These LITM Pop Picks come to you from artists like Noah Bates, West Wickhams, Wild Horse, and more!
1. Noah Bates – Lying Eyes
Lying Eyes opens, explosive and confident, with a bang. Everything on the track is cohesive: from the unmistakably indie-pop production to Noah Bates’ raspy, bittersweet vocal delivery and the emotional clarity that shines through the song. It’s filled with reverberating vocals and drums that make the whole song resonate in its atmosphere of The 1975-esque upbeat, urgent, and shimmery feel. The minute you start paying closer attention to what Bates sings rather than just how he does it, its deep, emotional weight hits you, leaving you reeling from something you can’t unhear. Give the song a listen here!
2. West Wickhams – Up To The Old Tricks
West Wickhams’ single, Up To The Old Tricks, is slightly dark, surreal, and feels like an experimental film from the ‘70s. It leans into being minimalist, letting the silence do the talking, lingering and stepping lightly between an undercurrent of restlessness and dream-like nostalgia. With its relentless beat, shimmering trebles, and monotone vocals that feel like they’re coming to you from another room, West Wickhams builds an atmosphere that feels like it’s seesawing to stay on balance, creating an almost hypnotic, psychedelic effect. For fans of subtle post-punk influences in synth-forward music, this is a great direction for West Wickhams’ sound!
3. Wild Horse – Magpies
Magpies showcases Wild Horse leaning into a sound full of sharp edges, soul, and restraint. With a raspy vocal delivery and light drumming and strumming, the song offers a sense of maturity – the instrumentals are smooth and warm, giving the song a richness in melody, while the rhythm section stays understated, grounding the whole thing. Lyrically, the song deals with emotional betrayal and fractured relationships (“No, I don’t trust nobody here in this room / No, there’s no friends in here, they wanna steal from you / Can’t trust them magpies in my ear”), but rather than being simply bitter, the song creates clarity and acceptance – listen here!
4. coje – 503
503 is sleek and smooth, landing in your ears like a feather drifting to the ground. It’s minimal, and it’s clear that this minimalism is deliberate – with beats that settle easily and vocals delivered with a chill nonchalance, the song is clean and full without being overproduced, a feat of knowing one’s art well. coje balances being introspective and reflective with elegance and sophistication: the atmosphere created by the melody is calm, and the lo-fi-sounding beats and rhythm give it versatility as suitable for both focused listening as well as background listening. Give the song a listen here!
5. Helgar – ABSURD
ABSURD is Helgar’s latest single that hits hard in its controlled chaos. Helgar cleverly uses string synth instrumentals in conjunction with urgent drums, and they come together in a stunning interplay, creating an atmosphere that feels disorienting but never suffocating. On the production side, the song balances sounding raw and deeply personal, from the heart, with polish and clarity. Through its runtime, ABSURD reinforces complexity and inner turmoil, imbuing in you a sense of unease and heaviness through its surreal, dream-like energy. It simmers with something boiling just under the surface – the answer to whether that’s anger or something else may be found in ANGER, the second track from this single!
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