Sound Off: 10 Songs You Need to Hear Now

Sound Off: 10 Songs You Need to Hear Now

By Shaad D'Souza
Jan 10, 2025

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.

Subscribe to our Sound Off Spotify playlist here and check out this week's tracks, below.

Ethel Cain - "Vacillator"

Ethel Cain’s new project, Perverts, is not really a left-turn at all if you’ve been listening closely. “Vaccilator”, a highlight, taps into the atmospheric ambient influence that was present on Preacher’s Daughter and makes all the implicit Grouper reference far more explicit.

Japanese Breakfast - "Orlando in Love"


The first single from Japanese Breakfast’s For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) was produced by Blake Mills, who leaves his unmistakable mark on Michelle Zauner’s sepia-toned balladry.

Bad Bunny - "BAILE INoLVIDABLE"

Bad Bunny’s new album Debí Tírar Más Fotos is a whole lot darker than we’ve come to expect from the Puerto Rican superstar, but it’s punctuated with resplendent bangers like this one.

JADE - "It Girl"

I was initially a Jade skeptic but I can’t deny her run of impeccable solo singles. This song is sneakily wacky, a weird, haunted track that recalls the best of Britney’s Blackout.

Sharp Pins - "I Can't Stop"

This winsome new single, powered by Kai Slater’s disembodied but impassioned vocal performance, brings back great memories of the long-gone Sydney power-pop band Royal Headache.

DARKSIDE - "S.N.C."

This funky new Darkside track actually feels a lot like the early dance experiments of Nicolas Jaar, updated with a bracing live band feel.

Destroyer, Fiver - "Bologna"

“Bologna” plays like a darker take on the exploratory pop of Dan Bejar’s classic Kaputt, Fiver’s worn, beautiful voice playing perfect counterpoint to Bejar’s.

Panda Bear - "Ferry Lady"

Sun-dappled production and direct, aching lyrics from Panda Bear’s new album Sinister Grift.

Youth Lagoon - "Speed Freak"

There’s an industrial shade to Youth Lagoon’s new single, which provides a jarring, invigorating counterpoint to his subtle, delicate vocal.

child star, Olivia O., Sean Henry - "Stupid"

Olivia O and Sean Henry have returned ahead of a new EP with “Stupid,” a song that’s lo-fi and lush and something of an earworm.

Photography: Silken Weinber

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web