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.

Summer Walker — "Ex For A Reason (with City Girls)"

Summer Walker returns with the first single from her sophomore album, Still Over It. A bright, bouncing collaboration with City Girls' JT, it's a sprightly R&B track that serves as a reminder of just how good Over It was.

Snail Mail — "Ben Franklin"

Rhythmic and lyrically prickly, "Ben Franklin" develops the raw, emotive edge that defined the first single from Snail Mail's forthcoming album, Valentine. It's a tough-talking pop track that builds to an emotional breakthrough halfway in: "I never should have hurt you/ I've got the devil in me."

Frankie Cosmos — "Slide"

It's been far too long between drinks — the last Frankie Cosmos album was released back in 2019 — but any new Frankie Cosmos song is good news; this Lomelda cover, from Double Double Whammy's 10th anniversary mixtape, is gorgeously understated.

Smile — "Call My Name (feat. Robyn)"

It's rare that you hear Robyn on a song like this, which draws so much more from a tradition of '60s and '70s pop than her usual electronic bedrock. But the Swedish icon is a chameleon, and "Call My Name" succeeds off the back of how game she is to work in different fields.

Faye Webster — "If You Need To, Keep Time On Me"

Here's the thing about Faye Webster: she has a beautiful and incredibly rich voice. You often don't notice it on her own records because of how conversational and understated her lyrics can be. But the voice is there, and she has room to use it all on this incredible Fleet Foxes cover.

Shamir — "Gay Agenda"

The uneasy, crunched-out production of Shamir's "Gay Agenda" is unnerving and brilliant, another progression for an artist who refuses to stay too long on one style or sound.

Cate Le Bon — "Running Away"

"Running Away" sees Cate Le Bon returning to the palatial surrounds of her last album, Reward. This time, though, things are a little more uneasy, and that tension is what makes "Running Away" so exciting.

Mr Twin Sister — "Ballarino"

"Ballarino" is Mr Twin Sister's most pop-oriented song they've ever put to tape, and it totally works, never sacrificing the idiosyncratic house-pop style they've worked so hard at perfecting.

Jesswar — "BAD LIKE RIRI (feat. Erica Banks)"

Icons come together on "BAD LIKE RIRI," another track that showcases the wit and versatility of both Jesswar and Erica Banks. Collab mixtape when?

Jordan Ward — "Standards"

Newcomer Jordan Ward cuts a surprising figure on "Standards," which draws from James Blake and Moses Sumney in equal measure. It's a rap song with an idiosyncratic sense of style.

Photo courtesy of ro.lexx