Phoebe Green – Make It Easy
24 year-old Phoebe Green shares new single and video ‘Make It Easy’, the first taste of an exciting still-to-be-announced new project. The single sees the Manchester native moving on from her modest bedroom-indie beginnings and entering the next phase of her career by way of slick beats, menacing bass strums and commanding vocals. “The lyrics themselves express the age-old dilemma of letting myself get in the way of myself, wanting to be with someone but not wanting to make the first move, it’s possibly the most lighthearted song I’ve ever written and I love it,” she explains.
Sigrid – It Gets Dark
We’re headed to outer space with Sigrid this year, whose just released her latest single and accompanying video. Looking at her own life more closely over the past few years (as we all have), Sigrid explores the two sides of her identity and how they’ve been magnified by being in the public eye. “They’re two different things,” she explains. “The chill girl who loves to ski and hike and cook versus the other part of me that’s like let’s go out, or let’s play massive shows, go on stage and not be scared of anything.” It’s these juxtaposing sides of Sigrid that forms the basis of her highly anticipated second record, How To Let Go , set to be released on 6 May.
Charli XCX – Used to Know Me
‘Used To Know Me’ is the latest in a string of releases from the London-born, LA-based hitmaker whose fifth album Crash dropped earlier last month. Charli also released her accompanying music video which sees her shapeshift from a dominatrix to a cheerleader, ’80s-style aerobics instructor, club kid, and more. The singer can’t resist taking a shot at her record label in the video, flashing the camera with the Atlantic Records logo hiding under her cheer skirt while singing about breaking free of unspecified “control.” (She’s made it no secret that CRASH is the fifth and final album under her record deal with the major label, which began with 2013’s True Romance.)
Rachel Chinouriri – All I Ever Asked
Chinouriri’s newest track is a dreamy tale inspired by a friend’s breakup. “It made me reflect on a similar situation I was going through too,” she explains. “The feeling of asking someone you love to respect you in the simplest form and realising it’s the bare minimum. It’s also about realising your own worth and not settling for someone who cannot be what you need.”
‘All I Ever Asked’ dips into soft-rock territory, reminiscent of those early 80s Fleetwood Mac bangers viewed from a 2k22 perspective. A skewed take on the format, the glossy melodies are kept a little bit raw in the production, while her heavenly vocal touches on the sublime.
Kae Tempest ft Liana La Havas – No Prizes
Kae Tempest teases their new album The Line Is A Curve, released 8th April, with lead single ‘No Prizes’ featuring Liana La Havas. The Londoner is renowned for their narrative-led, socially conscious writings that span poetry and fiction, playwriting and music. On ‘No Prizes’, Tempest tells the story of three fictional strangers dealing with themes of frustration and isolation. The single expertly marries Tempest’s cutting word choice and delivery with La Havas’ haunting vocals in the chorus, and makes for unsurprisingly powerful storytelling.
Rex Orange County ft Tyler The Creator – Open A Window
Rex Orange County’s new single ‘OPEN A WINDOW’ featuring Tyler the Creator is a deep dive into the feeling of being stuck in a stifling situation and trying to break free, with the lyrics “Can I open a window? / Can somebody open the door? / There’s so many reasons / I can barely take it anymore.” The single is the first collaboration between the two genre-bending artists since 2017’s ‘Flower Boy’ and it has the same upbeat and breezy tone of Rex’s new release ‘WHO CARES?’
Florence + The Machine – My Love
For ‘My Love’, Florence + the Machine worked with Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley to combine Welch’s mesmerising vocals with a dynamic disco-house beat, creating what Welch described as “Nick Cave at the club.” The track is part of the band’s forthcoming album ‘Dance Fever’, largely recorded in London during lockdown, anticipating the post-pandemic return to nightlife and festivals.
Nilüfer Yanya – the dealer
Indie Rock artist Nilüfer Yanya has released a new song titled ‘the dealer’. The playful, rhythm-driven track premiered on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Clara Amfo as Hottest Record In The World. Speaking about the single, Nilüfer says, “When I was writing this song I was thinking about the transient nature of life and the cyclical nature of the seasons. I find it interesting how we attach certain memories and feelings to different seasons and tend to revisit them time and time again, yet our lives move in a more linear motion and even when we feel like we are going back we never really get to go back anywhere.”
Avril Lavigne ft blackbear – Love It When You Hate Me
2000s emo kids rejoice, as this year Avril Lavigne has made her return. Love Sux is the singer’s seventh studio album and documents a classic heartbreak over twelve storytelling tracks. With many of today’s biggest pop stars including Willow, Olivia Rodrigo and our BRICKS Voices cover star Abby Roberts citing Lavigne as their inspirations, the pop-punk princess has brought back the sound of her classic hits ‘Sk8ter Boi’ and ‘Complicated’ with searing guitar riffs and thrashing drum solos from Travis Barker. The album’s first single, ‘Love It When You Hate Me’ includes a feature from blackbear, a welcomed update to the star’s signature y2k sound.
King Princess – For My Friends
Prepping for her sophomore album release in July, King Princess returns with new single ‘For My Friends’ – a touching, woozy pop single focused around thanking the people who have stuck by her for years. In the three years since the singer released her debut Cheap Queens, the teen has been caught in a number of controversies – including accusations of bullying and outing her family’s wealth status – much to the internet’s dismay.
“I thought it would be extra fab to begin releasing this new record with a song about my two best friends from high school,” King Princess says. “These girls have been through the pits with me, and the more time I spend with them as an adult, the more I’m reminded that they are my home. So thank you my angel horse queens for sticking with me. I love you all and I can’t wait to give you this song.”
Still Woozy & Remi Wolf – Pool
New single ‘Pool’ marks Still Woozy and Remi Wolf’s first one-on-one collaboration. Having both received steady praise for their respective 2021 releases, the pair co-wrote and co-produced ‘Pool’ in a single afternoon, exploring the notions of yearning, uncertainty, and complicated emotions.
The pair themselves first developed a creative connection while on tour together in 2019. “Pool was such a beautifully natural collaboration – and is a great reflection of how life can just so seamlessly turn into art,” Remi Wolf shared in a statement. “It perfectly showcases mine and [Still Woozy’s] comfortability with each other and how both of our wildly different skill sets can create something that feels so true to both of us.”
MUNA – Anything But Me
Following up their smash-hit ‘Silk Chiffon’ featuring BRICKS cover star Phoebe Bridgers, the queer trio are back with new single ‘Anything But Me’. “Breaking up is hard to do,” MUNA began their Instagram caption. “In the past, we’ve stayed in relationships for a long time, waiting until we hit low lows to admit it was over. ‘Anything But Me’ is a song about leaving a partnership simply because it doesn’t feel right.”
Beabadoobee – Talk
Beabadoobee is back with her next single ‘Talk’ and announces her next album Beatopia, featuring fourteen tracks that span fuzzy rock, classic singer-songwriter, psychedelia, midwest emo and outright pop whilst remaining undeniably herself throughout. It also features the hotly anticipated track ‘Tinkerbell is Overrated’ with PinkPanthress. “I wrote ‘Talk’ just after my first album. I was obsessed with Tuesday because I thought it was the best night to go out, not too much chaos but just enough to have a good time,” said the Dirty Hit-signed artist of the new song. “Generally it’s about doing things that aren’t necessarily healthy or great for you but you can’t help indulging. It’s like that unavoidable feeling that you get, you can’t get rid of it and you know it’s bad but you love it really and it’s whatever, so you do it anyway.”
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