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.
Perky and bright with shades of ominous tricks, “On A Ride” is another resounding win for K-pop darlings Red Velvet. (YouTube)
Stormzy’s suave, idiosyncratic flow is pushed to the next level on his third record’s title track, which includes vocal stylings from Amaarae, Ms Banks, and Black Sherif. (YouTube)
Argentine breakout star Nicki Nicole is playing with your expectations of reggaeton, which gets sped up and cleverly decelerated on “Frío.” (YouTube)
Ethel Cain watched Bones & All and released this lovely, haunting ode to the film’s eaters: “this one's for lee and maren <3.” (Soundcloud)
Chlöe’s masterful vocals shine over the clean R&B beat on her latest. (Soundcloud)
Rozi Plain’s luscious “Help” is stuffed full with delightful sonic flourishes: saxophone that sounds like strings, harp-like plucking, and soft grinds of electronics. (YouTube)
“Look at the hands that fed me today/ Bless the hands that wiped the tears from my face,” reveres serpentwithfeet on the moving “The Hands.” (YouTube)
Rappers MIKE and Wiki’s writerly flows gleam over The Alchemist’s sumptuous production on “One Way,” a song as part of a new campaign from Tommy Hilfiger and Patta. (YouTube)
Mimi Bay — a singer-songwriter whose buttery pop vocals have earned her a solid following on YouTube — shares a fluttery love song with a quirky machinist hook that hits all your soft spots. (YouTube)
Behold this fuzzed-out wall of classic, cathartic shoegaze from cruush, an endearing young band from Austin, Texas. (YouTube)