August 31, 2018

Hallelujah, it’s a long weekend ahead of us!

I’m going to keep all of this brief, as this week the spotlight is off of me, and instead I handed over the reigns to cmd+f’s very first guest contributor, Agnes! I’m thrilled to deliver a fresh voice and perspective to help spruce up your personal playlists. I can’t thank her enough for taking the helm of this newly instated monthly feature of the newsletter, and expanding cmd+f’s mission of fostering a community that supports emerging musical talent!

If you’re interested in contributing to cmd+f, please see the end of the letter for more information.

Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.

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Hello everyone, it is I, the harbinger of sad jams, graciously allowed back to cmd+f to give you all some more recs! This summer has been a weird one for me, to be honest, and now, at its twilight, I can see that I spent most of it just trying to make it through one day to the next. This is pretty clearly reflected in my listening history, as the last 3 months are full of sugary K-pop and radio friendly bangers. I’m sure we all devoured and clung to the hope and earnestness of the new Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, and of course, Robyn, and who could blame us! This year was shit! And although I adore some sad pop, it’s hard not to feel like we’re being inundated with music trying too hard to speak to the anxiety of the times. What feels radical and refreshing right now is joy. So take my hand, let me guide you through some uplifting deep cuts to get you through these dog days of summer unscathed, or at least jamming.

“Is Now a Good Time to Ruin Your Life?” – Bloodboy | Self-declared “eager OC girl who wanted very badly to GTFO of the electronic music world and be in a #postpunk band,” Bloodboy is a solo project by part time school teacher and all around badass Lexie Papilion. By fusing the sweeping guitars and drama of glam rock and post punk with her distinctly pop sensibilities, Bloodpop feels on the cusp of becoming the next big name in angry girl pop. “Is Now a Good Time” has all the bluster and bravado of a 70s rock record but still feels distinctly of the moment, largely due to Papilion’s powerful vocals. Listen here

“Can’t Be Mine” – Disco Hue | The 80s may have permanently altered the fabric of American culture for the worse (see the success of 45), but no one can deny that those drum loops are perhaps the best thing that’s ever happened to music. Singaporean synth-pop quartet, Disco Hue, seem to be of the same mind, and this first single off of their upcoming record is awash in them. I dare you not to break out into a Rosie Perez style dance solo when this bop comes on. Their full album is due for release June 2019, so we will be FLUSH with summer jams. Listen here

“Forbidden Fruit” – Gabriela Francesca | This sun-drenched bop about wanting what you can’t have comes from Chicago native Gabriela Francesca. Her brand is danceable tongue-in-cheek, most notably her song “Kris Jenner” where she prays to our mighty overlord for success and riches, but “Forbidden Fruit” has the syncopated reggae beat and splash of big band to become your ultimate poolside anthem. Be a slut! Do whatever you want! Listen here

“Retro Future” – Triple H | You want 90s hip-hop infused dance-pop by way of Korea? You want quirky pseudo-polyamorous vibes? You want real life dating gossip? Meet Triple H, the Cube entertainment formed co-ed K-pop trio of Hyuna, Hui, and E’Dawn. It was recently made public that Hyuna and E’Dawn have been a couple for 2 years, which, if you know anything about K-pop, you know is a major scandal but spicy tidbits aside, the group is fun and sexy and flush with bops. If you have a convertible, may I recommend blasting this with the top down? Listen here

“Daytime” – Lunar Vacation | Now to pivot and wind down, we’ve got a bit of dreamy “pool rock” to finish off this list. Lunar Vacation are an Atlanta based band fresh out of high school and already crafting dreamy indie rock jams perfect for that last morning of vacation. Their vocals and chord progressions have dashes of Beach House and Best Coast so I was shocked to find out this band had no ties to the west coast, but what they are deeply connected to is that hazy feeling of a summer afternoon coming to an end. Listen here

Some honorable mentions: “Leaving” – MILKK, “Mercedes Benz” – Harry Teardrop, “u never did that 4 me” – Sage Charmaine, “Notice” – Boy Blue

You can find Agnes on Twitter and Instagram

New Music Friday Selects

• Troye Sivan’s highly anticipated sophomore album Bloom is now out in the world!! First impression: it’s the white boy Channel Orange, including all the critical praise and clout Listen here
• NCT Dream, my absolute favorite group making waves in the K-pop circuit have returned for a jovial, late-summer bop, “We Go Up.” They’ve dropped the music video ahead of their third “mini album” (K-pop code for EP) Go Up, out MONDAY!! Watch here
• Lord! MNEK’s debut album drops next Friday and I am NOT READY. He’s dropped “Correct” as our final taste before Language is out, and honey, I am BALD. Listen here
• Dreampop outfit Wild Nothing’s fourth studio album Indigo is out! Listen here
• As the Number 1 Sucker for Boy Bands, I can’t not alert you about Why Don’t We’s new, cleverly titles 8-track album 8 Letters -- so good! Listen here
• cmd+f alum No Rome has dropped his first EP, RIP Indo Hisashi, which includes the track “Narcissist” featuring The 1975 Listen here
• Nothing But Thieves have a fiery new single, “Forever & Ever More” Listen here
• UK glam rock quartet The Struts dropped their rambunctious new single “Body Talks” featuring Kesha Listen here
• Doja Cat’s viral “MOOO!” is finally on Spotify Listen here
• Everybody’s fav neo R&B singer Gallant has graced us with a smooth new jam, “Haha No One Can Hear You!” Listen here

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All of the tracks Agnes has shared in this week’s letter, and previous cmd+f letters, are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.

Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.

If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my August 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!

See you next week!

P.S. If you’re interested in contributing to cmd+f like Agnes did this week, please be sure you’re subscribed to the cmd+f newsletter and reply to the email in your inbox!

August 17, 2018

It’s been another productive week here in sunny Southern California. Last weekend I moseyed about downtown for the annual KCON LA event and had a total blast. I was so psyched to snatch up some good deals on skincare (which, lemme tell you, surpassed my expectations! I came home with bags of goodies), but the panels were incredible. I learnt so much about the songwriting process for the Korean and Japanese music markets, sat in on a panel with Korean hip-hop and R&B producers from Jay Park’s label H1gher Music, picked the brains of American music journalists covering K-pop music, and got to speak with academic scholars who study Hallyu. Perhaps the most interesting panel they hosted this weekend was Black American music’s influence on Korean hip-hop and pop music. Phew!

By the end of the weekend I was a little overwhelmed and sad for it to be over, but I’m glad I went. 12/10 recommend hitting up KCON even if you only plan to pop in to buy boxes of sheet masks. It’s a must stop for pop culture nerds.

Now, let’s just talk music! I’ve got a handful of songs to share this week, all by artists I’ve never featured before. I have a feeling you’ll like at least one of them!

Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.

You can contact me by replying directly to the newsletter that is mailed to your inbox every Friday, via my Twitter account, or using the contact page on the cmd+f website.

P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!

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“He’s Good” - Kate Stewart | Once upon a time there was a rising powerhouse vocalist featured on a ton of pop tracks by UK producers name KStewart. KStewart’s label tightened their grip on her creative freedom, so one day she said “bye, bitch,” and rebranded her music identity as Kate Stewart. She went on to release an early 00s-esque R&B bop about confronting her ex’s new partner about her being better than her ex. She named it “He’s Good,” and it was featured on a cmd+f letter. The song was noted for being best listened to via any method of hearing, but was enjoyed being blasted through speakers in a car in the morning/mid-day. Listen here

“Language” - Moodoïd feat. Wednesday Campanella | Moodoïd is one of the most fascinating finds to fall into my lap this month. I have to thank my pal Agnes for sharing Wednesday Campanella with me many moon cycles ago. I spinned some of their records ad nauseum for a while, thus triggering the Spotify algorithm to log “she really likes this artist.” All of that has lead straight up to his magical union of frenetic Franco-Japanese psychedelic pop. Moodoïd was founded by former Melody’s Echo Chamber guitarist Pablo Padovani, and Wednesday Campanella are a Japanese experimental pop group fronted by vocalist KOM_I. “Language” sounds like an early 80s Italo disco fever dream. Listen here

“Any Other Way” - Tomberlin | Sarah Beth Tomberlin: if you’re reading this, thank you. There is an art to writing a song with only your acoustic guitar and your voice–and making it interesting. The production (done by Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy!!) on “Any Other Way” is divine. Driven by a single, repetitive chord plucked on an acoustic guitar and melody, the song sporadically fractures into reverberations under feathery vocal harmonies and muted piano chords. “Any Other Way” is stunning. Listen here

“Showgirl” - Sorry | Rock may be dead on Top 40 radio, but for those who know what the hell is going on in the scene, we’ve seen a massive influx of gut-churning, sweat-drenched in seven-feet high ceiling club bands fronted by women. From Wolf Alice to Sunflower Bean, Sorry are flourishing across the pond and tearing it up on stage. Their latest single “Showgirl” is, as quoted by the group, a song about “awkwardness, lusting from afar, desire and disgust,” but the real reason why it’s on here is because the guitars are cool as fuck. Listen here

“These Are Not Your Memories” - TVAM | I had a real “Holy balls” moment the first time I listened to TVAM. While the gag is I saw Joe Oxley (the self-produced mastermind behind TVAM) say he’s sick of our culture being focused on nostalgia (I may be embellishing his thoughts a bit here -- he actually said “The song is about taking society aside and having a quiet word about its shared identity crisis.”), TVAM’s music and visuals are drowning in it. I was immediately spiked with similarities to Suicide, CAN, Ride, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, and bits of Kraftwerk on acid. If you like this joint, listen to the rest of his music; it’s soaked in delicious layers of sound. Listen here

New Music Friday Selects

• Y’all: there’s, like, too much new music this week. BRACE YOURSELVES!

• Rina Sawayama’s new single “Cherry” is a BOP Listen here

• Cherryade, a bratpop-y outfit from London I’ve been following for a couple years now have dropped their debut EP, Fractured Fairytales - CONGRATS!!!! Listen here

• UK emcee Stefflon Don’s album SECURE is packed with pure heeeeeat and packed with top tier features. Must listen. Listen here

• Wasn’t so sure about the new The 1975 single “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” but I’ve logged at least 32 listens by the time this is officially published and I don’t think I’m stopping anytime soon. Listen here

• Portland rapper Aminé dropped his new mixtape ONEPOINTFIVE and honestly the greatest part of it is Instagram sensation Rickey Thompson’s inspiring opening monologue for “STFU2” Listen here

• Cat Power invited Lana Del Taco to lend some vocals for her new single “Woman” Listen here

• Pop banger songwriter of the decade MNEK has officially announced his debut album Language is FINALLY dropping September 7th! AAAH! Check out his latest single “Crazy World” Listen here

• cmd+f alum Sam Fender has a new single out called “Dead Boys” Listen here

• Slaves are back with yet another amazing album, Acts of Fear and Love Listen here

• Ariana Grande’s highly anticipated new album Sweetener is here and, well, it’s here Listen here

• Baauer collaborated with Instagram computer simulation Miquela??? It basically sounds like a Terror Jr. joint. Listen here

• Liam Payne of 1D acclaim has announced he’s not going to release a debut album but a debut EP of four songs next Friday, August 24, aptly titled First Time. Can’t wait, tbh.

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A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I have shared in this week’s letter are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.

Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.

If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my August 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!

See you next week!

P.S. Are you interested in contributing to cmd+f? Read more details below!

Last December I launched the cmd+vent calendar: an ambitious project that consisted of releasing a daily newsletter for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I asked a handful friends to reflect on how music impacted their lives throughout 2017. It was much more exciting to share these reflections than compiling yet another end of the year “Best of…” list.

I’ve been thinking of ways to expand cmd+f’s potential over the last 6 months. To foster a more communal atmosphere all year round in this (mostly) weekly newsletter, I’m now inviting one reader per month to share their music discoveries by emerging artists, or artists likely flying under our radars.

To the readers currently subscribed to this letter via email, I’d like to encourage you to reply to this letter (really, just hit “reply” at the top of your box and I promise I’ll get your message), give me a hello, and let me know if you’d be interested in taking over cmd+f one week. You’ll get to write an opening monologue, introduce yourself, and gush about five songs really hitting at your heartstrings. If you’re unsure how this is going to go down, you can anticipate the first guest feature letter is coming out later this month!

For now this invitation is only open to email subscribers — so if you have a friend with a vibrant musical palette that isn’t currently subscribed, please have them head over to this link right here!

June 1, 2018

My oh my -- we’ve officially eclipsed the mid-way mark of the year.

In the northern hemisphere, this is that sweet spot in the year when all the summer jams start cropping up at breakneck speed. This week I’ve mixed things up a bit, pumpin’ the brakes on the bubble gum pop bangers and instead dishing up a variety of vibrant tunes.

As always, I hope these songs inspire you to check out more music by these particular artists, or lead to introducing you to another artist you’ve never heard before!

Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.

You can contact me by replying directly to the newsletter that is mailed to your inbox every Friday, via my Twitter account, or using the contact page on the cmd+f website.

P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!

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“Cold Fire” - PREP feat. DEAN | “Cold Fire” is in fact actually pure heat. London outfit PREP is comprised of a classical music composer, a house producer, and masterminds behind some of the UKs dopest pop R&B acts (RAY BLK, AlunaGeorge). Featuring DEAN, one of the top (okay, the KING) pop songwriters in Korea (who’s also worked with Anderson.Paak, The Internet’s Syd, and Mila J), “Cold Fire” is a groovy, retro-future dance bop dusted in handclaps and punchy chords hinged over a neo-disco instrumental. If this doesn’t inspire you to hit the dance floor to pull out the hokey finger guns to help liven up your Electric Slide… then you really need to loosen up. Listen here

“Blink” - Bad Gyal (prod. DJ Florentino) | Hailing from Catalonia, Bad Gyal is OUT HERE. Working with some top notch producers (Jam City, El Guincho, Dubbel Dutch, et. al.), Bad Gyal is making waves in the Spanish urban scene. Raised on a musical diet of dancehall and reggaeton, Bad Gyal weaves lyrics between Spanish, Catalan, and English. Listen here

“Street Fighter Mas” - Kamasi Washington | If you’re lookin’ for something wavy, look no further. As one of the leading and most progressive soul/jazz-adjacent artists of the moment, Kamasi Washington is a far more familiar name than you may realize. Having performed with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lauryn Hill, the multi-instrumentalist really hit his stride after the release of his 2015 debut solo album The Epic, and laying the groundwork with his saxophone on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Washington has an eagerly anticipated (amongst the circle who knows about his work, obv) sophomore album Heaven and Earth coming out at the end of this month. “Street Fighter Mas” is Washington’s theme song he’s imagined over the years to play prior to his personal entrance into a round of the video game Street Fighter. Listen here

“Us Vs Them” - Spring King | Heeeeeeeeell yeaaaaaaaah. Listen here

“a.t.w. (against the wall)” - Ben Khan | I’ve been waiting years for Ben Khan to release a new music, and boy has he DELIVERT. “a.t.w.” is the third single released from his hotly anticipated debut album (I’m still searching for a release date, but it’s been thrown around as ‘this summer,’ meaning in the coming months) after disappearing sometime around 2015. WELCOME BACK, BEN! Listen here

New Music Friday Selects

• For the first time in my life I cannot be assed to give a single fuck about a new Kanye West album. I’m sad about it. For those who want to expend the energy, a Ye listening party in Jackson Hole, Wyoming went down yesterday with a live stream. Big shrug.

• Continuing with the “too big to ignore” news for this week: K-pop group BTS became the first South Korean music act to have a number 1 album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week -- with over 100,000 pure sales of the album alone. While the album was still heavily streamed, these sales numbers show they’re a forced to be reckoned with. Sorry to nerd out with top 40 chart stats, but in the age of streaming, declining album sales, and labels buying out ridiculous radio contracts as if the radio were indeed an advert space, it’s impressive when there’s a clear, new shift made by some dedicated fans. Like I said above: this is “too big to ignore.” Where does K-pop in the Western world go from here? For a start: Listen here

• K-pop veterans SHINee honored their 10th anniversary as a group this week with the release of a house-rattled The Story of Light EP, all the while remembering their late member Kim Jonghyun who died by suicide last year. The lead single “Good Evening” is a glossy club bop paired with a highly aesthetically pleasing music video Watch here and Listen here

• Happy Pride Month! MNEK has blessed this month with a vibrant collab with Hailee Steinfeld aptly titled “Colour” Listen here

• The Internet have announced their new album Hive Mind drops July 20, and have shared a new single “Come Over” Listen here

• Welcome to a new era of The 1975. While the music is still wildly saccharine and soaked in cliche lyrics about growing up and finding yourself in your late 20s… “Give Yourself a Try” is rather enjoyable Listen here

• Allie X continues to highlight WHY she is one of the best pop acts and songwriters out right now with her ethereal new single “Focus” Listen here

• Drake released a boring track (“I’m Upset”) and got bodied by Pusha T this week. Things aren’t looking too good for Aubrey.

• Cardi B released the video for our future song of the summer, “I Like It” feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin. Her outfits are cute as hell! Watch here

• Charli XCX has a new song, “5 In the Morning” Listen here

• cmd+f alum Rex Orange County linked up with Randy Newman to record a new cover of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” Listen here

• Holy Balls: Gorillaz not only dropped a new single and music video featuring Jack Black and a swarm of Powerpuff Girls references for it, but also have an entire album dropping at the end of this month. PHEW! Watch here

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A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I have shared in this week’s letter are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.

Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.

NEW MONTH, NEW PLAYLIST! If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my June 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!

See you next week!

March 2, 2018

This week I started to learn Italian.

No, really. I signed up for a Duolingo account and told my boss I was going to learn Italian for the sake of a project we’re going to be doing later in the year, but I’m mostly motivated by a surprise trip to Tuscany later this year. With that, I’ve asked friends to recommend some Italian films and songs, and about 95% of them got cheeky and recommended Call Me By Your Name. Very relieved to know my friends are caught up on the culture.

Nevertheless, the Call Me By Your Name vibes are looming over about half my picks this week, impressing a major early 80s, lo-fi Italo Disco-y kinda sound on half these jams.

Time for new tunes! Hopefully these five songs inspire you to check out more music by these artists, or lead to introducing you to another artist you’ve never heard before!

Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.

You can contact me by replying directly to the newsletter that is mailed to your inbox every Friday, via my Twitter account, or using the contact page on the cmd+f website.

P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!

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“Opposing Truths” - Sean Nicholas Savage | Opening this week’s picks with a brilliant wildcard I stumbled across in a random playlist. “Opposing Truths” is truly a feeling above all else; it’s a daydream, an afternoon four daiquiris deep in a lounge chair basking in the salty-summer air. Listen here

“People to Go” - Strange Names feat. Jorge Sorcarras | You may recall Strange Names from the December 8, 2017 letter for their single “Into Me.” Now they’ve got a new album out called Data that came out last Friday, and it’s lined wall to wall with prime head bopping material. “People to Go” is a standout track for me considering the unexpected twists, from opening with distorted, bubbling audio, to the kooky lyrics, and the vibrant composition. It’s unusual, but feels a tinge nostalgic (much like “Into Me” sounded like a Jane Austen film adaptation directed by John Hughes). Listen here

“Morning Again” - Elisa Coia | Sometimes life needs you to follow the call of the disco ball. “Morning Again” is an eerily poignant soft, early 80s Italo disco inspired tune that’s so unbelievably relevant to the current hair-raising political climate happening right now in America. Elisa delivers some heavy-hitting lyrics: “The judges, the jury, the shotgun, the sway / The boys in the blue know but they'll never say / Seems like the kid was running for his grave / What was his name?” over a steady kick drum and sultry piano keys. At times, the way she delivers the lines in the song has her sounding borderline exhausted, even a bit numb. Touche. “Morning Again” is a stunning track. Listen here // Watch here (precaution: allusions to gun violence)

“Left to Right” - Marteen | Y’all, I can’t believe we got a Bryson Tiller clone out here who’s actually a baby-faced 16 year old from the Bay Area. Marteen is no Bieber tho– nah, his VOCALS got me positively shook. He’s smooth as hell, confident, and honestly I can’t believe those notes are coming out of a 16 year old??? He’s a self-taught R&B-style vocalist, which is also insane. Marteen’s only got his first EP, NOTHANKYOU., out, but he’s already blowing past the typical corny teen-pop phase and throwing down seriously strong R&B pop jams. With a voice that sounds at least ten years older than the body it’s coming out of, son is on track to  releasing big, big, biiiiig things. While the entire EP slaps, I’ve plucked “Left to Right,” a groovy little dance number, to introduce you to Marteen. Listen here

“Baby Don’t Stop” - NCT U | I hands down could not resist including this song, as it’s completely consumed my entire f*cking week. Please ignore the fact it’s got nearly 5 million streams, as I can assure about 3.75 million are from me. “Baby Don’t Stop” is currently only available to stream on YouTube (at least here Stateside), and it’s in music video form. This particular track will cater to pop purists who are in for the whole package: vocals, dance, and fashion - a triple threat that is pushing more K-Pop groups to the forefront of the Western pop charts right now. We pop fans have craved this level of unattainable perfectionism for so long, we haven’t realized how STARVED for entertainment we have been. The glory of early 00s pop is bubbling in South Korea and slowly boiling over into Western music, and I am beyond ready. Now, to briefly summarize this song/video, it’s performed by two members of South Korean boy group NCT, Ten and Taeyong. “Baby Don’t Stop” sonically screams major Troye Sivan mashed with “The Whisper Song” vibes (weird, but, it totally works), but the masterfully synced choreography steals the damn show. My friend Mari described watching their choreo as “making [her] feel like an alien who took over a body [she] can’t control.” It’s amazing what the human body can do to reach that level of coordination, and so gracefully. I’m obsessed and can’t wait to watch every live performance of this damn song. Also: you'll be hearing a lot more about NCT via me and likely more relevant Western music journalists this year. Listen/watch here

New Music Friday Selects

• It’s March meaning we are WEEKS AWAY from George Ezra’s sophomore album Staying At Tamara’s! George’s kindly shared a lyric video for another tune off the forthcoming album called “Pretty Shining People.” It’s a delightfully sweet tune about coming together and loving each other, paired with George singing karaoke in an ugly brown suit to a vacant room draped in tacky tinsel. What a wonderful New Music Friday blessing Watch here

• New MNEK song called “Tongue” got me wigless. I expected nothing less from him Listen here

• It’s been announced that Charli XCX is going on tour with T*ylor Sw*ft and Carnitas Cabeza instead of doing a world tour with Red Velvet, Carly Rae Jepsen, or virtually ANYONE ELSE

• Another disappointing tour story: The lineup for the FINAL Vans Warped Tour EVER is out and it’s beyond disappointing. Then again, the most iconic bands who started out on Warped Tour are either disbanded or above the mess that is WT… even for nostalgia’s sake Look here

• ALMA has a new EP/mixtape/collection of songs??? or whatever the kids are calling it these days Listen here

• 2018 continues to give the gays what they want: Kylie Minogue and Tove Lo are performing at NYC Pride, and Years & Years have officially announced their first comeback single is called “Sanctity” and will drop NEXT FRIDAY

• I’m double bulletting this Years & Years news because next week the entire letter may just me cruising on capslock about it

• ALLEGEDLY DJ Khaled has a new song out called “Top Off” featuring Future, JAY-Z, and Beyonce, but it’s also allegedly only available on Apple Music, which I don’t have, so I will have to wait until iHeartRadio gets hold of it, eh.

• Welp. iHeartRadio is about to file for bankruptcy. We’ll see how much content and promo to get rising artists into Top 40 radio happens now… Read here

• Everything Everything have a new EP, A Deeper Sea, and “Breadwinner” is MENTAL Listen here

• Experimental pop collective Superorganism have shared their debut self-titled album. Congrats! Listen here

• SG Lewis has unleashed yet another futuristic R&B jam, “Coming Up” Listen here

• Need to diversify your retirement portfolio? Spotify has gone public! Read here

• Kelela has dropped a SIMS-inspired music video for “Frontline” Watch here

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A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I have shared in this week’s letter are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.

Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.

New month, new playlist! If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my March 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!

See you next week!