little chief

Kush Powers linked up with Mike B Benno and Tony Lee on this one, and honestly, it works. The track digs into heartbreak, addiction, and loneliness but doesn’t wallow in any of it. There’s hope here, and you can hear it. The chemistry between Kush and Benno is real. Both of them have been through …

Adai Song grabbed a bunch of old Shanghai standards from the 1920s-1940s and decided they needed a serious upgrade, and the result is an album that sounds like nothing else you’ll hear this year. She takes these vintage Chinese melodies and throws in EDM production, rap verses, and lyrics about women who are tired of …

Charlotte Clarke really nailed it with her latest single. The song compares a failing relationship to a sinking ship, which could’ve been cheesy but she makes it work. You can hear her struggling with that impossible choice: stay and lose yourself, or leave and deal with the heartbreak. About halfway in, the song does this …

One Flew Over’s new single “Eyes Open” is a proper belter. Irene Ní Chuinn’s vocal performance is massive. She sounds like she means every single word, and that conviction makes all the difference. When a singer can make you believe the story they’re telling, half the battle is already won. The song deals with that …

JW Paris delivers a proper Britpop banger with “Anything”, their latest single that sounds like it crawled out of a Camden pub in 1995, and This London three-piece has nailed the balance between nostalgia and fresh energy, with spiralling guitars and a rhythm section that hits hard from the first note to the last. Danny …

JESUS THE APOLLO impressed me with “THE VILLAIN!” and it hits hard. The guitar work is aggressive, the rap delivery is tight, and somehow it all clicks together without sounding forced. You get these name-drops of Michael Myers, Thanos, and Darth Vader that could’ve been corny but actually land perfectly because the whole attitude of …

Grant Borland’s latest as Soek takes you back to those years when scraped knees didn’t slow you down and summer days lasted forever. The single recreates that invincible feeling kids have before life gets complicated. The piano moves around with the same energy a child has, bouncing, unpredictable, but always purposeful. Live strings recorded by …

Ezra Vancil’s “Island” is a song about getting your life back after it’s been in pieces. He wrote it a few years after getting back together with his wife, and you can hear that relief in every note. Recorded in a cabin out in East Texas with his daughter Cozi singing backup, the track has …

Samuel Yuri’s latest single grabs you right from the start with its gritty, heavy sound. The São Paulo artist has put together a track that bounces between goth rock, grunge, and classic rock without getting stuck in any one box, and the guitars are aggressive and unpolished in the best way, and the drums deserve …

Exzenya’s latest track “Ugly When You Love Me” is beautiful and will hits you with cold electronic beats and a voice that knows exactly where to strike. This song lives in that uncomfortable space where you finally see someone’s affection for the manipulation it always was. The production keeps everything tight and deliberate, and every …

Heron’s latest single is wonderful and right from the opening piano chords and exposed vocals, you can tell this isn’t your typical pop track. The arrangement grows naturally, adding guitars, strings, and harmonies that give the whole thing a warm, almost cinematic quality without ever feeling overproduced or cluttered. The lyrics challenge listeners to reconsider …

Allan Jamisen takes a simple phrase and builds an entire electro-dance track around it, and to be honest with you guys, it’s more engaging than you’d expect, “Gotta Do” starts with dreamy synths before kicking into high gear with pulsing rhythms and distorted vocals that are stunning. The repetition could easily become annoying, but Jamisen …

Denver guitarist D. West has put together an album that deserves your full attention. Released in November 2025 on Hollow Gesture Records, this record takes his American Primitive style and stretches it into darker, more experimental directions with 12-string guitar and ambient textures layered in. His fingerpicking is detailed but never overthought, and you can …

This Glasgow trio has figured out how to make a breakup song you can actually move to. “worth it!” is about looking back at a relationship and wondering why you bothered in the first place, but the music itself is anything but mopey. The band plays with this contradiction really well: you get these catchy …

Too Much Joy went all out with this reissue of their 1989 breakthrough, packing in 34 tracks for anyone willing to take the ride. The extras here are worth your time. Early demos from Radio Tokyo let you hear how these songs started, and the ska version of “Clowns” gives the fan favorite a fun …

Gary Patrick’s new single tackles the messy reality of loving someone who can’t love you back, and he doesn’t hold anything back. Working with co-writer Ken Orsow, Gary puts words to the kind of heartbreak that leaves you wondering why you kept trying so hard, and his vocal delivery sells every line, especially when he …

Moss Henry’s new single is a straight-up banger that’ll have you replaying it before it even finishes. Recorded at Coral Star Studios in the U.S. Virgin Islands, this song mixes Americana with blues-rock in a way that actually works without trying too hard to be clever about it. Moss Henry sings about a guy stuck …

Empty Pinata just released “TikTok Girl”, it’s exactly the kind of song you didn’t know you needed. This indie-bedroom pop track tackles the weird reality of crushing on someone you’ve only seen scrolling past at 2am, and it does so with a sense of humor that never gets in the way of the actual music. …