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Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
Note: This feature was on hiatus during the holidays, so today's list includes tracks from the past several weeks.
5
Mandy, Indiana - "Cursive"
Mandy, Indiana should write as a group more often. "Cursive" arose from a rare instance of vocalist Valentine Caulfield and guitarist/producer Scott Fair building off of a beat created by the rhythm section of Simon Catling and Alex Macdougall. Their frenetic pitter-patter brought out the best in their bandmates, leading to a spooky party jam that feels like a Factory Floor show breaking out in the middle of a Gang Gang Dance gig. Caulfield is a magnetic presence against the track's chaotic groove, and when that undulating synth kicks in, we're off to the races. —Chris
4
Feels Like Heaven - "Volvo (On The Road)"
I'm a simple woman: If a band sounds like Fiddlehead, I will fuck with it. "Volvo (On The Road)" is energetic and anthemic, and Feels Like Heaven vocalist Emanuel Wildung even has Pat Flynn's impassioned rasp. The track transports me back to sweaty rooms with an endless stream of stagedivers and a frontman with enough charisma and emotion to inspire such commotion. —Danielle
I mean this as a sincere compliment: Peaer have always reminded me quite a bit of Pinback. Both bands make indie rock that's tough to box in to any one particular subgenre, instead rooting their sound in seemingly effortless, guitar-driven melodies. By Peaer frontman Peter Katz's own admission, Pinback was a big reference point for their latest single "Bad News," a gently catchy lament on being a working artist and what it means to turn your intellectual property into a livelihood: "It must be nice/ To make what you like/ And have everyone approve," Katz sings over a wandering bassline, his words steeped in both justified bitterness and aspiration. —Abby
2
Daniel Lopatin - "I Love You, Tokyo"
The Bloodsport soundtrack. That's what I kept thinking of. Bloodsport, the stupidly awesome 1988 action flick that turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into a star, doesn't have that much in common with Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme, but it's another movie about a white guy getting involved with unsavory people and putting himself in harm's way to take part in a relatively underground sporting competition in an Asian metropolis. The scores for both movies are full of dramatic keyboard percolations and booming, gated drums.
Despite its '50s setting, Marty Supreme is full of inspirational '80s-banger needledrops. With his score, our boy Oneohtrix Point Lopatin builds and iterates on those sounds, surpassing kitsch status in its pursuit of a gauzy, artificial dream state. When Marty reaches its climactic match, Lopatin's strings and synths and drums and choral voices all smear together into the kind of glowing thunder that remains beautiful outside the context of its movie. Marty Supreme is a story of a chaotic bullshit artist wrecking the lives of the people around him, and it manages to inspire, despite everything. When I hear this music, I can't help but be inspired. —Tom
Generally speaking, it’s not fun to be horny alone. On "Talk To Me," one of Robyn's new singles announcing her Sexistential era, she reminds us that teamwork makes the (wet) dream work. She reunites with all-star pop producer Max Martin, Klas Åhlund, and regular Martin collaborator Oscar Holter for a single that feels like an effortless classic — a hit that would cozily fit on pop radio at any point over the last four decades. Together, they’ve reworked '80s synth-pop and smoky new wave, with a chorus driven by Eurodance spirit, into true pop iridescence. It’s an immediate dance floor smash that’s already got me dancing in the shower.
Yes, this new Robyn era is all about sex and physical euphoria. But each new single has that quintessential touch of human imperfection (or awkwardness in this case) that helps it land. Even though it's encased in pristine production, Robyn and company don't sanitize this sexual experience. "Talk To Me" opens with a brief voice note ("Hey, so, this is a little awkward but—") that alludes to the weirdness of phone sex or sensual communication in general. It makes Robyn's desire feel that much more blunt and fierce. Over a champagne-bubbly synth melody and chromium drums, Robyn poignantly emphasizes the physicality of talking: "It's not as good by myself/ So baby, will you talk me through it?" It’s not that she can’t get the job done, it’s just hotter when someone else is on the other line. —Margaret
English (US) · 