little chief

Big O made this album in his London home studio and didn’t announce it to the world beforehand, which is kind of nice for a change. He handled all the production himself, pulling inspiration from people like Madlib and J Dilla, but the end result sounds like him figuring out his own voice rather than …

Jonny Swift’s new single hits on that weird sad feeling when you realize you haven’t talked to your best mate from school in years. But before you think this is going to be a total downer, the song actually bounces along with jangly guitars and tambourines that’ll have you tapping your foot. The whole thing …

Rage Unfold out of Sofia just put out a single that’s a lot more fun than you’d expect from something this technical. “My Division” is about fighting yourself, basically, and it works without being preachy. Bozhidar Popov wrote and plays guitar on it, and Siegfried Schüßler sings with the kind of power you need for …

Paul Dunne’s Acid Smoothie has put together a fuzz-drenched monster that sounds best when your speakers are on the verge of blowing out. “Bending” packs heavy guitars with honest introspection, and somehow makes you want to thrash around while thinking about your own baggage. The album moves between symbolic storytelling and straight up bluntness, never …

Martin Howard’s solo classical guitar piece does exactly what it sets out to do. It sounds like winter light coming through colored glass. His fingerpicking is clean and deliberate, and you can tell he knows his way around the instrument from years of proper training. What works here is how Howard mixes his classical foundation …

Seán R. McLaughlin and his band have put together a track that came from getting punched on an Aberdeen street but grew into a bigger reflection on leaving places and trying to figure out where you fit. The song starts small and builds up over its three and a half minutes, Andy Monaghan from Frightened …

Eddie Cohn’s new single “Get Back My Way” starts quiet and ends loud, which is exactly how he wanted it. The Los Angeles musician spent the early part of 2025 getting his real estate license, and this song is basically him admitting that was a mistake, not the license itself, but trying to ignore the …

“Plastic Bits” runs on three chords and some surf guitar sparkle, and honestly, that’s all it needs. The whole thing started when they were hanging out by the Merri, looking at all the junk floating around, and somehow that turned into this. You can hear the frustration about pollution in there, but they’re not getting …

At 14, this Australian kid isn’t trying to sound older than he is, which makes “Speaker” work better than it probably should. He raps about believing in yourself and speaking up, but he does it without sounding like he’s reading from a motivational poster. The beat lets him breathe between bars, and JNZI uses that …

Exzenya flips the whole VIP thing on its head with this track, and it’s pretty clever, the talented artist delivered something unique and meaningful, and the beat hits hard while Exzenya spits bars about courtrooms and mandatory seminars like she’s recapping the world’s most uncomfortable field trip. She’s got this knack for taking crappy situations …

So this album sat in storage for forty years. Wild, right? Rusty Reid recorded a full rock record back in the day, then just shelved it. Now it’s finally out, and honestly, it rocks harder than his usual stuff. Rusty Reid trades his folk guitar for electric mayhem here, “Attitude Change” has this bouncy, sarcastic …

MAHUNA, the Berlin-based Irish songwriter pulled this one straight from a dream, and honestly, it shows – there’s that hazy quality dreams have, where everything feels important but you can’t quite explain why. He keeps things simple here, just voice and folk instruments doing their thing without any fancy production tricks. You can tell it …

“Take A Chance” has this crazy cool thing going on where every sound you hear comes from human voices, but they’ve made it sound like a full ’80s synth-pop production. Kevin wrote this about those early days with his wife, and man, you can tell. Tyler’s vocals hit just right, not too smooth, not trying …

“Sliding Door” starts with a guitar riff that grabs your attention immediately. This song doesn’t mess around with puzzles or riddles like the band usually does, you know exactly where you stand from the first verse. Gerry sings the main parts while Amber jumps in at just the right moments. Her voice doesn’t clash with …

When most artists avoid heavy topics, she decided to write about sexual violence. The song came from her own rough patch, where she felt betrayed and powerless. You can hear that anger and hurt in every line, but she doesn’t leave you hanging in the darkness, its beautiful. The song confronts sexual violence head-on, exploring …

Ottawa’s indie pop duo Wotts digs back into their hip-hop past with “terminal”, a song about the weird limbo you get stuck in after a breakup. The beat hits with these lush synths that wrap around your head while keeping things bouncy enough to nod along to. Those Childish Gambino vibes come through in the …

Marianne Nowottny’s covers album under her Marzanna alias takes on some serious heavyweights like Kate Bush, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Siouxsie and the Banshees and somehow makes them all sound like her own creations. After a brutal five-year recording process that included multiple hard drive crashes, she finally got this thing finished. Her voice is …

Kaia Fincher has crafted a debut that sneaks up on you with its quiet power, as “Something New” wraps listeners in warm synth textures and honest vocals that feel like late-night conversations with your best friend, and there’s a real sense that she’s sharing something personal without oversharing or being too precious about it. You …