NYC-based singer-songwriter Murielle is choosing to put herself first with "Felt Cute (Might Delete Later)," a self-love hymn she describes as her "reclamation." By invoking a meme in the title typically used to shame confident women on social media, Murielle reclaims the joke for herself, shattering the notion that women should be humble or coy about their looks. Featuring cadenced production by Swami Sound, the track fuses world music with pop-R&B synths and atmospheric elements, such as birds chirping to mimic the start of a new day, one that has her "feeling some type of way." Ambient harmonies further the anthemic quality of the song, as she makes a simple, yet revolutionary choice to "give her [ego] a twirl" even if she "didn't get laid / No, I didn't get paid." The music video features Murielle in various rooms of an empty building with a group of double-duty background dancers and admirers. The satisfaction of asserting her confidence, "Something that I worked for," is a feeling well-earned.

Long Beard, the moniker of New Jersey-based Leslie Bear, released her debut album, Sleepwalker, back in 2015 and is now back with her latest single, “Sweetheart.” The new track is an ambient, indie-pop musing in which Long Beard gives herself over to the impulse to wax nostalgic about a high school sweetheart. The song lulls you into a daydream with a warm guitar loop and rhythmic drums that lead into Bear’s breathy, alluring vocals. Bear hovers around melancholic throughout the track, singing “I think of you way too often / looking out every window that I can,” and before you know it, you’re walking down memory lane right alongside her. The dreamy melody is soon lit up by gleaming keyboard, elevating it from hazy to luminous and Bear’s breathy voice glides effortlessly with the motion. Long Beard’s lovely and lonely “Sweetheart” is the first glimpse into her sophomore album, “Means to Me,” coming out September 13 via Double Double Whammy.

Although it is only her second single, Lune Rose’s “Can’t Be Sure” is a sweet and mellow soundscape masterpiece. The dreamy alt-pop track narrates a long-distance relationship and the uncertainty it brings. In it, Lune Rose struggles to understand what her partner is thinking when their only interactions are through a telephone. In a voice so calm it’s almost eerie, she sings, “when I’m guessing all your emotions, I can’t be sure that this is real.” Although the narrator is unsure of where she stands, Lune Rose’s vocals are steady, echoing mystically throughout the song. “Can’t Be Sure” is at first carried by a few melancholic guitar strums but it soon expands into something cavernous, with each sound magnified and pulsating. Lune Rose is delicate, absorbing, pensive, and profound and although “Can’t Be Sure” is teeming with bewitching noise, it somehow emulates the lonely silence on the other end of a phone that we all know and fear. This hopefully only the beginning for the emerging artist, who is set to release her debut EP this fall.

Boot is convinced the grass is greener on the other side. “Heaven Is A Place In Queens,” the opening track from the debut EP by the Brooklyn band is a gentle modern folk song about big little dreams. Singer Benjamin Carbone’s dreams are realistic—plummeting Millennial homeownership rates especially in a market as expensive as New York City notwithstanding—in their details, from hyperspecific references to individual intersections and exact down payment percentages all the way to wondering whether or not hypothetical children, once grown, will want to live in the old family house or rent it out. It’s a clever way to combine his past and his future, illustrating how the former informs the latter. Even when the song picks up, first with a steady stomp-and-holler folk beat and then with a frantic psych-rock energy, the unmistakable tenderness with which Carbone speculates ensures that the idyllic future he envisions is always at the forefront of this impressive debut.

“LEMONHEAD” is the shimmering, retro pop jam you’ll be blasting with the windows rolled down on blazing hot days. The song is the title track off of the new EP from Kid Bloom, the indie rock project of singer-songwriter Lennon Kloser. In “LEMONHEAD,” Kid Bloom drops you straight into an 80’s movie—right at the scene where the kids are cutting class to hit the roller rink or sneaking out to jump the fence at the local pool. The track features a dynamic array of crisp, nimble drumming, glamorous keyboards, and a theatrical electric guitar. Despite the fun-infused melody, Kid Bloom drops some hints that the song may be darker than it first appears. “It’s hard to explain / out on a bender / losing a day,” he sings over the electrifying music and if you’re not careful, you might shimmy right past the more ominous implications in the lyrics. Kloser keeps his energy sky-high for the entire track with captivating, throaty vocals that never waver in their confidence and the instruments follow his lead, staying upbeat and feel-good the entire way through. "LEMONHEAD" is the perfect way to end the summer with a bang and you can also find the full 6-track EP out now as well.

Molly Burch's smoky new single “Your Party” is a timeless, romantic ballad dedicated to losing love and finding yourself. Slow and sensual, the track sways to a catchy pendulum beat that emulates late-night loneliness under glowing neon lights. Close your eyes and you might imagine yourself in a hazy, smoke-filled 60s dinner club. Burch’s gorgeously husky vocal croons over a strong steel guitar and soft drums; soaked in reverb, the Billie Holiday-inspired arrangement feels intimate and evocative. There’s a gorgeous and emotional undertone of longing in the song, present throughout the lyrics and amplified in the track’s signature twanging guitar tone, that ensures “Your Party” will be one of the saddest songs you can’t stop listening to this summer—and you’ll love every minute of it.