Danny L Harle
On a Mountain

If this song had come out in the late 90s/early 00s Euro-dance heyday, I would have hated it. Luckily, it is 2021 so I can appreciate every batshit thrill it provides. A song for healing a broken heart, it waxes lyrical about relaxing on a mountain before hitting you with the least relaxing-on-a-mountain music ever heard. Drum’n’bass beats, orchestral chord progressions, bird sounds: it’s got it all.

Silk City ft Ellie Goulding
New Love

To hear Mark Ronson breathlessly tease the return of Silk City – his dance side-project with Diplo – you would have thought he had a new vaccine up his sleeve. It’s not quite that good but New Love is the kind of easy breezy no-really-I-am-totally-over-you dance tune we need to zhuzh up our ongoing kitchen discos.

Julien Baker
Hardline

It’s pretty clear that Julien Baker’s next album isn’t going to be a walk in the park on a sunny day. This heart-splitting track starts with tense organ hits and gets more stressful from there, crashing eventually into a huge post-rock wall of sound. The quietly devastating lyrics touch on repeated behaviour patterns and deep, endless depression – it’s one of those songs you’ll want to limit your exposure to.

Blu DeTiger
Vintage

Blu DeTiger used to whip out a bass guitar mid-New York DJ sets, so it’s no surprise that this song has an excellently slinky bassline. It’s also a clue that her lyrics are tongue in cheek, a nod to the ridiculous nature of trends and, well, boys in general. “He knows all the words to Mr Brightside – he says it’s a joke but I know it’s honest, so ironic, it’s iconic, I get off on it … ” We’ve all been there, Blu, we really have.

Baby Queen
Raw Thoughts

Rihanna had wild thoughts, but Baby Queen’s raw thoughts are much more now. Channelling Lorde’s 2017 masterpiece Melodrama for its infectious, falsetto chorus and its late-night iPhone Notes App inspirations, Raw Thoughts is an anthem for the unrequited, the drug-addled and the introspective among us.