Trynket and Willis – Highschool Crush

"Highschool Crush" by Filipino artists Trynket and Willis is sweet and nostalgic and boasts a really catchy hook. "It was a fun collaborative songwriting process where we brought back memories from our adolescent years and shared all of the rebellious things our teenage selves used to do," explains Trynket. The song seems to end deliberately too soon, which adds to its pop appeal.

Stella Emmett – No Thanks

No Thanks by New-York-based artist Stella Emmett is quietly catchy and marries energetic four-to-the-floor drums and peircing synth arps with a melancholic vocal melody and calming keyboard lines. The song gives us a taste of what's coming on Stella's debut LP scheduled for release on one of our favourite labels Double Denim Records.

Stella Emmett: "When Mike (producer Mike Dvorscak) showed me the first draft of the beat that would become No Thanks, I was instantly reminded of my mom's workout playlists from back in the day. I would wake up on a Saturday morning to Madonna's "Ray of Light" absolutely blasting through my bedroom floor. Having her workout time with music cranked to 11 has always been a big part of my mom's routine, and to this day she is in better shape than I am. I felt like Mike had captured something energetic yet melancholy with his beat, and I wanted to lean into that.

Mike did the basic drum track on an MPC 1000 and the chords on a Korg Minilogue, literally the next day I recorded a scratch vocal that included those same first two lines: "People think they know me, but they don't want to put in the work." The final touch was that electronic piano in the last chorus - to find that sound we were really inspired by Bruce Hornsby and David Gray. "Please Forgive Me" is a classic. We also had some help from our friend Evan Marre, who perfectly recreated a drum sample that we took from a disco record, so that we could actually release the song.

No Thanks itself is just about feeling drawn to someone, and suspecting they might feel the same way, but not being sure about what to do with that energy. It's like do you want to hear from me? Do you not? That whole guessing game."

WEIRDO – VACANCE

VACANCE is yet another excursion into the bitter and haunted world of WEIRDO. The ingredients are melancholic guitars, highly emotional vocals, cinematic synth touches and cold electronic drums.

Josh Christopher (WEIRDO): "This was the first thing to come out of me after the tears of a broken heart in 2018. I'd not written anything for a little while before that as I'd been focusing on giving my all to other commitments."

Also check out other tracks from WEIRDO's highly anticipated new LP A MIXTAPE FOR HEARTBREAK (2008-2020).

22 Oceans – Drifting

Drifting is a highly melodic synthwave jam by 22 Oceans, a mysterious project consisting of producer Mike Guy and two sisters Carys and Keeley Hughes. The song was composed by the sisters and originally recorded as a demo on an iPhone with just piano and vocals. They then passed the track to Mike and worked with him to record and produce the finished song. According to the press release, "the song is about taking a stand, not being bullied and moving on". Its arrangement seems to be decidedly simplistic but works nicely with the charismatic vocals and sweet vocal harmonies.

Matti Charlton – Synthwave Goodbye

Hard-working Canadian songwriter and producer Matti Charlton has released an album Synthwave Goodbye, collecting many of their previous singles with the addition of some new tunes. Our favourite of those is the eponymous track bringing together bittersweet melodies, calming basslines and atmospheric synth pads and arpeggios. It's rich with sonic details and constantly evolving sounds, keeping things interesting all the way through.

If you loved the title track, check out Matti's full LP, as well as their previously released experimental jam We Are Not Gods Again, the single from Matti's yet another upcoming synthwave album.