On “Reaper,” a song off their recently released album Mirage on the Meadow, Pine Barons combine psychedelic instrumentals and vivid lyrical imagery to deliver a haunting track that truly rocks; perfect listening for this, the spookiest of seasons. The tone is firmly established within the first few seconds, as a series of long atmospheric tones from the synth drape themselves over the drum and guitar lines. Before the lyrics come in you have already been set on a meandering walk through the dark forest in your mind. 

Songwriter and vocalist Keith Abrams cleverly illustrates the concept of scattered thoughts in the pre-chorus where, utilizing different production effects, he plays two intertwining inner monologues: one perpetually questioning, and one confident in its defeatist statements but not offering any answers. From this back and forth bursts the hook, which delivers everything you could ask for in a great rock chorus. It’s melodic, it’s powerful and it stays with you long after the song has ended. For much of “Reaper” there is an expertly curated sense of movement, like some physical manifestation of inner anxieties is stalking you at a distance. The closing guitar solo and coda, which layer in melodic callbacks from earlier sections, bring about a feeling of envelopment, like that fog of fear has finally caught up and engulfed you. Photo by Chris Sikich.

“Palm Trees,” the newest single from indie-folk rocker Photo Ops, is the musical equivalent of a road trip down the Southern California coast. It’s a fitting sound for Terry Price, the singer and multi-instrumentalist behind Photo Ops; “Palm Trees” was written after he and his wife moved from Nashville to Los Angeles. A sun-soaked rumination on wealth and loneliness, it’s the second single from Photo Ops since the release of his 2016 LP, Vacation, and it’s undeniably his most feel-good track. There’s an infectious sense of optimism at the core of the arrangement—the upbeat percussion, shimmery guitar, and reverberating piano compliment the smooth, light vocal, making it impossible not to at least sway along to the beat. The lyrics are just as bright: “Palm trees taste the sunlight down the street / Sailboats on the horizon, they don’t mean a thing.” Photo Ops sings about witnessing the unnecessary excesses of materialism while thinking about what really matters in life: the people in your life. “Palm Trees” is a catchy, atmospheric single filled with beautiful melodies, and it’s here just in time for summer.

“Noise” is the first single from Brooklyn-based Zsela’s as-of-yet unnamed debut EP, making the attention she has received from outlets like The New York Times and Vogue all the more impressive. Somewhere between Florence Welch, Moses Sumney and Kate Tempest, but still floating on a plane of her own, Zsela’s opening statement is a promising debut from a singular talent. Her captivating delivery keeps ears glued to her devastating lyrics, like passersby slowing down by a roadside accident, singing, “They’re packing up the pieces / Of a broken love affair / And making it look easy.” Producer Daniel Aged, whose live performance and session recording credits include John Legend, Beck and Blood Orange, is a master of subtlety, leaving Zsela room to explore the track’s space vocally. “Noise” opens with an arrangement of soulful piano chords more akin to the ambience of a poetry reading, emphasizing Zsela’s rhythmic delivery, before showing off a full orchestration of flourishing instrumentation as the song reaches its crescendo.

Vancouver based production duo Potatohead People continue to combine cosmic themes with spacey synth pads over a thumping, dance-inducing beat in their latest single “Iced Tea.” The duo teamed up with fellow Vancouver artists Radina Vee and giorgi to create a refreshing song that touches on heartbreak, past relationships, and the things that remind us of old flames. The track is full of funky and winding bass lines that brilliantly stand out against its persistent percussion and catchy vocal lines. Radina Vee and giorgi's smooth and sensual vocals entrance listeners as they describe being reminded of a past relationship and how they “can’t even drink iced tea” without thinking of their old love.

Duncan Fellows are at their best when they wander through unexpected territory—structurally with unexpected twists and turns through different movements, musically with surprising chord changes, and lyrically, in “Deathwish Fish,” with the simply unknowable. The song, the opening track from the band’s upcoming Eyelids Shut EP, follows the narrator at the side of a close friend succumbing to a terminal illness, but much like The Antlers’ concept album Hospice, it is not a melancholic song. The psychedelic influences, interleaving guitar parts and quiet-loud-quiet-louder dynamics are reminiscent of the softer side of Cage the Elephant—by no means soft, but with a tenderness peeking through the distortion. In the sterile dungeon that is the fluorescent-lit hospital room, they “put on a Beatles tune and let the music fill the room,” and the song itself plays the same role, a comforting distraction in the face of worst-comes-to-worst. “Fishes keep swimming,” they sing in harmony—despite the seemingly insurmountable grief and the utter uncertainty of what lies ahead, like fish swimming ceaselessly lest they turn belly up, they have to keep moving forward.

The word “adore” is one of the English language’s most affectionate and intense verbs to describe the giving of true, unconditional love to someone else. Quite literally, adoration is the deification of another human. In “Better Part,” Meernaa’s frontwoman Carly Bond sings over and over again “the way I adore you / the way I adore you” about her bandmate and new hubby Rob Shelton. Like all great love songs, her deeply intimate sentimentality extends to you, the listener, warming you from inside out. A sparse, Pet Shop Boys-esque minute long intro gives way to Bonds soluble vocals and the lithe track snakes along from there, whispering for snugs and love absent of doubt from her better half. The synth and drum production is deft and quietly confident, the songwriting is lovely and heart-baring. Released last month, “Better Part” is accompanied by a kaleidoscopic animated visual and will appear on the band’s debut LP, Heart Hunger, out 6/14 on Native Cat Recordings.

Indie singer-songwriter Sasha Spielberg, better known by her moniker Buzzy Lee, combines lush bedroom-pop and 80’s inspired synth tones with her enchanting, smooth vocals in her latest single “Sundown Queen.” The track is the first single from her new EP Close Encounters of Their Own Kind—produced by Justin Raisen and heavily influenced by keyboardist Tommy Mandel‘s 1979 record  Mello Magic. “Sundown Queen" sounds like a vintage pop ballad with an isolated, dark vibe, and drips with subtle nostalgic summer imagery. The singer’s high-pitched vocal delivery on the pinched words descend smoothly as she sings poignant lyrics like, "I can play the part that you wrote for me / In the 70s, we'd be in love."