With countries reopening and summer raging in the northern hemisphere, “Stranger’s Mouth” manages to encapsulate the kaleidoscopic range of emotions of our time. A Swedish duo made up of Emil Erstrand and Nils Nygårdh, Grapell combines confessional lyricism with memorable and danceable instrumentals. With a saxophone riff that immediately hooks you in, the song will undoubtedly make your foot start tapping. The opening line, “Spit out your gum / And stick your tongue into a stranger’s mouth,” is able to contain both the freedom and anxiety of reentering social situations after over a year of isolation. This duality of elation and restlessness that saturates the song reminds us of the vivacity that we only truly experience with other people. An overdriven guitar and the recurring saxophone play off each other in a joyous lead-up to the song’s contemplative bridge, “You broken heart, I hope you know you did it to yourself.” With one last grand chorus, this song will leave you dancing before your tears can dry. Photo by Manne Wahlström.

Chicago-hailing Chase Walsh, popularly known as Worry Club, waltzes back into the scene with an impactful new release, “Bleach." The song welcomes listeners with a languid guitar that appears to hypnotize into a state of dubious bemusement, setting the tone for this reflective piece. The track attests to growing pains, bringing to life those overwhelming urges to transform one's identity in the midst of undergoing a whirlwind of issues. On the track itself, Walsh shared: “I really wanted to capture the nostalgia associated with a fleeting childhood. The idea of growing up has always scared the shit out of me.” In his plight to unearthing deeply-rooted childish nostalgia, Worry Club manages to create a single capable of tapping into one’s past while taking a contemplative eye to the current reality.

A lanky yellow character seems to front the digital project, godz. Aside from the intriguing ambiguity of the project’s identity, their most recent release, “kids,” catches attention by weaving nostalgia into a fresh and modern sound. Appearing across a series of NFTs, their social pages and the music video for this track, the ambiguous yellow figure is on an explorative journey, sometimes dancing, shapeshifting or even swimming. No matter the situation, there’s one thing the yellow figure consistently finds themself facing: a sense of loneliness or being outcasted—distinctly different from those around them. That impression can be found within “kids,” too. After a muted acoustic guitar welcomes in the softly-spoken introductory lyrics, the bass builds into a sonically enveloping chorus that hums, “And the kids / They have it good / Their love is real.” “kids” combines elements of synth-wave and funk with dynamic lo-fi production, making the track is danceable and engaging. And while who the kids are and why our friendly yellow animation feels so different from them is left relatively uncertain, godz is sure to leave their response as accessible as their Instagram bio, signing “some beg to ask the question, does it even matter?” However you’ve arrived in the psychedelic mystery world of godz, “kids” will leave you feeling a little less alone, and with a catchy beat stuck in your head. 

"Going Nowhere" opens with a cute, whimsical riff that delicately catches your attention from across the room. It’s a song drifting through the air at an open mic that makes your thoughts stop in their tracks, ears hanging on what happens next. Warm bass introduces gentle support, leaving plenty of space for the sparkling fantasies painted by Elise’s voice. Meandering through the mundane, the lyrics call out a desire for a grand adventure. Whatever shape it takes doesn’t matter- as long as it’s extravagant and far-flung. Light harmonies fill out the space between reality and the fantastic dream-world the lyrics strive to manifest. As with the best fantasies, the track closes with a momentary reconciliation with reality before taking off into the air again. The track is a sweet taste of what is sure to come with Maya Elise & The Good Dream’s album, Songs for the Breakdown, due this summer. Until then, let the new music video for "Going Nowhere" transport you to Maya Elise's whimsical world. Photo by Bradley Jacob Cox.

With “Shining,” Amsterdam-born and Lancaster-based artist Kala Boti delivers a song perfect for sunbleached summer days. Like the love child of Anderson. Paak and Michael Kiwanuka, Boti’s soulful voice, funk-influenced, treble-heavy guitar riff and a bass groove are a match made in heaven, while the Afrobeat-inspired percussion and the song’s catchy melody are guaranteed to have the track stuck in your head. Paired with the instrumentation’s joyful feeling are lyrics of hope that a loved one will come back once the sun is shining—a line fitting of both heartbreak and hope that captures the feeling of countries opening up post-pandemic. For a musician whose first release was in the second half of 2020, Boti’s production and songwriting skills are like those of a veteran and promise a bright (no pun intended) future. Boti plans to release his latest EP this summer, and you don’t want to miss out on what this talented artist is going to bring.

During lockdown in the UK, Tiberius b’s debut EP, Stains, was born while the London-based artist moved to the Welsh countryside to care for their grandmother. While living there, the singer and producer had an artistic discovery contemplating the loss of relationships, heartbreak, sexuality and isolation. The melodic closing track "Tears into the Sun" captures the loss of near and far relationships throughout time.

Woven through the layers of synth-pop beats and guitar, the artist’s echoing vocals ask the listener questions like "How come we cannot drift away from it?” and "How do we have fun?" The song allows you to feel the heightened complexity of their drifting, emotive questions about those near and far from them. "Tears into the Sun" will certainly leave a lasting, euphoric effect as you reflect on the artists' questions unveiled. Photo by Dexter Lander.

There's something about juno roome's whole aesthetic that inspires warm feelings of nostalgia. The Brooklyn-based musician uses a dreamy photo of clouds for the background of his website, leaving the visitor with an immediate feeling of familiarity; it almost seems like roome is an old friend from our past, one we may not talk to regularly, but who maintains feeling of closeness through his music. 

roome's latest single “gardens” evokes multiple elements of those warm and happy memories of yesteryear. From the single's playful photo of a woman posing happily in front of a window perhaps made to look like an old snapshot, to the song's dream-like beat, coupled with roome's soft and almost breathy vocals, “gardens” is like coming back home no matter where you've been, a feeling heightened by roome's repeated and reassuring refrain of "I'll be here." 

On the other side of the song's familiarity and warmth perhaps lies the very reason why the song's narrator may need a bit of nostalgic reassurance; Roome also channels a collectively relatable felt sense of anxiety, singing, "I don't want to be inside / I don't want to lose my mind," before pivoting back to a comfortable wistfulness, bringing peace back to the forefront. juno roome's ode to returning to the well-known instead of constantly feeling trapped by the unknown will bring listeners back to basics, with no sense of pretense or apologies. Photo by Ann Feletto.