Every week, we bring you SOUNDCHECK — your destination for the best new music that just hit the web. Because you should always be prepared when someone passes you that AUX cord. This week's roundup features 12 of our favorite emerging and established artists.
“The Wheel” by Lizzy McAlpine & The Hunger Games
To be part of the Hunger Games soundtrack is a sacred honor. Lizzy McAlpine is keeping its excellent legacy alive, while also proving stomp-clap music can be good when done right.
“Take Me Home (4 Christmas)” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Christmas Wrapping” is officially a mother! Congrats to The Waitresses. It’s that time of year once again, when girlfriends everywhere drop subtle hints that all they want for Christmas is to meet the parents. Olivia Rodrigo is the perfect person to shed some awareness on this criminally underdiscussed relationship dynamic, though she is laying it on pretty thick for a girl who claims to have big “Expectations.”
“Hey Boyyy” by Slayyyter
The term “indie sleaze” gets thrown around a lot (often incorrectly), but there is a guitar lick on here that was ripped straight from the playbooks of early Haim and Bleachers. “Hey Boyyy” is a much softer offering than most of Slayyyter’s work this year, but don’t worry — she still brings the grit in the final 35 seconds.
“Breaks Open” by Dove Cameron
From one coloratura to another: how on Earth do you get your voice this dark, girl? Thank goodness Dove Cameron found her happy ending, because it sounds like she’s been through it.
“Eternal” by Shygirl
What a year it’s been for trip-hop. This song makes me nostalgic for an English upbringing that I never had, a true testament to its coming-of-age atmosphere.
“Big Shot” by Chxrry feat. Rema
It’s valid to be skeptical of deluxe albums, but trust when we say the sexiness and personality of U, Me & My Ego is alive and well on this track and its deluxe counterparts.
“White Collar” by Daine
No one hates capitalistic consumerism and the cult of celebrity more than Daine. “You wanna be Paris, you wanna be Lola / But here you're pretending that you're friends with the owner” is pretty much the meanest thing you can say to these people, even if Daine delivers the blow in a rather matter-of-fact manner. Great refrain, great bridge, great song.
“God I Wonder” by Bassvictim
Normally we’d be weary of the vaguely afro-beats thing going on here, but this time it randomly works? The shouting is really doing a lot of the heavy lifting, so that helps.
“How To Make Your Love (Stay)” by Untitled (Halo)
If you like your wistful melodies with a side of earshattering screaming, this is for you.
“DDR” by Yaeji
Freaky and unsettling, this song is bursting with tension begging for a release that never fully comes.
“Heat” by Blu DeTiger
Completely fire, no pun intended. The chorus is irresistible, and the breakdown at the bridge is, in DeTiger’s words, a language on its own.
“Curse” by Hannah Jadagu
They’re calling this the unofficial situationship anthem.
