40 Watt Sun – Behind My Eyes

Approaching twelve minutes in length, and devoid of most “exciting” musical elements, “Behind My Eyes” isn’t for the faint of heart. For those of the right bent, though, it’s a gold mine. Hazy slowcore (and a touch of folk) reminiscent of golden age Kozelek imbues the listener with just the right blend of melancholy and warmth. Spin at the required moment, and this listening experience can approach the feeling of a religious epiphany. –Sunnyvale

 

Astral Tomb – Traversing the Wandering Star

I’ve been searching around for the right album to throw a little more attention at all afternoon, but I couldn’t exactly throw the twelve minute track alongside the bite-sized morsels on this list. Astral Tomb have a small, cult-like following and for good reason. “Traversing the Wandering Star” is a mostly gentle introduction into space-adventuring death metal, providing a synth-y contrast into jagged phrasings and sweet, gurgled death growls. That art’s also something to look at… –Gnocchi

 

Aurora – Cure for Me

The Norwegian fairy sheds her ethereal pop skin and chrysalids into a full-blown hip shattering pop diva with this song, the indomitable harbinger of her personal revolution. I fell for “Cure for Me” instantly, even deeper after watching the video that illustrates so beautifully the quirkily innocence of Aurora. It’s a song that makes me think of how a dance club would be like if Alice would be DJ’ing in Wonderland instead of eating and drinking things that she shouldn’t. Here, Aurora becomes the mad hatter orchestrating this lunatic beat and blast me if you won’t be seeing an osteopath after a few sessions with it. –Dewinged

 

Avishai Cohen Trio – Chacha Rom

I don’t know anything about jazz. Is this good? You tell me. I like it. –BlushfulHippocrene

Big Thief – Change

“Change” is a case study in how a song can be profound without overtly trying to be. Over a sparse backdrop, Adrianne Lenker sings, nearly stream-of-consciousness, a series of fairly simple lines which ponder some deep subjects. As is always the case with the best in the folk genre, the stripped-down aesthetic makes everything hit harder, and the listener will find a new moment resonates with every listen. All told, a supremely fitting opener to one of the most impressive double albums in recent memory. –Sunnyvale

Big Thief – Little Things

My love of Adrianne Lenker owes largely to her solo material. My love of Big Thief owes largely to Little Things, an apotheosis of the band’s career to this point. It’s a song that stops trying to translate the magic of Lenker alone in a room with a guitar, and capitulates to the chaos inherent in four humans trying to make music together. Four marvellous humans, each talented in his or her own way, culminating in a band (and song) that is once a lifetime. Little Things is once in a lifetime. –BlushfulHippocrene

Big Thief – No Reason

Of the nine or ten tracks that I could have sincerely named my favorite from Big Thief’s instant-classic Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, it’s “No Reason” that has stuck with me the most. It could be that the song is essentially one long campfire chorus for accepting one’s hopeless lot in life (“there is no reason to believe / no reason at all”), or perhaps it’s the flute that lends it something of a whimsical air, or maybe even the “come together for a moment, look around and dissolve” line that gives me some semblance of internal peace while staring down the possibility of a third world war. It feels like a song to end all songs, and appropriately it’s not declared from a mountain top, it’s whispered from the shade of a tree in a quiet garden – the perfect place to reconcile one’s thoughts when the outside noise starts to get a little too loud. –Sowing

 

Blut Aus Nord – That Cannot Be Dreamed

I have no clue why Blut Aus Nord’s pure black metal excursions and cutesy melodic stuff seems to get more props than their weirder experiments—this is the Blut Aus Nord that I’ve been making approximately a decade’s worth of blood sacrifices to see again. Seeing as the word “disharmonium” shall adorn the cover of the upcoming album and is fully embraced by the inaugral single, my neighbour’s goats can rest a lil easier. –MiloRuggles

 

Bodyjar – Billy

The Australian punk rock veterans are back with a new set of bangers and “Billy” might be the most intense cut on it. There’s a sweet mix of pounding verses and melodic choruses that just makes you listen to it on repeat. –insomniac15

 

Caracara – Strange Interactions in the Night

This sounds like a heavier Death Cab for Cutie kind of but also not really. Caracara have crafted a driving, pulsating, indie rocker that makes me want to dance and sing. If that description sounds like something you’d like, you’ll love this, and if it doesn’t sound like something you’d like, you’ll hate this. –dmathias52

 

CMAT – Nashville

Trigger warning: Discussion of suicide

Something about upbeat songs with heavy lyrics hit different and it doesn’t get much darker than lying about moving to Nashville to pursue your dreams so you can instead kill yourself without anyone asking any questions. Songs also don’t get much grander or boisterous than CMAT’s “Nashville”, an instant classic in the modern pop-country canon. Sing along, cry along, do whatever you feel like, just make sure you don’t miss this introduction to the world’s next pop superstar. –dmathias52

 

Coals – Omamy

Coals’ lyrics and mix of genres might not make a lot of sense to most people. Nonetheless, ‘Omamy’ is probably the best Polish dreamcloudtripindiehop song you’ll hear this quarter. Perhaps. –JesperL

 

Converge – My Great Devastator

Can you remember a time when hardcore sounded quite like this? No? Me neither. With Ballou’s Redux treatment enthusiastically applied, the poacher diaries tracks are elevated to a whole new level of m/, melding the primal fury of 90s era Converge with the razor edge of modern production into the single heaviest thing the band have released in years. In short: our great devastator. –AsleepInTheBack

Death’s Dynamic Shroud- Judgment Bolt

The latest single from the darlings of the post-vapor nu-world diaspora follows in the footsteps of tracks like “My Heart Shakes” and “South God Queen”, an electro-funk banger drenched in mangled vocal samples. I suspect significant Keith Rankin involvement here- the group drives as hard as vaporwave dares to drive whenever he’s on deck, and even the downshift into rumbling ambience brings a slurred groove that hits on a gut level. Plus, that hook is the best gibberish you’ll get stuck in your head this week. –Kompys2000

 

The Delines – Surfers in Twilight

As equally haunting as it is beautiful, “Surfers in Twilight” is a masterclass in minimalist folk. Relying largely on a simple strummed guitar line, some piano chords, and a smattering of horns, Amy Boone’s storytelling prowess takes center stage. The story of seeing her man getting arrested offers no resolutions, is quite uncomfortable uncomfortable, and has you in its grasp from start to finish. –dmathias52

 

Dissidente – 45

Dissidente’s debut is a furious bombardment of melodic hardcore, skate punk and (yuh!) biting ska, and “45” is just the first stinger in a hornets’ nest of solid fuckin’ songs. Actually, just? Fuck that – this is A-grade punk righteousness and angry riffage, and you had better be angry too. The narrative is simple enough: people in the right suits in the wrong rooms are making the wrong decisions, and we are pissed about it. Was this something I felt remotely as keenly before tuning in to Dissidente? Absolutely not: power of music, babes in arms. –JohnnyoftheWell

 

EARTHGANG – WATERBOYZ (feat. J.I.D, J. Cole)

Heavy-hitting heroes coalesce on 2022’s cheekiest slice of mainstream hip-hop as of yet, delivering a sticky hook over an infectious beat with some perfectly placed features. Simple, effective. –MiloRuggles

 

Gang Of Youths-You In Everything

If my last playlist entry referenced the tune achieving profundity through relatively small-scale means, “You In Everything” is a different animal: Gang Of Youths clearly wrote this song aiming to be profound (it’s just what they do), and they succeeded handsomely. The poignant lyrics describing the death of the frontman’s father hit awfully hard for reasons I’d prefer not to get into right now, but they’d surely blow me away even without any personal connections. “You In Everything” will probably go down in history as Gang Of Youths’ finest tune, within a burgeoning discography full of worthy candidates. –Sunnyvale

 

Ghost – Spillways

Attention please, fans of OG Ghost, it’s time to accept that the Sweds are fully committed to rescue the glory of 80s hard rock. Whatever they did in the past is not relevant anymore. This is a different band now, a different institution with different members, and Tobias Forge is dead set on creating the greatest rock spectacle of the planet. “Spillways” is just the tip of his ambition. The song sports a a killer chorus, pristine production, and perfectly executed rock chops. It’s a goddamn anthem only fit for stupidly big arenas, and Forge is in the know. –Dewinged

 

Ghost Toast – Get Rid Of

I’ve always adored maybeshewill’s prowess in integrating film clips and speeches into their instrumentation, and Hungary’s Ghost Toast scratch this itch with an eclectic array of source material (examples include Jim Carrey in the sauntering “Acceptance”; Frank Herbert in “Leaders” and its superb piano motif; T.S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men in multiple places). Opener “Get Rid Of” is more straightforward of a rocker — a more-metallic 65daysofstatic comes to mind — and devoid of samples until an iconic film character arrives at the very end. “Chasing Time” is my favorite track here, but “Get Rid Of” is a solid showcase for the quartet. –Jom

 

Gregor Barnett – Guest in Your House

I marveled at Barnett’s storytelling on this album closer, with an intriguing A/B songwriting narrative that conjured up several flashbulb memories, from (presumably) Olan Mills mall photography to watching Bob Barker on The Price is Right. There’s a lot of wistful admiration for his extended family, particularly his grandparents and his Elvis-loving ‘Great Uncle Billy’, as they helped Barnett and his sibling navigate their parents’ divorce. The last two A/B sequences, as the percussion and electric guitars swell and become more pronounced, is my favorite segment on the record. –Jom

 

Grivo – Fatigue

In case you were in need of a seven-minute sludgy gaze opus, don’t look any further than Grivo’s ‘Fatigue’. It’s everything your favourite song off that Cloakroom album was and just a little bit more, keeping things floaty and really goddamn heavy at the same time. –JesperL

 

Hath – Kenosis

With its hybrid, contemporary approach, All That Was Promised solidifies Hath as one of today’s most relevant extreme metal collectives. And while songs such as ‘Decollation’ or ‘Death Complex’ also deserve to be highlighted, ‘Kenosis’ takes the lead, as its tasty guitar solo mirrors one of the greatest virtues the genre has to offer. –TheNotrap

 

Holy Fawn – Death is a Relief

Holy Fawn expand on their most recent EP’s detailed soundscapes by laying down a loud/quiet/loud/quiet ordeal with screaming near the end and a bunch of detailed soundscapes. We haven’t quite superseded the wheel with this one, but just try and tell me that this shit doesn’t roll real nice. –MiloRuggles

 

Immolation – The Age Of No Light

By unleashing one of their most devastating roars to date, death metal gods Immolation have once again ravaged the earth with mighty wrath. And amidst the blasphemous vortex, ‘The Age Of No Light’ looms as one of its most lethal echoes. –TheNotrap

 

Mary Simich – Problems Of Your Past

It’s probably weird that I’ve picked out a minimal folksy pop track right? Maybe I’m getting older. Just maybe it’s raining outside. Or just maybe I wanted something easy on the ear to break apart all these death metal albums 2022 has been cooking up. Either way Mary’s “Problems Of Your Past” hit somewhere between the wail of country nothing-isms and low, sad-boi pop I need right now. –Gnocchi

 

Messa – Rubedo

The Italian quartet’s heavy psych underpinnings are spotlighted best here, with Sara Bianchin’s ethereal vocals in the verses adroitly complementing the recurring main riff. However, the song’s final third, from the bluesy guitar solo and Bianchin’s soaring vocals in the chorus, accentuate the slow-burning crescendo to a splendid degree. –Jom

 

Michael McCormack – Mercury Sings

Looking for that space-inspired prog rock feel ala Cynic or The Contortionist, but with less of a death metal edge? “Mercury Sings” brings it lyrically, musically, and vocoder…ly. But not in an over the top way. There’s a nice interstellar theme to “Mercury Sings” that also stays grounded – keeping the vocoder at a 3 instead of an 8 and letting the clean guitar tone sing with a little surf rock flair while drums and vocals carry the frenetic energy of the musical odyssey. –AtomicWaste

 

Moon Tooth- Carry Me Home

As excited as I am for the prog-metalcore foursome’s upcoming album Phototroph, this one-off redux of advance single “Carry Me Home” makes me yearn for a full album of similarly soulful, warm rock music. It’s a treat to see John Carbone and co. flex their southern/psych muscles, but even more of a treat to hear drummer Ray Marté back on production duty, skillfully blending Jess DeBellis’ organ in with his band’s fleet-footed take on 70s rock and keeping in all the grit that made their 2016 debut Chromaparagon such a prize. –Kompys2000

 

MUNA – Anything But Me

Between this and Silk Chiffon, if MUNA’s upcoming s/t isn’t one of 2022’s best pop albums — well, fuck me, 2022 was a good year. –BlushfulHippocrene

 

Nite – Kronian Moon

I feel like every year that mounts on the calendar brings a new metal band that plays just faster, or heavier, or just crazier than the band before. I might be indulging in NWOBHM nostalgia here, but I feel that what Nite has achieved with “Kronian Moon”, the second track and second single of their brand new album, it’s nothing short of impressive. It’s a beast of a track, unruffled, massive, where guitars carry a tastefully harmonized lead that hovers the mighty pummeling of the rhythm section while singer Van Labrakis roars with a dismal tone, channeling the curse of some ancestral catacomb’s overlord. If you’d ask me how I would imagine heavy metal should sound in 2022, “Kronian Moon” would be my answer. –Dewinged

 

Oso Oso – father tracy

‘father tracy’ is the kind of song that turns a great band into an excellent band. This semi-demo by musical genius Oso Oso details the story of a a drunken religious leader being a drunken religious reader (fun!), and is more than capable of sending nostalgia-induced shivers down my spine. That’s something every piece of music should strive to achieve, no? –JesperL

 

Papir – 7.2

Papir have directed their jams lately to compelling post rock and ambient territories. Whereas the album works best as a whole to lose yourself in its relaxed, summery vibes, “7.2” offers a lovely taste of it. This is the soundtrack to drinking a mojito on the beach. –insomniac15

Pinegrove – Iodine

Much like the whole of 11:11, “Iodine” has a calming effect on my nerves that I can’t quite pinpoint. It’s a sad song, sure (“but nothing I try can abbreviate the time…alleviate my mind” / “when you get down, stay down, way down, weighed down”), but there’s a contentedness emanating from Hall’s voice that allows the song to evade despair. It’s appreciative of the ability to feel in the first place, taking solace in “staying down” to savor the moment – almost celebrating sadness as a beautifully equal/opposite emotion to joy that deserves to be willingly and openly embraced. When I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom, “Iodine” sits next to me instead of trying to lift me up…and to me, that’s better. –Sowing

 

PUP – Totally Fine

If you’ve been paying attention to Stefan’s lyrics over the past 10 years or so, you’ll probably know that PUP are overdue a nervous breakdown. Enter THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. Rosenstockian existentialism, cathartic tie-dye refrains and blissed-the-fuck-out riffage: it all collapses and collides in real time across the tutti fruiti “Totally Fine”. (No)(Every)body panic. –AsleepInTheBack

Regina Spektor – Becoming All Alone

“Becoming All Alone” is the song that’s been playing the most as I’ve watched the crisis in Ukraine unfold. I feel Regina’s mantra of “why doesn’t it get better with time?” a little harder every day, and when she sings “this whole world…it makes me carsick” I start to feel nauseated alongside her. In a bitter indictment of God’s passiveness towards his creations’ suffering, Spektor eventually sings, pointedly – “stop the meter, sir / you have a heart, why don’t you use it?” I can’t pretend to understand the pain that is being experienced in certain parts of the world right now, but as a bystander, I know that “Becoming All Alone” has unintentionally captured its essence: anguish and utter abandonment, with no relief in sight. –Sowing

 

Shenseea & Megan Thee Stallion – Lick

Spotify has so far killed most of my selections for this playlist. So here’s some guilt-free, high-cringe pop. Enjoy. –Gnocchi

 

Stray Gods – Silver Moon

It may sound ominous and unpleasant, but a time will inevitably come in the future when Iron Maiden will cease to exist as an active touring band. Taking this into consideration, it feels nice to have outfits like Stray Gods around who will proudly carry the torch and produce quality Maiden-sms like the one on “Silver Moon”. –manosg

 

Taeyeon – INVU

I never really got into Taeyeon’s music, but “INVU” such a beautiful tune I couldn’t resist it. The entire build-up to the catchy chorus is smooth like butter, while the accompanying instrumental feels really warm, contrasting the rather bittersweet lyrics. –insomniac15

 

Tears for Fears- Break the Man

It’s a precious rarity to really feel the hype for late-career returns in this vein, but after what seems like ages of unceasing 80s worship by every band and their cousin, it’s so satisfying to see one of the decade’s defining acts dropping by to show the kids how it’s really done. “Break the Man” reimagines Tears for Fears’ arty, sensitive take on synth-pop for a post-Max Martin world, steering the verse’s DX-7 warbles into a radio-perfect hook that could dominate top 40 radio tomorrow if given a chance. The shockingly nuanced production and some of Kurt Smith’s best vocal work to date end up just the cherries on top of a piece of pop songwriting that fully measures up to the group’s most iconic work. –Kompys2000

 

Vein.fm – Inside Design

Something something loud something something big idk man it’s heavy as shit. Enjoy. –AsleepInTheBack

 

we broke the weather – Rot King

Not enough prog has a sense of swagger, but that’s exactly what you get from we broke the weather on “Rot King.” Bouncy Latin jazz inspired rhythms make the track as fun as it is memorable and catchy vocal hooks and snazzy horns brighten everything up to the same high heights you’d expect from top notch contemporaries like The Dear Hunter. –AtomicWaste

 

Wilderun – Passenger

Wilderun’s elegant, progressive textures have been enriching metal soundscapes for ten years now, so it comes as no surprise that their latest chapter, Epigone, has turned out to be one of Q1’s most colorful releases. Its first single, ‘Passenger’, with its multi-layered Opeth/Townsend-ish pastel palette, stands as one of its most charming moments. –TheNotrap

 

Yaya Kim – Anger is my power

I can’t remember whether Yaya Kim’s polylingual dark cabaret art-pop power-opus a.k.a YAYA breaks the two or three hour mark; after a certain point all that material shit ceases to matter. Turns out there are (perhaps) no limits to what you can do with a leviathan body of almost uniformly great songs and the kind of voice that turns water into wine and magicks your shabby band shirts into the sleekest velvet. Is there any further secret to that? “Anger is my power” says it’s something along the lines of colossal badass attitude, but I’ll be damned if I accept any one answer when Yaya Kim is peddling that lot of them. –JohnnyoftheWell

Yeule – Friendly Machine

Yeule’s ‘pop’ songs have always pivoted between shy fantasies and barely suppressed nightmares, but “Friendly Machine” sees them veer way off-map into dysphoric territory. It’s beautiful, disturbingly so. It’s paralytic. It’s the darkness that lurked behind so many of their songs borne out in one horrible heart-stopping moment. It’s one of the most masterful things I’ve heard anyone do with pop immediacy or glitchy abstraction in years. It hits like the real deal because that’s exactly what it is. –JohnnyoftheWell

 

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Contributing Staff Writers:

AsleepInTheBack | AtomicWaste | BlushfulHippocrene | Dewinged | dmathias52 | Gnocchi | insomniac15 | JesperL | JohnnyoftheWell | Jom | Kompys2000 | manosg | MiloRuggles | TheNotrap | Sowing | Sunnyvale