Listen: Saturn Returns by Derek Simpson

Having already built up over five-million streams and placement within several TV shows, LA-based musician Derek Simpson is rapidly building up a following. Whilst Simpson pursues a singer-songwriter style, as opposed to leveraging acoustic guitars or piano, he assembles his songs like a collage, from samples, and fragments of his own prior unused musical work.

On Saturn Returns, Simpson has created a softly mutating piece of melodic pop. Muted guitar supports hushed vocals, creating a spectral, cosmic atmosphere befitting the song’s title. As the song gradually slides into its chorus, taut, digital bass provides a spacious, elastic feeling. Small melodic details twinkly in the song’s background like stars in the sky. Overall, Derek has created a beautiful, layered and distinctive sounding song that leaves me feeling like I am floating in space.

Saturn Returns is lifted from Derek’s Simpson’s new album, Somehow. Each of the album’s ten songs will be released as consecutive singles, each Thursday for ten weeks, starting with Saturn Returns. Check it out below:

Listen: Lithify by Diatribes

Hailing from San Francisco, Diatribes is the musical pseudonym for the Lead Designer in a well-known branding agency.

As someone who also works in the world of branding and advertising, I know that the divide between your working and personal life, and the working hours themselves, can get blurry. With conceptual development and technical production work sometimes bleeding into the night, Diatribes’ musical work has become a form of escape, and a way to leverage his talent for a more personal form of output. With a musical style that draws on contemporary electronic stylings, including Future Bass and UK Garage, Diatribes combines these with elements of House, Hip-Hop and Indie Rock.

Taking its name from the process of lithification, which sees sediments compounded under pressure into rock, Lithify is, appropriately, an exploration of ‘internalized pressures and expectations of one self’. The song rides along on crunchy percussion, layered synths and bass tones, with layered vocal elements all evoking a modern sensibility. Diatribes notes the influence of both Mura Masa and Flume on his sound, and both are on display in the organic feeling electronics here.

The resulting song is atmospheric and emotive, and whilst the lyrics themselves are largely obscured, the sense of introspection is clear, and vocal snatches reference thez song’s subject. At the same time, there is an upbeat springiness to Diatribes’ sound, creating a sense of movement and forward momentum. Whether the rock that emerges from lithification a lifeless stone, or stronger and more capable, is for you to decide.

Listen: GIRLS! by Jenny Kern

The new single from Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jenny Kern, GIRLS! is a breathless tribute to the liberation of embracing your desires.

Having garnered increasing attention since the release of her debut single, Slow Burn, Jenny has been refining an indie-dream-pop sound. Here on GIRLS!, we get to experience her journey of self-discovery, as she explains:

‘This song is probably my most exciting and empowering song to date. I had this moment in my head where I realized, omg, I think I like girls. This track marks the beginning of a huge journey of self-exploration and coming into what being queer means to me… …I hope people hear this song and feel the same sense of freedom to be whoever they are and love whoever they want.’

Both the song’s message, and the way Kern conveys it, are beautiful. Hearing her commitment to connect-with and be at one with herself is inspirational, as is her desire to empower others to do the same. I also find myself enthused by the contagious affection this record embodies. Jenny bounces from hushed vocals that liken romantic sweetness to Cherry Cola, before coyly singing:

‘What if I told you, that I was in to you? Would that be saying too much? 'Cause I’m down to risk it all: I don’t care who knows it’

The result puts me right into Jenny’s headspace — excited, determined, and awed by a new-found recognition of her sense of self. GIRLS! has a thrilling, fresh energy. I can’t get enough of it.

Listen: Good News by MANTA

Bringing together elements of garage, jungle, and house, then combining them with a shoegaze aesthetic, MANTA’s new single Good News rides on a sense of urban alienation.

The combination of sounds and styles makes sense for London-based Irish musician and producer, MANTA. Long known for its creative fusing of sounds and genres, London takes its place, a fitting backdrop for the song’s video. Channelling Good News’ sense of isolation, the video sees us take a journey through the city, surrounded by people, and yet immersed in a sense of being alone.

The song itself gradually progresses through a variety of sounds and elements. The garage beat that kicks things off is quickly joined by hollow-sounding, reverberating bass. The various instrumental elements melt away in places, giving space to the vocal from which the track gets its name. Overall, Good News is an effective and affecting tribute to UK dance culture, and the urban experience.

Check out the song below, and head to YouTube for the video.

Listen: Wake Up Again by Afar Odea

Afar Odea is the musical pseudonym of Leipzig-based musician Konrad Jackisch. Having worked on it since 2018, he is now set to release his eponymously titled debut LP in September 2024.

Ahead of the album’s release, Afar Odea has unveiled his latest single, Wake Up Again. Featuring propulsive percussion and, gradually building, looping melodies, the overall sound has a hint of the influential German band Neu! about it. However, where Neu! pursued a mechanical, industrial sound, Jackisch is creating something more organic, and explicitly appealing to our emotions. His vocals tremble and whisper, as the song builds from its gentle foundations, gradually applying a sensation of acceleration.

Beyond Neu!, I hear more contemporary sounds in Wake Up Again. The guitars and cracked vocal aesthetic are reminiscent of Dirty Projectors, and overall Afar Odea creates an aesthetic that feels like a more organic version of that which James Blake employs. Overall, the song is beautiful, memorable, and inventive, all at the same time.