HEADER IMAGE Kai Gillespie
Tinashe, ‘Flashbacks’
Tinashe has released Popstar, just to remind anyone who might have forgotten that she is that girl. ‘Flashbacks’ is one of the album’s stranger moments, opening with chopped-up vocals before dropping into a sombre piano loop and Tinashe’s increasingly unhinged party chants. On paper, the lyrics are an invitation to get freaky, but the melancholy production gives those erotic memories a slightly tragic edge. Glitchy vocals, unexpected pots-and-pans percussion and a pitched-up “bounce” add to the track’s warped sexiness. It’s weird, horny and surprisingly sad, which feels very aligned for a pop princess reigning in 2026.
Troye Sivan, ‘Party’
Troye Sivan’s new single suggests that unlike his club counterpart Charli XCX, he’s not ready to leave the afters just yet. Following the softer introduction of ‘She’s The Best’, ‘Party’ turns the volume up, pairing its dancefloor-ready energy with a suitably extravagant visual. The video drops Troye into a cinematic, Lord of the Rings-adjacent love affair, complete with elaborate choreography, a voice-over from none other than Ian McKellen, and a seemingly unlimited production budget (I think I counted 1000+ extras?). With more of his next era already being teased online, consider this our excuse to start getting ready for a night out for the history books.
Blossoms, ‘Fall Into You’
The boys are back with their sixth studio album, Songs From The Wedding Cake, released a decade after their Mercury Prize-nominated debut. This time around, the Stockport five-piece are turning their retro-leaning pop-rock towards marriage, domesticity and the strange little nuances that come with long-term relationships. Across the record, 80s-tinted funk sits alongside indie-pop and big-hearted anthems. Taking a more stripped-down turn, unexpected fan favourite ‘Fall Into You’ feels like a sweet spot between vulnerability and the band’s knack for a massive chorus, which frontman Tom has recently broken down on TikTok.
Madonna ft Charli XCX, ‘Danceteria Afterhours’
There are few collaborations that feel quite as inevitable as Madonna and Charli XCX making a song inspired by the club. ‘Danceteria Afterhours’ brings together two artists with decades between them but a shared history of pushing pop culture forwards, drawing on the spirit of Madonna’s early ‘Danceteria’ days. Produced by Madonna alongside Andrew Watt, Cirkut and Stuart Price, the track follows their Saint Laurent party during Paris Fashion Week and a series of increasingly suspicious social media interactions. We knew something was coming.
Rachel Chinouriri, ‘Broken Chair’
Rachel Chinouriri’s ‘Broken Chair’ finds her confronting the less glamorous side of a night out. The song follows a paranoid, slightly surreal walk through the early hours, where a seemingly broken chair becomes a metaphor for the consequences of drinking and partying. Written in LA with Lucy Dacus, the track comes ahead of Rachel’s second album, I think I spoke too soon. “I am more than enough just being who I am and what I want to be,” Dacus told her during the writing process, and that reassurance sits at the heart of the song.
Angèle ft Caroline Polachek & SebastiAn, ‘Love Triangle’
Angèle and Caroline Polachek singing about a love triangle over a SebastiAn-produced electro beat? Obviously we’re listening. ‘Love Triangle’ is the final preview of Angèle’s forthcoming album INSTINCT, with Polachek switching between French and English as their voices weave around one another. The song came from a conversation Angèle overheard at dinner before eventually taking shape in the studio with SebastiAn and Tristan Salvati. It’s sexy, slightly ridiculous and ultimately about the very serious business of wanting everything and knowing you probably can’t have it.
Victoria Monét, ‘Juicy’
Victoria Monét has just released her 22-track album Frequency Of Love, which arrives loaded with heavyweight collaborators including SZA, Bruno Mars, Leon Thomas, Bryson Tiller, Lucky Daye and Chlöe. But while the guest list is frankly stacked, our pick is ‘Juicy’, a solo cut produced by D’Mile, Spencer Stewart and Michäel Brun, with additional production from Camper and Ryan James Carr. It follows recent singles ‘Let Me’ and ‘Reach Out’ as Monét enters the next chapter of her increasingly expansive R&B world.
Bash Croft, ‘Pretty People’
Bash Croft’s ‘Pretty People’ takes the uniquely modern pain of seeing someone you once knew intimately become a stranger and turns it into something you can actually dance to. The upbeat production deliberately clashes with the song’s more complicated feelings, while the accompanying video leans into ghosts, choreography and a very good pink hoodie. “It’s both a very real complicated feeling… and also the pop song you can dance to,” Bash says of the track, which he has described as a song he’s been trying to write for years.
Master Peace, ‘Falling In Love With Your Friends’
Master Peace’s second album, if i don’t love you, who will ?, is all about the confusing, funny and occasionally painful business of young love. Across ten tracks, he moves between infatuation, jealousy, confidence and the difficulty of letting go, pulling from indie, R&B, hip-hop and pop along the way. ‘Falling In Love With Your Friends’ sits right in the middle of that messy territory, on an album that gives Peace more room to be vulnerable without losing the irreverence that makes his music his own.
Lizzy McAlpine, ‘A car wash and a new pair of pants’
Lizzy McAlpine’s fourth album, Angel, sees the singer-songwriter expanding beyond the sound of her earlier work, drawing on everything from Laurel Canyon folk to contemporary indie. Written during a period of self-discovery, the record centres on love, heartbreak, friendship and finding your way back to yourself. ‘A car wash and a new pair of pants’ arrives within that wider shift, as McAlpine works with longtime collaborators Mason Stoops and Taylor Mackall on a record made across nearly two years in and around Los Angeles.
Chloe Qisha, ‘Question Of The Day’
Chloe Qisha’s ‘Question Of The Day’ began as a joke when a serious writing session was going nowhere. With only a couple of hours left, Julia Michaels started chanting the title, Ilya Salmanzadeh picked up the bass and the whole room started riffing. The result is a disco and funk-tinged pop track that sounds considerably more intentional than its chaotic beginnings suggest. As Chloe puts it, “It was a ‘Hail Mary’”, and the song has become the latest preview of her upcoming mixtape Fantasize.
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