As she proved with her 2015 single “Hypnotic,” 25-year-old Zella Day has some experience with delivering engaging and ‘hypnotic’ pop with a groove. Five years later, Zella is still producing hypnotic pop, but she is slowing things down a bit with her new single “People Are Strangers.” 

Like many of us, Zella seems to have loads of extra time on her hands to get introspective, and the dream-like state of “People Are Strangers” reflects on her deepest thoughts; you can almost hear her moving from one thought to another. In a time where the world is relying on human connection more and more, Zella ponders human interaction over a melody which sounds reminiscent of the dreamy sun-kissed pop produced in 1970’s California. Zella gets confessional as she sings about wanting to push people away, and insecurity over wanting to maintain relationships while being acutely aware of the negative aspects of getting to know someone and forming a new bond. Zella candidly admits of her habits, “People are strangers / I’m getting stranger / The moment they wanna get closer I push them further.”

Zella seems to open up more as the song progresses on its dreamy legs, almost writing off the idea of meeting anyone new altogether, while she sings “People are danger / It’s human nature.” It sounds like she would rather be safer than sorry because she holds an awareness that many don’t: Humans are more alike than we realize.

Zella Day plans to release an EP sometime in 2020. Look out for Where Does The Devil Hide.

Brooklyn-based Olivia Reid’s music washes over you like a warm bath. Minimalist tracks are decorated with just the right amount of noise to create a soundscape that’s inviting, even calming. Delicately structured harmonies and carefully placed instrumentals curve around whimsical lyrics—"I’m just a tourist in my own home, surrounded by what should feel familiar." The 21-year-old artist and current NYU student has an EP coming in the summer of 2020. Throw this song on a playlist with R.E.L. and close your eyes.

After soundtracking our love lives with her 2019 album forevher, British musician Shura (aka Alexandra Lilah Denton) flies us straight back to dreamland with her newest single “elevator girl,” featuring talented Philly-based rapper Ivy Sole. Flickering eye contact, long silences, shaking hands, maybe even the occasional stuttering of a sentence are all things that might happen on a first date. And while nervousness might be the first thing on someone’s mind, the lyrics also point out the high of hanging out with someone for the first time–the rush of adrenaline it can fill you with. The sweet, sly nature of "elevator girl" fuses well with its dreamy production and feels owned wholly by the charming lyrics. Shura sings playfully, “Twenty-two floors up / I’m high, it’s like a drug / She’s my elevator girl” and pairs it with seductive lines from Sole that flow, “Twenty-second floor, second room on the left / Now I’m past your door, you lay in wait of caress.” Mixing equal parts nerve and seduction, “elevator girl” is a quintessential first date track.

Slowing down from the gorgeous dance tracks on Empress Of's newest album I Am Your Empress Of, Lorely Rodriguez brings us back to center with her track “Hold Me Like Water.” Lyrically, it’s stunning. Rodriguez is a poetic force of nature, showing out and turning words into visions with “We’re two figures rearranging / Nondescript inside a painting,” perfectly setting up her question: “How can I know, know you better?” Her desire to understand this person is actively changing her, making her question things about herself. There’s something in the act of being vulnerable with this person that makes her want to be held “like water.” The production feels calm and emotionally driven, letting Rodriguez’s voice take center stage even when the synths and drums build to a moving crescendo. “Hold Me Like Water” is confessional and exposing, leaving both Rodriguez and her listeners in a state of contemplation.

"Josef," the final track on Charlotte Dos Santos’s latest project, is an exercise in the power of restraint. This mesmerizing, sparsely arranged track leans heavily on Dos Santos’s unique vocal colors and skill. "Josef" tells the story of a man departing bravely (or perhaps foolishly?) on a journey to realize his greatest dreams although this means leaving behind his family and all he knows. Dos Santos is asking what courage truly is—staying and being reliable for others (“He was the man that always fed the hands of his village”) or being true to himself (“Until then he must, for him, fulfill his calling.") Nearly the whole song exists within the careful, measured choice to leave—just lead vocals over an ostinato bass that reminds you of an ancient peasant song. Every once in a while a few background vocals join, like a chorus of sirens whispering in Josef’s ear. Eventually, a powerful beat enters for the last few seconds of the track, evoking Josef’s own heart pounding in his chest as he walks away. The sirens have won this one.

"Do you wonder about me?" asks Diet Cig on "Thriving," a break-up reflection that's as self-aware as it is optimistic. Alex Luciano's bubbly vocals float over the sunny chord progression and Noah Bowman's pattering drums drive the track, deftly toeing the line between pop-punk and indie-pop as they do so well. "I'm thriving, thanks for asking," Luciano addresses her ex in a performative manner, as if the more she repeats it, the more she'll believe it. We've all been guilty of trying to show an ex how much better we are without them, a feeling echoed as Luciano sheepishly admits, "I hope my hair looks cute / When I run into you." On the track, the duo states, "We wanted the song to bounce back and forth between a lavish personal anthem and the anguish of feeling forever beholden to others' opinions.” Though their upcoming tour has been postponed until fall, Do You Wonder About Me? is still set to release on May 1 via Frenchkiss.

In "What’s the Point" Empress Of has crafted a song that perfectly embodies the adrenaline rush of experiencing a conflicting romance. By opening with the contrast of a driving beat in its relatively high register with a languid mid-range synth and sweet vocals, you are immediately thrown into a state of confusion. The boundaries are muddied. This matches the energy of the lyrics perfectly: “I don’t know where the time has gone / I love you, I know it’s wrong.” After a quick break like a gasp, the bridge brings home the feeling of confusion. The arc of the song then swells gorgeously, breaking off suddenly and leaving you breathless.

Hailing from Mississippi and currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, Knowlton Bourne’s punk twang modulates both sonically and geographically between The Strokes and Rascal Flatts. "The Chunk" a song off his recently released third album, Songs from the Chunk, is a soulfully gritty anthem meditating on anxiety through catchy, grainy vocals and a lush guitar arrangement. Grasping for a feeling beyond apathy, Bourne sings out, “You said I should be fine / But I’m not all right," a sentiment which evolves throughout the song. At once enraged and unpretentiously cool, "The Chunk" reveals itself to be more than an upbeat indie darling, but instead a moment for pure chaotic good amidst the banality of life.

To build mysterious, silent anticipation as a band for 9 years and then suddenly release a song that means “unwelcome person” in Latin is the exact kind of ironic move Bright Eyes fans have come to expect from Conor Oberst and company. Despite Bright Eyes' long sabbatical as a group, Oberst was quite active in the 2010s, releasing four solo albums as well as a project with Desaparecidos, and all culminating in last year’s brilliant collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers as Better Oblivion Community Center. The longer the silence, the more expectations you build from your most loyal audience; and when you’re Bright Eyes, that audience is looking for lyrics that not only activate their tear ducts but also exercise their literary and cultural knowledge. In this way, the somber march of “Persona Non Grata” arguably marks a victorious return to lyrical form, as Oberst reflects his own inner world in every handpicked clothing item, Biblical image and historical reference. His aftershave is “blue” as he puts on “combat boots” for a date; he tells us that the kilt he puts on is to hide the weight he feels, and the moment we have finally stopped thinking about how weird that line is, a mournful bagpipe solo appears like a wry musical smile. One of Oberst’s strengths as a songwriter is that he is always planting a seed for something later on. And now that we know there’s something in the soil, we can't help but imagine the beauty of what might flower in the coming months.

More (!) tropical (!!) drums (!!!) on “Void.” When I reviewed “Give Me Another Chance,” the lead single off I’m Your Empress Of, I was struck by the levity they lend to the song. They call upon one of my all-time favorite songs, Solange’s “Losing You.” Both artists are represented by Terrible Records. The Brooklyn-based label elevates genre-fluid, avant-garde electropop from some of the best artists making music today (IMHO), including Moses Sumney, Miya Folick and of course, Empress Of. I’m Your Empress Of is a strong album. It feels like an extended narrative out of a chapter of LA-based artist Lorely Rodriguez’s life, and I’m grateful to live inside her brain for 33 minutes. Back to “Void,” AKA where we’ve all been living lately. Dancing in the space between self-despair and self-empowerment, where we’re particularly vulnerable to our insecurities. Empress Of jumps into that space headfirst. As “Thinking about you” repeats in the post-chorus, it sounds like it’s timed to the tick of a clock: a reminder of how slowly time moves when you’re stuck in your own head. “You never listen when I said, ‘It hurts’ / I talk big, but don’t know my worth.” It stings so good.

LA-based artist Heather Rivas's stand out track “'Bout Us" from her latest EP is a basket full of honest breakup sentiments wrapped in an indie-pop groove. The song starts off with a a gusty guitar strum and a simple melody line, “No, I don’t think about us. No, I can’t think about us.” Rivas empathetically takes us through the emotional turbulence of a relationship gone south—all the while juxtaposed with light, up-beat musical lines and perfect background harmonies reminiscent of dream-pop duo The xx. That combination of deep emotion and lighthearted jams makes Rivas's music ideal for the most vibrantly crowded house party, or just a solo car-cry. Few artists can strike that balance, but Heather Rivas has proven that she's an anomaly, and an artist to keep your eye on.