These LITM Pop Picks are everything from intense and sleek to delicate and intimate – featuring artists like Valkyrie’s Bard, Noetiko, Crissi Cochrane, and more!
1. Valkyrie’s Bard – MOVEMENT
Valkyrie’s Bard’s latest release, MOVEMENT, is intense in the way a storm is: even though it builds up slow and steady, you know something big’s coming. And when the breaking wave eventually does crash, it does so without any hesitation or fear. In moments, the production pulls back, allowing a certain suspense to build before what’s to come. MOVEMENT doesn’t rely on glamour or overwhelm; rather, it uses intention and precise instrumentals under controlled vocals to land with full effect. The song takes you on a journey across emotional forces, creating an arc that feels both complete and open to interpretation. Listen here!
2. Noetiko – To the Sky
To the Sky opens with a jazzy sound, which is quickly juxtaposed with electronic sounds and textures that create a listening experience that’s calming despite all that’s going on. It’s raw and effective, yet neat without sounding overpolished, and the vocals transition between rap-tinged and melodic with a seamless ease. Noetiko and Jacinta Hope’s voices complement each other beautifully, building an atmosphere of harmony. Maintaining a groovy rhythm throughout, To the Sky makes for a listen that’s sometimes striking, sometimes dancey, and sometimes ethereal, but always catchy and endlessly loopable. This is a song that’ll transport you to a chill headspace – listen here!
3. Crissi Cochrane – Her Name
“Nobody can tell me I tried to fence you in / as if anyone alive could do such a thing…”
As Crissi Cochrane begins Her Name, the opening track to her EP of the same name, it immediately strikes you how well she balances delicate sounds with rich, full textures. The vocals are warm and restrained, almost like she’s talking to you in music, and this form of expression carries over to the whole song. It’s based on a slippery ambiguity that tells you all you need to know to make instinctive connections that she never spells out. Listen to Her Name here!
4. Sebastian Rydgren – Talk To Me
Sleek, charming, and undeniably pop, Sebastian Rydgren’s Talk To Me is emotionally charged behind its slick exterior. The kind of song you can imagine dancing to in your room at midnight, it’s built on the shimmering foundations of electronic synthpop – making it sound both very familiar and completely fresh at once. It never rushes into a drop or explosive chorus, but stays restrained and airy throughout, giving it a refined mood and texture that grandeur can’t get you. Each element and layer of this track is clearly there for a reason, and this intention infuses the song with a clarity that’s worth coming back to, again and again.
5. E.G. Phillips – Dreamcatcher
E.G, Phillips’ work has notably carried intimacy and complexity hiding under a straightforward-sounding exterior, and his latest single, featuring nyssa, is no different. nyssa’s airy and rich vocals are undoubtedly the main event: hushed, vulnerable, and reflective, they draw you in slowly, and before you know it, they’re lingering in your mind, tinging everything you think. The interplay of instruments stays under this, adding depth while staying in the background, never trying to fill space, allowing the song’s meaning to bloom. With minimalism comes the risk of there being nowhere to hide imperfections – and it’s a good thing that this song has next to none. Check it out here!
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