels nostalgic and effortlessly untouchable, like that mixtape your cool older sister listened to in the 90s that you always coveted—though notes of soul, particularly in the vocal, make it more accessible. Avery’s voice, reminiscent of a more laid-back Moses Sumney, is bright and dynamic, and adds dimension to the cozy, chill vibe conjured up by the production. Catchy and cool, “Ladybug” is the perfect mid-tempo bop for your commute.

“i leave early” by Maria Kelly is soft, tender, and a little bit heartbreaking. Backed by gentle strings, Kelly’s voice begs to be listened to. Her lyrics are full of self-doubt and worry, yet still, maintain a certain beauty and gentle acceptance. The song begins with Kelly’s delicate singing of “I am drowning at a party,” voicing the sentiments that so many of us can commiserate with. Through her thoughtful and honest lyrics, velvety vocals, and poignant instrumentals, Kelly’s “i leave early” creates a sense of intimacy with the listener. Though her vibe is reminiscent of Daughter, she maintains a uniquely captivating sound that stands on its own. Kelly communicates a tenderness that heightens the sense of isolation and yearning that so closely defines the track. Everything about "i leave early" is subtle and graceful. Having created a lullaby of insecurities and anxieties, Maria Kelly brings to light the many difficulties of self-doubt and does so in a stunningly beautiful way.

Remember going through a funhouse as a kid? The endless rows of disorienting mirrors—making you shorter or taller, fatter or thinner, appear dozens of times or disappear all at once? As we grow up we tend to forget the sense of wonder we felt the first time we looked at ourselves through funhouse mirrors—but it’s never truly gone. BK-based, indie-pop quartet, Future Generations embody that childlike sentiment of wonder and escapism we often leave behind in their new single, “Just Pretend.” The group has long since possessed a keen ability to lift listeners’ moods with their vibrant, breezy production, engaging vocal melodies and inventive lyricism. With “Just Pretend,” they take these elements a step further, becoming the medicine for the doubt they are trying to overcome. The track is a carefree hodgepodge of different sounds and influences, uninhibited by what it thinks it’s supposed to be as it shifts from one sound to another. Frontman Eddie Gore sings, “Life is easy if you just pretend,” reminding us of the importance of not taking ourselves too seriously. As we get older and life gets a little harder, we have to try to retain the sense of childlike wonder we felt the very first time we walked through the funhouse mirrors.

The Wild Honey Pie is proud to premiere “We Laugh,” the first single from Paper Fairy’s upcoming Tautology EP. Following up the 2018 full-length horror concept album Haunter Haunted is a lofty goal, but “We Laugh” skillfully highlights singer Chris Gaskell’s dedication to the unexpected at every turn. It takes only seconds for a song reminiscent of Seu Jorge’s Bowie covers to something much more haunting. Gaskell’s voice soars like Michael Angelakos' but, like the rest of the arrangement, is unsettling in ways the pristine electronic indie-pop of Passion Pit would never be. Aiming to “redraw the line between what is and what appears to be,” the track “poses an inner dialogue in which the internal self and the mediated self struggle to find coherence in a single identity,” says Gaskell. The entity that is Paper Fairy often speaks in such lofty language, ruminating on the concept of the self, but the lyrics meander more simply through “just another day I won’t remember.”