Rising Kent born talent Tia Gordon delivers “backwards loving” her first release of 2025 dropping 19th of March, taken from her upcoming EP, wait! I have something to say. x – set for release on the 9th of April.
Intricately produced instrumentation lays the perfect foundation for Tia’s effortless vocals and rich tone. Known for her vulnerable and honest lyricism, the rising talent channels the complexities of being in love: “you had me stressed out, burnt out, losing my mind, I wish we didn’t take the time, soon enough you’re back in my arms,” she pleads as an ode to the universal insecurities that present themselves when you open your heart. Laced with nostalgic harmonies and luscious backing vocals, “backwards loving” comes as a heartfelt breath of fresh air in the R&B scene.
Talking on the track, Tia tells us: “I wrote ‘backwards loving’ with the amazing Pip Millet and producer Darryl Dodoo. We wrote it about loving someone again and how insecurities and second guessing yourself can creep in but that loving each other in the end is worth it.”
Vancouver musician Chè Aimee Dorval shares her empowering new single and video ‘Joyride’ out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.
‘Joyride’ is the first new music we’ve heard from Chè since the release of her acclaimed album, The Crowned, in 2023. On this new single, Chè crafts an atmospheric blend of late-night trip-hop, dreamy art-pop, and laid-back electronica—reminiscent of Goldfrapp’s sleek production, Bonobo’s organic pulse, and Lana Del Rey’s moody allure. It’s a new sound experiment for Chè, but her voice and experience remain at the forefront, coming through loud and clear.
‘Joyride’ was one of those songs I’d been writing on and off for years, and it took on all sorts of shapes and meanings over time,” says Chè. “It wasn’t until recently when everything in the world felt like it was ramping up and the Canada/U.S. relationship started to look very toxic that I finally felt inspired to finish it. I’m someone who apologizes for pretty much everything. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction just for existing on this planet. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian or maybe it’s because I’m a woman, but it’s something I’ve tried to curb over the years. For me, this song is about saying ‘no’ to a broken situation and not apologizing for setting boundaries or speaking up when it needs to be said.”
ARK IDENTITY is the dream pop solo project of Toronto’s Noah Mroueh. A singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Noah creates immersive soundscapes praised for their “addictively good” melodies. His music weaves dream pop with the boundless realms of psychedelia, offering listeners a passage into spaces of reflection and discovery.
Noah draws inspiration from an eclectic mix of influences, including Tame Impala, Oasis, Bon Iver, Foster the People, and The Beatles. This array of inspirations has shaped his sound. As ARK IDENTITY, Noah invites his listeners into the introspective world he has crafted, one instrumental part at a time.
From Saratoga, CA, Nadia Younes is a classically-trained musician who performed in Operas and musical theatre while also training in ballet and competitive dance. Inspired by musical legends such as Whitney Houston, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey and Chaka Khan, Younes creates a fresh, danceable sound. She was featured on rapper Conejo’s song “H.O.P.E”, earning a GRAMMY consideration for Best Gospel Performance Song. Her music can be heard on YouTube’s original series, Austin High, as the season three theme song, as well as several future independent film soundtracks, Warner Chappell’s “Cover Nation” pages, and on Kevin Bacon’s upcoming film, Connescence. Younes opened for American R&B singer Jon B. at the Independent Artists Music Awards (IAM Awards), and released her first EP, Anybody but You, collaborating with 3013 Music, in September that year.
Joy Crookes unveils her stunningly unguarded new single, ‘I Know You’d Kill’ today, following the exciting news that she will be performing at Glastonbury for the third time as well as this year’s BBCR1 Big Weekend in Liverpool in May. Last month, she made a triumphant return to the live stage with a sold-out intimate performance in support of War Child and BRITs Week, further cementing her status as a once-in-a-generation artist.
There’s a wry mischievousness to the blaring horns and snappy snares of ‘I Know You’d Kill’, which takes a swipe at the hypocrisy that can sometimes be present in the music industry. It’s a love letter to her manager and the unwavering trust between her and Joy, the idea of which came to her under the influence at Glastonbury as she explains: ”I Know You’d Kill is a song I wrote for my manager, Charlie, because I tripped balls at Glastonbury and believed someone in our team was bad news. I panicked so much I almost cried. In an effort to reassure me, she turns to me and goes “you know Nay (a friend of Joy’s) and I would kill for you”. My lack of sobriety, her presence and my trust in her made her look so literally shiny. I couldn’t even look at her because she was glittering.”
A classically trained Los Angeles-based musician with a skyscraping voice and unapologetic hustle and attitude, Cooper Phillip asserts herself as a bold, blunt, and boundary-breaking force for pop music and culture. The artist’s outsized personality matches her towering vocal range and instinctual musical intuition. As such, she’s independently emerged as a buzzing presence on her own terms, tallying millions of streams and earning acclaim from the likes of WONDERLAND., American Songwriter, Earmilk, and Hollywood Life, to name a few.
Now, Cooper amplifies her voice on the global stage like never before with a series of 2024 singles and much more to come.
“I went through some quiet time of transformation, but I know who I truly am as an artist now,” she exclaims. “I’m making honest music and talking about things that matter.”
Singer-songwriter Bella Poarch unveils “Will You Always Love Her?”, a gripping new single and video that encapsulates the spiraling emotions and paranoia that creeps in when wondering if your significant other still loves someone from their past. Backed by an intoxicating melody and piercing vulnerability, Bella delivers a chilling, yet deeply relatable, portrait of longing and jealousy – listen HERE, watch HERE.
“The song captures the torment of longing and the crazy things heartbreak can make you do,” shares Bella. “We filmed the video in a single take to preserve that raw, unfiltered intensity, and I can’t wait for the world to experience it.”
Sam Robbins’ third album, So Much I Still Don’t See is a testament to a singer songwriter’s journey through his 20’s, through his formative years of 45,000 miles per year touring and the beginning of a troubadour’s career. Most of all, it is the culmination of firsthand experiences gathered through hard travel and big adventures.
For the listener, these big adventures are heard through a soft, introspective soundscape, with sounds built sparingly around solo acoustic guitar and vocals, tracked live, just as they are performed live. Recorded in an old church in Springfield, MA, the sounds of So Much I Still Don’t See center around the humility that comes with traveling and experiencing a world much larger than yourself – looking inward and reveling in the quiet of the inner mind while facing an expansive landscape of life on the road. The storytelling in the songs is draped with touches of upright bass, keyboards, organ, and electric guitar, but the core of the album is one man and his worn out Martin guitar, bought new just a few years ago a week after moving to Nashville.
The sonic landscape of So Much I Still Don’t See was largely inspired by the recordings of James Taylor, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin and singer songwriters of the like. Growing up in New Hampshire, Robbins would frequently drive up to the white mountains for weekend hiking trips with his father, accompanied in the old truck by a 70’s singer songwriter CD box set. This music seeped into Robbins’ soul, and coupled with experiencing the mountain landscape of his childhood, this “old soul singer songwriter” was shaped by these recordings and the direct, soft and exacting songwriting voices that they exemplified. The storytelling in So Much I Still Don’t See is built through small moments.
After a brief stint on NBC’s The Voice in 2018, Robbins graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2019 and quickly made his move down to Nashville. After a tumultuous five years in Music City, So Much I Still Don’t See is the first recording made after moving back to the Boston area in early 2024. After trying his hand at co-writing country songs five days a week, Robbins found his way to a home on the road, now performing over 200 shows per year in listening rooms and festivals across the country.
In the current culture of nostalgic pop, multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter Kaeyra stands out for her punchy basslines that would make the greatest 80s popstars envious. This week she delights listeners with her new single ‘Kiss Kiss’. Imbued with irresistible melodies and sultry backing vocals, Kaeyra’s latest single is a surefire hit.
Following the commercial success of her previous single ‘Sour’, the stage was set for Kaeyra to take the current pop hemisphere by storm, and she upholds that momentum by offering committed fans an even catchier and buoyant step forward in her illustrious musical career.
Of ‘Kiss Kiss’, she said, “This song is all about confidence and owning your power. It’s a playful take on how a kiss can be a symbol of control and attraction. It’s a way of showing exactly what you want. It’s about having fun and living in the moment, without getting too emotionally involved. It’s a celebration of independence and knowing your worth.”
Detroit’s own DJ Holographic delivers her highly anticipated debut album, House In The Dark, out now on all streaming platforms. A bold statement of her sonic vision, the album lands via her newly launched label, Through The Veil,
House In The Dark taps into the core of the typically masculine concept of Afrofuturism that defined the foundation of Detroit techno but reimagines it in a femme, queer, and conscious way. The project draws from her deep-rooted relationship with astrology and shadow work—a therapeutic practice used to explore and heal repressed parts of the self. These transformative inner journeys serve as the creative bedrock for the album, which navigates themes of self-discovery, healing, and empowerment.
Throughout its 12 tracks that span the different zodiac houses, House In The Dark is a sonic journey through glowing neon tunnels and smoky after-hours basements, where deep house grooves melt into electro-funk rhythms and synths shimmer like distant constellations. It’s music for late nights and lucid dreams, rooted in Detroit’s legacy but reaching for the cosmos.
“Through healing practices like shadow work, astrology, and more, I’ve found a profound sense of arrival while writing House In The Dark. I’ve stepped into who I’ve always wanted to be as a creative and so much more.” — DJ Holographic
Email:neill@outloudculture.com
