Hip hop newcomer NY Teez brings us a chilled out new tune called "Outer Space" featuring fellow rapper A.G. Starting with loungey guitar and a NASA audio sample, the track has a lofi spacey theme that's sure to get you groovin'. NY Teez grew up in the Bronx listening to old hip hop and R&B records his mom played. He fell in love with this music and it inspired him to begin writing his own. Last year he started producing some of the songs that he'd been writing over the years, and in April this year he released his first single "Don't Wanna Talk About It". If you're looking for more, check out his similarly chilled out and creative new EP "Strange Boy Strange World" on which Outer Space features. With quality tunes like this, we look forward to seeing him rise.
Norwegian artists Rat City have introduced a new character for the latest episode of their audio visual project, none other than the talented Kiesza singing vocals on their new single "Naked (With My Headphones On)". Like their previous tracks Kind of Love and Deliriously Good, they have put together a cool crime noir animated music video for the song with design and animation by art-lead Micah Monkey. Their videos commonly feature three characters in particular, Sam, Dean and Frank, mirroring the three core musicians behind Rat City, Kent & Cato Sundberg and Lasse Michelsen. Read more below!
Toronto-based rapper Rochester doesn't relent on bringing the fire with his motivating new single "Big Dreams". Booming bass and dark, intense sounds from producer Book Worm punctuate the track underneath Rochester's vocals about chasing big dreams, no matter how hard life gets: "I got big dreams, million dollar schemes, billion dollar schemes, watch me do my thing." The track is set to feature on his upcoming album Dreams Don't Have Headlines.
Vancouver-based DJ/producer Ekali and vocalist Kiiara have teamed up for their lush future bass single "Back To You". The production glistens with melodic, airy flourishes and wavy synths around Kiiara's heartfelt vocals. Ekali is currently on tour with dates up until the end of the month with support from Juelz. We hope at the end of this tour we'll get to hear more about his upcoming debut album "A World Away"!
Denver-based hard rock duo We Royals bring the intensity on their debut single "Ready For It". Fast-paced guitars and drums roar underneath wild vocals forming a soundtrack sure to get you amped up. "We wrote it as the kind song we'd want to start a set with or the sort of tune you put on before you take on a big wave or drop in on half pipe to get you fired up." The pair joined forces only recently after meeting through a shared love of rock classics like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and quickly got busy in the studio writing an EP, from which Ready For It emerged. They describe their sound as full of raw energy with a "dash of psychedelia". We look forward to hearing the EP soon!
Oslo/London-based artist SA Zeiner released her debut single in June, an entrancing electro pop offering called "Could You Be Good To Me". Glistening textures in the verses set a moody atmosphere leading to soft yet pounding synth work in the chorus. A producer in her own right, SA Zeiner co-produced the track with fellow Norwegian producer Synthomania. And yes, we can confirm by a look at his Instagram @synthomania that Synthomania is indeed mad about synths! SA Zeiner wrote of the track's inspiration: "Could You Be Good To Me is about trying to find your place in the world. It's about being drawn to people who are similar but different than you at the same time and then trying to figure out if you could meet on common ground. The book 'Quiet' by Susan Cain was quite inspirational because she writes about the world of introverts and how her extroverted friends make her come out of her shell more and in return how she calms them down. It's an ode to relationships of any kind that make you feel balanced and complete." If you'd like to hear more, the pair have followed up with another great track called "Good For Your Ego" and SA Zeiner will be releasing her debut EP "The Only Scars I've Got I Got In My Sleep" this Friday! Pre-save here.
Let your inner werewolf run wild at midnight to New York electronic artist and singer JES' new single "We Belong To The Night"! Her gorgeous vocals dance softly over reversed guitar and airy production working up to a powerful drop on this nocturnal anthem. She's previously collaborated with ATB, among other well known producers like Armin Van Buuren and Above and Beyond, and you can almost hear a little ATB influence coming through on the track. Watch the cool new video clip for it below, released just before Halloween. If I saw someone dressed like this at night, I'd jump!
You may have heard her music on shows like Lucifer, Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale. We're talking about pop songstress Valerie Broussard who has a killer new single out. Opening with sparse electric guitar, her lyrics quickly illustrate the scene: "Standing out on the highway with my thumb out, everybody's passing but you slow down, and my heart is telling me to turn round..." The track features a catchy chorus melody over smooth production with a sound that would do well in a James Bond intro. She clearly has a theatrical flair as showcased in the song's video clip and in releases like her powerful cinematic single "Awaken", written for League of Legends. Keep an ear out for Valerie Broussard, she's on the rise!
Hope you all had a great Halloween! If you're still in the mood for some spooky tunes and dig the heavier stuff, then check out dubstep DJ/producer Crankdat's new two-track single "Fearworld"! The title is a play on his debut EP "Gearworld", released in April. The theatrical opening track "Horror Hour" progressively stacks hair-raising elements building to its powerful dubstep drops. It opens with a ticking clock and spooky metallic chiming, then introduces a dramatic choir, arp and organ. Beyond producing and DJing, Crankdat also designs his own artwork and animates his live show visuals. He has a number of shows lined up through till Christmas and then will be joining NGHTMRE on tour in February.