Melodrama, single/video by Angelina Mango. The 23-year-old daughter of one of Italy’s major pop stars, Angelina needs no family name intro- she is a fast-rising star on her own and this song proves it. Rapid-fire rap lyrics tracked by clap beats, and organ-filled breakdowns, with spaces for her operatic voice. Complex, urgent, angry, habit-forming. Stream on Spotify and other major platforms Italian.
Devotion, single by Cassandra Jenkins. From her new album My Light, My Destroyer, this stripped-down song, lightly backed by a guitar strum and orchestral accents brings Jenkins’s seductive, feminine, powerful voice to the fore. As the song crescendos She is talking to you and she is doing so beautifully that you want to cry. Jenkins sings like her words are caught in time and space, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes immediate, sometimes far-sighted. But the stories she tells pierce your heart. Stream on Spotify and other platforms.
Soup, a single by Remi Wolf. A softly moving beat behind a moving soundscape scaffolds an urgent, feminine voice that pulls you along with his force. Not sultry, but convincing. A song that will be put on replay to listen as you tap your foot. Stream on Spotify and major platforms.
Sexy to Someone, single by Clairo (Claire Cottrill). Bedroom pop, but more. Beautifully produced to showcase her breathy voice. Structured like a pop song, but with off-kilter touches that make it even more interesting. A brilliant piece of pop songwriting arranging and producing. Listen several times to follow the lyrics. Stream on major platforms.
B lush, single by Girl Ultra. One of Mexico’s most intriguing musical artists, Girl Ultra can be fire and ice on this song she just pure mystery with a touch of jungle drums, and synth effects that carry her into space. The beat carries you along, the synth fascinates you and her voice seduces you. Altogether beautiful and disturbing. Stram on major platforms. Spanish
Alma Florecida by Gabby Moreno. Traditional, yet modern, as only the Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Gaby Moreno can do. With country-inflected twangy guitars by LA LOM (Los Angeles League of Musicians) Moreno takes us on a smoothly sailing adventure with her beguiling voice. You can feel yourself standing in the plaza of a Mexican or Guatemalan village watching a couple in a romantic courting dance. Stream on all major platforms. Spanish.
