Sound Off: 10 New Songs You Need to Hear Now
Music

Sound Off: 10 New Songs You Need to Hear Now

by Shaad D'Souza

It's impossible to be across all the new music out each Friday. Luckily, PAPER is here to help you out: each week, we round up 10 of our favorite new songs from artists — emerging and established — to soundtrack your life. From the surreal to the sublime, these songs cover every corner of the music world. The only criteria: they all have to absolutely rip.

Alice Longyu Gao — "100 Boyfriends"

Alice Longyu Gao and Dylan Brady's ongoing musical partnership continues to bear (totally unhinged) fruit: "100 Boyfriends" is two-odd minutes of Alice delivering weird, withering flexes over a beat that recalls Teriyaki Boyz's iconic "Tokyo Drift (Fast and Furious)."

Solo Career — "Sublover"

The glittering "Sublover," a highlight from Solo Career's new The Sentimentalist EP, drolly interrogates millennial miscommunication with wonderfully dry, disaffected panache.

Amaarae & Kali Uchis — "SAD GIRLZ LOVE MONEY (Remix)"

Ghanaian star Amaarae's "SAD GIRLZ LOVE MONEY" gets a glitzy upgrade with this remix featuring the one and only Kali Uchis, who adds her trademark narcotic croon to the song's icy dembow beat.

Lily Konigsberg — "Sweat Forever"

The new single from Lily Konigsberg's forthcoming debut album is a starry-eyed jangle-pop track that plays like Sixpence None The Richer's "Kiss Me" reinterpreted by Arthur Russell.

Tems — "Found (feat. Brent Faiyaz)"

Nigerian star Tems' gorgeous voice is front and centre on "Found," a collaboration with Brent Faiyaz from her new EP If Orange Was A Place. It's a low-key, but totally indelible showcase of her talents.

Lakou Mizik — "Sanba Yo Pran Pale (DJ Koze Remix)"

DJ Koze's first remix in two years is a doozy — a reworking of Lakou Mizik's "Sanba Yo Pran Pale" that evokes shimmering, hot summer nights and heaving dancefloors. It's a perfect symbiosis and a welcome end-of-summer treat.

Kehlani — "Altar"

"Altar," the beautiful first single from Kehlani's third album Blue Water Road, is as organic and free-flowing as the "nine cups of water" she's drinking in the song's opening verses. It's feel-good in the most elemental sense.

Hyd — "No Shadow"

The first single from Hyd — Los Angeles artist Hayden Dunham, formerly part of PC Music's QT project — is foreboding and huge, building to a dense "guitar" solo. Written with Caroline Polachek and A. G. Cook, it's a powerful re-emergence for Dunham and an intriguing taste of what's to come.

Snail Mail — "Valentine"

Lindsay Jordan is back, three years after the release of her beloved debut album, Lush, with "Valentine," the first single from an album of the same name. Building slowly to a wild head rush of a chorus, it's a more ornate, mature sound for Jordan, not least because of the new hoarseness of her voice, and a thrilling first look at Valentine.

Mac Miller — "Colors and Shapes"

Mac Miller'sFaces mixtape is finally coming to streaming services, and "Colors and Shapes" is a great reminder of the breadth and depth of the late rapper's artistry, combining synth ambiance and obtuse samples to gorgeous, uncanny effect.

Photo courtesy of Alice Longyu Gao

Fashion

Coolest Person in the Room: Jacques Agbobly

Story by Andrew Nguyen / Photography by Diego Villagra Motta