These days you’re unlikely to find somebody who isn’t jaded, filled with anxiety, or a little lost and exhausted by the day-to-day, but British singer-songwriter Grace Gillespie is traveling back to simpler times. On her second single released this year entitled “HUH," she begins imagining the world around her from the viewpoint of a child to better understand why we often commit ourselves to unfulfilling, taxing professions as adults. Her smooth, airy voice floats along as she matter-of-factly sings, “I am a child / I do not know / swaying in the sunshine / which way I go.” The marching instrumentation pushes you forward into a state of reflection, thinking about that care-free spirit that we all used to have compared to where we are now. The swaying guitar dives into the melodic chorus that has Gillespie sticking to her guns and refusing to be beaten down by the harsh realities of adulthood. As we get toward the end of the track, she asks “In your heart / In your soul / are you sure you are sold / on this life?” Then assures us that there is a place where there is no pressure to make decisions out of fear, but instead only love and excitement for the uncertainty. It’s up to us to decide how much negative weight our respective responsibilities will create—we must always keep in mind that diverting to another route is possible. “HUH” is out now via Kaleidoscope.

Ackerman’s “A Day at the Beach” follows “84 Palms,” their first trippy, Animal Collective-inspired single from their upcoming EP, A Million Sunflowers, due out November 1. The Brooklyn trio started out as the solo USB-microphone recording project of singer Jordan McAfee-Hahn, but the “yummy collaborative effort” has evolved to include over a dozen members. That sort of sprawl is present in everything they touch—“A Day at the Beach” is a six-minute song, more than half of which is instrumental, taking its sweet time with an echoing guitar solo. On “A Day at the Beach,” the band concerns itself primarily with the feeling they evoke. When Bernardo Ochoa sings the opening lyrics, “Come sink / To the sea / It’s so sweet,” he sounds like a siren, beckoning the listener to join him, to float endlessly away. In the lead-up to the release of “A Day at the Beach,” Ackerman has been teasing the song with photographs of band members on beaches, accompanied by the song’s other terse lyrics: “The sun / Over me / And the beach,” or “My toes / Are sandy, yeah.” Sprawling, moody, and self-aware.

From the moment she declares, "The crown look good on me, don't it," Blu DeTiger demands your full attention on her funky new single, "Tangerine." DeTiger transports you to the world that flashes in your mind when you lock eyes with someone in a chic Lower East Side club: a vibrant reverie of glittering lights, where her name is scrawled on the walls in Glossier lipstick and she's made a throne for herself among silk sheets in your bed. Her voice, while more commanding than on her other tracks like "Mad Love," remains distinctly languid, and is the perfect vehicle for "Tangerine"'s allure. "Roses at my feet if I let you," she sings. If you're with her, she's in charge. "There's a vulnerability in admitting what you want," she says of the song, "It’s flirty, cheeky, empowering, badass, and the groove just glides." Produced by Benjamin Ruttner of The Knocks, her signature syncopated, "gasoline"-tinged bass sits at the forefront, while splashes of new wave guitar, punchy horns, and futuristic glitchy synths meet to create a high-saturation sound as fresh as tangerine.

Blush FM's "Move" is nothing short of a beautifully haunting power-ballad. The solo project of New York native Andromeda Hewson explores what it means to "allow one’s self the space to develop their own integrity." Evocative classical piano eventually builds into a groovy crescendo of drums and electric guitar as synths loom in the background and Hewson's voice reverberates through the lines, "I can’t do what you want me to do / I don’t know how to move that way / You don’t see who I wanna be / I only need to see that way." Sung with such conviction, Hewson said, "Move' encapsulates that trust in myself, while acknowledging that it doesn’t look the same on everyone.”

For those of you who knew Joe Keery before he became Steve Harrington, his stellar and innovative musicianship will be of no surprise. For those of you who didn't, let me introduce you to Djo (Keery's newest moniker). The first single released off of his debut album Twenty, Twenty was a gem named "Roddy"—a tune that you'll catch yourself grooving to immediately. Keery's voice floats effortlessly over the psychedelic instrumentation. Wanted or unwanted change can have a tumultuous effect, this is the story Keery shares: "We're ending retrograde / I told you mistakes were made / We're in retrograde." The single keeps your attention with often unexpected ornamentation and tasteful use of vocal effects. "Roddy" will surely be stuck in your head for days.

Brooklyn-based Kirsten Izer’s debut single of 2019, “One Year,” is a raw and evocative exploration of toxic love and lingering loss. The minimal arrangement consists only of a hazy electric guitar and Izer’s cool, smoky vocals, but its intimacy is what makes it powerful. Her sound’s moody, grunge-rock center relies on the emotion in her delivery, and Izer doesn’t disappoint. Dreamy layering effects amplify her impressive vocal range, drifting from dark and angst-ridden to light and ethereal quickly and easily. The lyrics, gripping and relatable, make plain the pain and longing of the instrumentation: “It’s our one year anni / But you don’t love me / You were never one for vulnerability.” The stripped arrangement allows you to focus on the lyrics, honest and heartbreaking, and lose yourself in the song’s lush dreamscape of sounds. “One Year” is hauntingly lovely.