LITM Pop picks tunes to set your mid-week vibes, brought to you by The High Plains Drifters, Shelita, DayEyez, Aidan Frenkel and Talk In Code.
1. The High Plains Drifters – Until We Dance
High Plains Drifters have perfected the art of writing songs that sound like a 2 a.m. chat with your best friend, cozy, somewhat wistful, and full of hope. "Until We Dance" is not an exception. The song's relaxed beat and glimmering synths create a backdrop for Larry Studnicky's endearingly ingratiating singing. His performance isn't singing; it's telling a story with a wink and a smile, about love, uncertainty, and that special "what if?" moment.
Sonically, this is a mix of soft rock and airy electro-pop, laced with a dose of 80s New Wave essence. The chorus hangs in your head like a familiar recollection, the type that compels you to text that one person on your mind.
And now let's discuss the video, it's rom-com energy at its finest. A rogue shoe, a reverse Cinderella manhunt, quirky meetings, this is doing whimsy right. If you want a song to brighten your mood and provide an excuse to dance in your living room, this is it.
2. Shelita – Bloom
With "Bloom," Shelita does something few pop acts are brave enough to do: she creates a song that is equal parts spiritual declaration and dance-floor ask. Grounded in reggae-pop rhythms and informed by worldwide sounds, the song pours warmth beginning with its very first note. It's the sonic equivalent of sunlight piercing clouds following a storm, uplifting, optimistic, and unavoidable.
Shelita's voice, smooth yet strong, brings affirming words that linger long after the final chord drops. They're not lyrics; they're mantras embedded in song, encouraging listeners to dance, think, and perhaps even heal.
What's so great about "Bloom" is its universality. While based on Shelita's personal transcendent experience, it's for anyone looking for love, connection, or a reason to have faith in the promise of life. It's colorful, it's emotive, and it's Shelita at her most courageous, a testament that pop could still be deep and world-relevant.
3. DayEyez – Grave
DayEyez’s “Grave” isn’t your typical heartbreak anthem; it’s an alternative pop-rock gem that takes a metaphor as dark as death and spins it into something hauntingly beautiful. From the first groove, you’re pulled in, steady, hypnotic, the kind of beat that makes your head nod instinctively before the vocals even kick in.
When they do, the track flowers into a rich tapestry of synth layers, melodic guitar lines, and vocals that straddle sorrow and snarl. The lyrics cut deep: love buried like bones in the earth, a romance in the boneyard. It's raw, poetry, and relatable in a way that creeps up on you.
What distinguishes "Grave" is its sonic scope. DayEyez fuses next-gen production with retro '90s alt sensibilities, crafting a landscape that is at once familiar and cutting-edge. It's driving music for after-dark drives, when your mind becomes weighty but the road beckons. Dark, attracting, and irresistible.
4. Aidan Frenkel – No Peace
This kind of honesty isn't handed to one on a silver platter. At 18, Aidan Frenkel sheds all pretenses with "No Peace", a song that's like reading someone's diary at the warm light of a bedside lamp. It's stripped, it's confessional, and it's achingly human.
There's no sheen here, no excess production to cover up. Just a fragile voice, a skeletal arrangement, and words that hurt with midnight fear and sleepless anxiety. You can feel the hard breaths, the silences that mean more than the words. This nakedness is not a fault, this is the life of the song.
Sonically, it reminds me of the closeness of Damien Rice and Billie Eilish's most subdued moments. But what makes it unforgettable is that it's open. Deriving from the battles with OCD and anxiety, "No Peace" is like a lifeline thrown to anyone drowning in their own head. With the majority of overproduced debuts in this world, Frenkel's decision to start off on such a vulnerable note is courageous, and utterly fantastic.
5. Talk In Code – More Than Friends
Talk In Code's "More Than Friends" is what occurs when pop sophistication collides with unadulterated emotional clarity. Hello, gargantuan indie-rock flourishes you're probably expecting; hello, instead, subtlety and space. Shimmering synths, a sedate groove, and chiming guitar riffs coalesce in an atmosphere that's as light as it is dense, like a secret shared beneath the glow of neon lights.
It’s undeniably pop, but never disposable. The craftsmanship here is striking; every sonic detail feels deliberate, from the restrained percussion to the way the vocals float with effortless intimacy. Lyrically, it taps into that timeless push-pull: the tension of teetering on the edge of something more. Relatable? Completely. Infectious? Absolutely.
What is most astonishing is the way the band tips a hat to the past, traces of synth-pop's heyday, while having one foot firmly rooted in the future. "More Than Friends" is not only a song, but a guarantee that Talk In Code is not following trends, they're making it so that smart, soulful pop dictates what should sound like.
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