featuring @leonaruemusic @cassiemarin @carlita @paigecavell @itsrorey @mhighmusic @lifeanddeath_forever @iamlolabates @naomisharon @agirl_namedbecca
Get acquainted with your next favourite alt-pop star-in-the-making, Leona Rue, who today shares her empowering, high-energy new single “Start Again” which is set to continue her rise as one of London’s most exciting emerging voices. The track is available everywhere now via Apollo Distribution.
Speaking about Start Again, Leona explains “‘Start Again’ captures the exact moment after heartbreak when clarity hits and you realise you don’t need anybody else to live the life you want.”
Over the past year, Leona’s growing reputation as a captivating live performer has taken her across Europe, supporting Nieve Ella on her European tour alongside shows with Siobhan Winifred and Kayla Grace. On stage she balances emotional openness with quiet confidence, drawing audiences in through her distinctive vocal delivery and disarming stage presence.Her second EP ‘Practise Sincerity’ marked a significant step forward, landing on playlists including Peachy, New Pop UK and Our Generation. Standout single ‘Daisy‘ quickly built momentum on TikTok before becoming her most-streamed track to date on Spotify. Alongside this growing online buzz, Leona has also received continued support from Kerry Cosh at BBC Introducing and Jess Iszatt atBBC Radio 1, further cementing her status as one to watch.
Experimental pop singer, songwriter and producer CASANDRA reveals her new single, “SOLUTION.” Following recent singles like “EXPLICIT” and “PERMANENT MISTAKE,” “SOLUTION” continues to lay the foundation for CASANDRA’s forthcoming EP, ISLA TRANQUILITA, due out May 15.
The power of CASANDRA’s music lies in its duality: bright, rhythmic production underscoring deeply personal storytelling. “SOLUTION” embodies that contrast, pairing a hypnotic, shimmering sound with themes of identity, belonging, and self-acceptance.
“My birth was an accident, and the tension that came from that was something I always felt growing up,” she shares. “That theme has followed me throughout my life, extending itself and spawning sometimes cruelly in my adult life. With ‘SOLUTION,’ I embrace my defiant existence and celebrate creating a home within myself—a place where I belong, where I’m wanted, and where I’m allowed to be everything that I am without restraint. ‘SOLUTION’ dances in the breeze, free and truly alive.”
Internationally acclaimed producer and multi-instrumentalist Carlita and rising vocalist Paige Cavell present their new single,“Patchwork.” Capturing a vibrant, day-to-night energy and blending Carlita’s signature genre-fluid production with Paige Cavell’s emotive and ethereal vocals, the track explores a love that feels open and unafraid, centered around the warmth and intimacy of being fully seen. Listen HERE.
Throughout the track, Carlita creates an immersive sonic experience that balances movement and emotion. The production seamlessly weaves together melodic elements and rhythmic textures, reflecting her continued evolution as a globally influential voice in electronic music. With “Patchwork,” Carlita continues to expand her artistic universe, bridging underground with a wider global audience while spotlighting fresh talent.
Arriving just ahead of her return to Coachella, the release builds on a surge of global momentum for the artist, following a standout Miami Music Week that saw her perform at Factory Town and join Black Coffee for a special set. She also hosted a pop-up for her matcha brand, Matchalita, at Caracas Bakery, complete with a surprise appearance by JÜAN DU SOL. She was recently named to NYLON House’s inaugural Dance 100.
New York–based singer-songwriter and musician ROREY transforms raw confession into art that unsettles as much as it heals.
Her sophomore EP, Dysphoria, released August 15th, 2025 is a fearless plunge into the contradictions of mental illness, where haunting melodies and ethereal vocals merge with hypnotic, swirling instrumentals. Co-written and produced in 2021 with longtime collaborator Scott Effman, the project captures the chaos, beauty, and disorientation of a young artist clawing her way toward meaning in the midst of a manic episode.
ROREY’s 2026 single release “Temporary Tragedy” is powerful, raw and poignant. She confides, “The song is about the cost of self abandonment when you grip intimacy and what it means to choose yourself.” The track was accompanied by a cinematic music video chronicling the rumination and spiraling that can follow the end of a relationship. “The video is rooted in my first queer relationship, its message is universal: sometimes love isn’t enough to bridge the gap between hope and reality, when the other person can’t meet you there,” she shares.
Her latest single “Dying Fire” is cathartic dream pop with bittersweet melodies and lush arrangements. ROREY explains, ” ‘Dying Fire’ sits in this space between love and impossibility. The song doesn’t blame or excuse it simply states with radical acceptance that what once was can never be again. Similar to ‘Temporary Tragedy’ love can only go so far when one person is left carrying it alone”
Both singles are off of her highly anticipated forthcoming album Temporary Tragedy. The artist confides, “The album is essentially about two people who couldn’t make it work no matter how much they loved each other because what they wanted and they needed were at odds. In the end they both got hurt in the face of love never fully realized. It holds space for both peoples’ experience, almost as a shared ache.”
ROREY’s music doesn’t just resonate, it names the truths you’re afraid to speak and reminds you that you’re not alone in feeling them.
DJ/producer phenom M-High delivers his debut EP, Dark Web Pinger, on DJ Tennis’ Life and Death label.
The title track distills the EP’s energy into a thumping, retro-tinged breakbeat cut, in which a dense kick drives an elastic electro bassline while a hyperactive lead ricochets off pixelated stabs. Nodding to its name, “Dark Web Pinger” channels a more coded strain of rave culture: restless, wired, and slightly off-center.
Leading the latest wave of groove-focused house music producers, M-High has been on a non-stop roll, churning out high-impact tunes that have been topping Beatport’s charts and earning support among DJs like Chris Stussy, Marlon Hoffstadt, and Kettama.
“Life & Death has been a bucket list label for me since day one. I’ve always been inspired by the way DJ Tennis approaches music and the whole philosophy around the label. One record can be deep and emotional, the next one raw and club-focused, but it still feels like it belongs to the same world. That balance is something I am always chasing in my music. In a world that is focused more and more on short-term wins and commercial performance, I really can tell that Tennis still values the art and process of making music the most, which is something I really appreciate”
— M-High
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and vocalist Lola Bates returns with her new single, ‘Madonna Gold’, available now across all major streaming and digital platforms. Serving as the second release from her forthcoming debut album Love and Power, the track deepens Bates’ exploration of intimacy, power, and self-discovery, arriving via Gravel & Echo Recordings, distributed by Virgin Music Group.
Sensual and slow-burning, ‘Madonna Gold’ is a meditation on the blurred lines between love, lust, and emotional connection. Written at her upright piano in her Laurel Canyon studio, the track evolved into a richly layered, atmospheric record, drawing inspiration from PJ Harvey and The Stone Roses. Bates crafted the song herself, joined by electric guitar from renowned composer Tyler Bates and drums by Puma of Sunday (1994), co-produced with Maxwell Joseph and mixed by award-winning engineer Robert Carranza.
“Producing Madonna Gold was such an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. The song flowed like water and came together effortlessly, pushing me to elevate both my songwriting and production skills to a new level,” says Bates. “In today’s current climate of over-sexualized media and instant, virtual access to pleasure and intimacy, this song serves as a raw unfiltered confession from a young woman navigating her own sexuality. The lyrics unpack the blurred lines between love and lust, desire and connection, capturing the complexity of trying to understand intimacy in a world that both amplifies and distorts it.”
Naomi Sharon releases “Miss That (Marten Lou Remix),” a new electronic interpretation of her latest single, available today across all streaming platforms alongside an official visualizer.
The collaboration between Naomi and Amsterdam-based producer and DJ Marten Lou has a proven track record. Their previous work together, the Marten Lou remix of “Another Life” from Sharon‘s debut album Obsidian, has accumulated nearly 30 million streams on Spotify, making it one of the most-streamed recordings in her catalog and the clearest measure of what the two can build together. The latest remix expands “Miss That” into electronic territory, preserving the restraint and hypnotic refrain that define the original while pushing it toward the dance floor.
“Remixing Naomi for the first time nearly three years ago with ‘Another Life‘ marked an important step in my journey and led to a lot of new opportunities,” says Marten Lou. “Coming back now with a new take on her latest track ‘Miss That’ feels like a natural progression- a full-circle moment in many ways. I am excited for this one and grateful for this opportunity.”
Acclaimed sonic explorer Mersiv returns with “Fast Lane,” a high-impact new single featuring rapidly emerging Los Angeles artist CREG. The collaboration brings together two distinct yet complementary forces operating at the intersection of bass music and hip-hop: Mersiv’s immersive, emotionally driven production and CREG’s sharp, unfiltered vocal presence. The result is both a statement record and a natural extension of each artist’s evolving sound.
Built on cinematic, distorted synth textures and tightly coiled percussion, “Fast Lane” moves with precision and intent – balancing controlled intensity with moments of space that allow CREG’s delivery to cut through with clarity.
For Mersiv, the release expands the scope of his “Pretty Dark Loud” ethos, pushing beyond instrumental storytelling into more vocal-driven territory without sacrificing depth or emotional resonance. It reflects his continued focus on bridging immersive sound design with culturally relevant energy.
For CREG, “Fast Lane” marks another step in his rapid ascent within the electronic space. Following early collaborations with GRiZ, Tape B, and Subtronics, the record reinforces his ability to move fluidly across genres while maintaining a distinct voice – equally suited for rap records and festival stages.
At its core, “Fast Lane” sits at a compelling intersection – not simply bass music with vocals, but a fully integrated hybrid where production and lyricism carry equal weight. It also signals a broader trajectory for both artists: for Mersiv, a continued evolution rooted in community, emotion, and boundary-pushing sound; for CREG, a growing presence as one of the more credible voices shaping the crossover between rap and electronic music.
Pitt Meadows, BC-based singer-songwriter Becca Stefanson shares her new single “How I Feel”, the same day as the release of her debut EP Going Forward, Looking Back. Rooted in a folk-country sensibility, “How I Feel” is a tender, romantic ballad that highlights Stefanson’s gift for vivid storytelling and emotionally grounded songwriting.
Written as her first exploration into fingerpicking, the track places a strong emphasis on lyrical detail, inviting listeners to step directly into the story. With a soft, intimate delivery and a focus on narrative clarity, Stefanson captures the quiet weight of unspoken emotion and imagined heartbreak.
“‘How I Feel’ is a song about longing for something with someone that no longer feels within reach,” says Stefanson. “This song is inspired by all the stories of heartbreak I have heard, and imagining myself in their place.”
Released alongside the single, Going Forward, Looking Back is Stefanson’s first full body of work. Written over the course of a year, the six-song EP marks a significant creative milestone as she adopts a more focused and intentional approach to songwriting.
“The EP is about looking back and reflecting on past experiences,” she explains. “With all the songs I wrote, I felt there was a common thread between them all, and I knew I wanted them to be listened to together.”
“You In The World” arrives as one of the most quietly powerful moments on Jont’s forthcoming album Walk Right Through (out May 15th). It’s a song that feels less written than revealed. Loving, fulfilled, and deeply reflective, the track unfolds as a universal declaration of connection, gathering together threads of romantic love, parenthood, time passing, and the deeper knowing that there is both only this moment and still meaningful work left to do.
The song emerged at the close of an intense and unusually focused creative cycle. In the spring of 2024, 10 songs arrived over 10 weeks; not summoned, but insistent. “They were wanting to be written,” Jont says. Some carried specific purposes: one written for a friend in hospital who needed reminding of what she still had to return to; another facilitating forgiveness and healing after a long-held rift with an ex-partner. Each song arrived as a response to something real, urgent, and human.
After more than a decade at the forefront of electronic music innovation, Virtual Riot unveils his forthcoming studio album ‘Burning Out’, arriving April 9, 2026 via Monstercat. A defining moment in his career, the project reframes burnout not as collapse, but as transformation. It’s an intentional dismantling of old creative patterns to make space for something more honest, sustainable, and evolved.
Widely regarded as one of bass music’s most influential producers and a “producer’s producer,” Virtual Riot has built his reputation on technical mastery and boundary-pushing sound design. With ‘Burning Out,’ he shifts the focus inward, pairing that precision with emotional transparency and a renewed sense of artistic intention.
The album moves deliberately between extremes: high-impact, meticulously engineered bass records and euphoric, melody-driven compositions that emphasize vulnerability and reflection. This duality mirrors the lived reality of modern touring artists, oscillating between the intensity of live performance and the quiet moments of recovery that follow.
“So I’ve always been a fan of Charli xcx’s album ‘how I’m feeling right now,’ not just because of the music, but because I like the idea of an album being the musical representation of how the artist is feeling when they wrote it,” says Virtual Riot. “In this spirit, ‘Burning Out’ is representative of how I am feeling right now with constant touring, traveling, and playing shows all the time. The album title and cover also felt like the logical next step after ‘Stealing Fire,’ and the songs are either heavy bangers or emotional and euphoric melodic songs, kind of going back and forth between intense live shows and moments of introspective recovery from them.”
Oklahoma-based dream-pop duo Sports unveil the official music video for their latest single ‘Gravestone’, taken from their critically acclaimed self-titled album Sports, released this February via ONErpm.
Arriving at a pivotal moment for the band, the video lands as Sports embark on their headline world tour, which has just kicked off with a run of North American dates.
Platinum certified artist and Latin Grammy nominee Manuel Turizo releases APAMBICHAO, his fifth studio album. The project, released under the label La Industria INC, blends latin pop and latin urban sounds to celebrate Colombia’s cultural identity through music, traditions and the vibrant spirit of its people.
With APAMBICHAO, Turizo presents a project deeply inspired by the roots of his country. The album captures the energy of Colombian streets, their vivid colors, local gastronomy, the raspados (shaved ice) sold on street corners, the authenticity of its people and the tropical atmosphere that defines much of its cultural identity. Across fifteen tracks, the artist delivers a musical narrative that combines romance, rhythm and a strong connection to the Caribbean spirit that shapes his sound.
In Turizo’s universe, Apambichao is an emotional state, a mood that invites people to live with their own flow and without pretension.
LA-based artist and songwriter JULITH unveils her debut EP, This Is A Kindness. The seven-track project includes previously released singles “JAB!,” “Pure Spite,” “Cut From The Sequel,” and “Right From Left,” alongside three brand new tracks.
Formerly performing under her given name Julia Pratt, JULITH represents a creative rebirth that emerged during the making of her debut EP. Rooted in radical honesty, artistic autonomy, and fearless self-exploration, This Is A Kindness lives at the intersection of healing and accountability, grounded in the belief that it’s possible to protect, improve, and honor the dignity of all people.
Her songs confront the pain and resilience embedded in the female experience while carving out space for healing and self-reclamation. At its core, This Is A Kindness offers an unflinching examination of the abuse against women and children that is often normalized within society. Through deeply personal storytelling, JULITH transforms private truths into something communal, cathartic, and ultimately empowering.
“It follows my journey to where I am now—speaking on the abuse, standing in my truth, and calling on others to stand up for one another and themselves,” she explains. “The title came from an episode of Doctor Who, where robots on a quarantine planet repeat the phrase ‘do not be alarmed, this is a kindness’ before shooting a lethal dart. The dart will save you from the plague that has ravaged the planet, but it will still kill you first.”
She continues: “That sentiment summed up this project beautifully. It is painful, it is angry, it is cathartic—it’s burning down what I knew and building something new from the ashes. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is tell the cold hard truth.”
Kelli Blanchett is a rising alt-folk singer-songwriter hailing from Corby and now based in London. Her music dives deep into personal narratives, exploring the disabled experience, friendship, love and the emotional ebbs and flows of life. Known for her long-time collaboration with pop artist Self Esteem, Kelli is forging her own path with her raw and heartfelt storytelling.
After taking most of 2024 out while her chronic illness took its toll, Kelli channeled that experience into her new five-track EP, Casual Dining. “I had to start living life in a completely different way, and this record is a break-up with the old version of me,” she shares. The EP is thematically rich, grappling with isolation, being stuck both physically and mentally, and navigating the memories of what once was. “I became really ill, and my life changed dramatically. I felt embarrassed about not doing the same things as everyone else, about possibly being left behind,” Kelli reflects. Ultimately, Casual Dining is a break-up record, not with a partner, but with her old self, embracing acceptance and the messy road to self-discovery.
Reflecting on its sonic direction, Kelli notes, “I love 70s singer-songwriters like Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, and Gram Parsons, and I knew that’s the world I wanted these songs to live in.” Minimalist yet powerful, the EP blends organic, plucky guitars, spine-tingling string arrangements, Wurlitzers, and flute organs. “I wanted plush, mournful strings, punchy organs, and vocals that feel raw and close. I also wanted it pared back and unfussy, just honest and direct,” she says. The result is a soulful blend of alt-folk and Americana, where Kelli’s vocals ooze with emotion, filling each lyric with genuine soul and heart.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
- Socials: @frazer.live
- @neill.outloud
