Every week, we bring you #SOUNDCHECK — your destination for the best new music that hit the web over the course of the week. Because you should always be prepared when someone passes you that AUX cord. This week's roundup features 10 of our favorite emerging and established artists. Turn up, tune in, and tune out.
Indie musician Shamir Bailey has, criminally, long flown under the radar, crafting heartbreaking pop tunes that always seemed to push whatever genre he tried forward. This includes his latest single, a country-tinged track which feels like it belongs in the most riotous section of a Thelma & Louise-type movie. It might as well be the stark opposite of Sufjan Stevens' and Fleet Foxes' new albums, which join Bailey on this week's #Soundcheck. All tracks, however, deserve to be on your radar.
"The Ascension" - Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens' new album is a frenzy of electronic ciphers that courses with urgency. "The Ascension" is its tender, existentialist core.
"Sunblind" - Fleet Foxes
Reacquaint yourself with the crisp, cooler days of fall with this invigorating cut from the Fleet Foxes' latest album.
"SAME HANDS" - BIA
Rapper BIA turns an otherwise straightforward track into something memorable with her melodic flow and commanding delivery.
"Jackie Onassis" - ELIO
Glittery pop with a cinematic sheen is ELIO's irresistible MO.
"Other Side" - Shamir
Shamir's new retro-gazing track can only be described as outlaw glam.
"Feelings Are Real" - Ziemba
Like Weyes Blood, Ziemba colors her baroque pop with an opulence that's simultaneously timeless and otherworldly.
"National Song" - Nana Adjoa
Over shifting, quicksand-like synths, Nana Adjoa delivers a searing message.
"Night Call" - LIA LIA
Berlin's LIA LIA makes dark pop for "slaying demons." We agree.
"Little Nokia" - Bree Runway
Bree Runway expands her already-impressive repertoire once more with this jagged, punk number that feels zapped from the '90s.
"Still Here (Jacques Greene Remix)" - Kllo
Remix god Jacques Greene turns Melbourne duo Kllo's shuffling "Still Here" into an echoey, hazed-out reverie.