Claryn Chong; Jurga Ramonaite; courtesy of fantasy of a broken heart
Each week, The FADER staff rounds up the songs we can’t get enough of. Here they are, in no particular order. Listen on our Spotify and Apple Music playlists, or hear them all below.
Georgia Maq, “tropical lush ice”
When the (excellent) Australian band Camp Cope split in 2023, Georgia Maq packed up and moved to Los Angeles. “Tropical Lush Ice” captures the feeling of embracing change with Maq’s striking voice delivering lines like, “If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna do it in style.” The feeling of risk and upheaval in the acoustic ballad are undercut with humor as Maq shouts out her favorite flavor of vape and acknowledges that “honking” on it helps with the stress. —David Renshaw
salute feat. Jessie Ware, “Heaven in your Arms”
As sweet and energetic as a vodka Red Bull at the stroke of dawn, “Heaven in Your Arms” boasts a similarly unbeatable chemistry. Jessie Ware, the diva who thrives in clubland, joins forces with salute, the Manchester DJ and producer whose True Magic is one of the year’s most addictive electronic albums. The song plays like a remastered classic of French touch, bopping along with the pace of a circuit-fried Dance Dance Revolution song as a choir of Jessie Wares beckons you to its pearly gates. —Jordan Darville
fantasy of a broken heart, “Found You Again”
Per a press release, fantasy of a broken heart’s latest single was supposed to be their stab at an “upbeat song of the summer.” It’s arriving about three months too late, but their intentions still stand. The Brooklyn prog-rockers’ excellent debut album, Feats of Engineering, showcased just how energetic and bright they can push their guitar music, but they’ve never made a song as sunny as “Found You Again.” Members Al Nardo and Bailey Wollowitz, alongside pop singer Jordana, all take turns dreaming about the sweetness of re-encountering a former lover — before the obligatory prog breakdown takes over in the last minute. —Steffanee Wang
Good Bad Happy Sad, “Twist the Handle”
All Kinds of Days by Good Sad Happy Bad
Mica Levi is a master of saying a lot with a little. “Twist the Handle,” a mid-album cut from their latest project, All kinds of days, takes its time, developing a groove that stutters before it snaps into place. About halfway through, the chanted line “Every single day” enters, completing the set dressing for a drama of menial tasks — “Lock the door, open the window, slide the drawer,” et al. — read in the imperative tense (think the start of Trainspotting, but less sensational and in a chipper English accent). The song’s quotidian status quo makes lines like “Weather the storm,” “Get over it,” and “Break something” pop, showing cracks in the routines with which we shackle ourselves to sanity. —Raphael Helfand
Squid, “Crispy Skin”
British band Squid return in playful form with “Crispy Skin,” a surprisingly breezy song about cannibalism and moral cowardice. Frontman Ollie Judge sounds caught between politeness and fear as he sings “I couldn’t eat another thing” while pushing away his plate of deep-fried flesh. —DR
John Glacier, “Found”
U.K. rapper John Glacier has long impressed with a voice that feels weightless but occupied with heavy thoughts. Now, she is getting ready to release her debut album. Like A Ribbon is due for release in February 2025 and features “Found,” a cloudily textured production that gives space to Glacier’s message of finding light in the dark.—DR
Sahbabii, “Viking”
Nardy World, SahBabii’s first new project since 2022’s LeakOut, contains all of the colorful charm and sly wit that has helped him endure as a cult figure of post-Young Thug Atlanta rap. “Viking” showcases a more raw, aggressive SahBabii than the figure cut on songs like “Purple Ape” and “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick,” his voice gnarled and deeper as he chews out the opposition over a glowing, Lex Luger-adjacent beat. —JD
Young Nudy and Pi’erre Bourne, “Breakdown”
It’s somehow already been five years since Sli’merre arrived like a cruise missile on the rap landscape and helped push the careers of Nudy and Bourne to new heights. The sequel dropped this week, and its energy suggests that both artists have eagerly anticipated the moment. “Breakdown” is about as close to pop as you might expect from this duo, but the comparatively sweet vibe doesn’t come at the expense of their raw power. —JD
Shordie Shordie, “Ammo”
On Breath of Fresh Air, the latest project from Shordie Shordie, the Baltimore-born melodic rapper sounds extremely SoCal, even bringing on Los Angeles legend 03 Greedo for a particularly soulful number. It’s on “Ammo,” though, that we see Shordie at his most confident, finding an ultra-smooth pocket over a shiny beat built on drums that sound like laser gun blasts. —RH
Miso Extra, “Good Kisses (feat. Metronomy)”
You start Miso Extra’s “Good Kisses” thinking it’s one thing — a glitchy dance track — and finish realizing it’s something else — a sorta ingeniously crafted, very sweet pop song. It’s the joint vision of Metronomy’s Joseph Mount and the rapidly rising British-Japanese artist, whose music I need to hear more. —SW
The Body, “All Worries”
The Body’s extremely heavy new album, The Crying Out of Things, ends on an especially dark note as Chip King’s plodding power chords and desperate screams are joined by a vocal sample that sounds like a Gregorian chant over Lee Buford’s minimal but epic drum line. It’s here, in its final moments, that the record descends irrevocably into the deepest circle of hell. —RH