With the proverbial curtain of 2025 thankfully drawing to a close, Week in Pop provides a fleeting snapshot of some of the artists that made this year manageable and out of the deluge of madness—dare we say inspirational. Forever never concerned with hierarchal systems of ranking and the like; this feature stands as a humble work in progress that highlights a handful of the creatives that kept us engaged in the collective spirit of humanity. Never intended to leave anyone behind, but rather cast a bit of shine on just some of our favorites in pseudo-chronological order. So now without further ado it is our pleasure and utmost privilege to proudly present:

Week in Pop’s Year in Pop 2025:

Get Lost Cassidy Frost

The pop praxis of Cassidy Frost; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Presenting a succinct collection of songs that were, according to the artist all written on cold nights for lost loves — San Francisco based tunesmith, media mover, producer, visionary, Get Lost Cassidy Frost presents the intimate expressions that make up Live in Private released through Seattle imprint Puzz Records. The awaited debut solo album from the artist, Cassidy delivers an assortment of songs that were recorded in one take where their inception and articulation were all created in real time. Following up some of our favorite tunes from 2024, Cassidy Frost continues to make music that speaks to the parts of the self that are the most guarded. Ultra visceral vignettes that sting like the abandoned love letters that remain unsent, the feelings that stir us in ways that words by themselves cannot fully convey, the people who capture the whole of our attention, how we process love, how we process the ones that got away, the ways in which love stirs us, surprises us, the memories made, the memories forgotten, and all the memories that have yet to be made. [see also “Like I Did Before”]

Ella Hue

The visceral visions of Ella Hue; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Offering nearly nine minutes of visceral deliverance from the continuous quagmires of the world (both at home and abroad) is the long anticipated visual from Ella Hue for “War” (Round). Featured off their fall 2023 release Magnet from Team Love, Hue unleashes a visual epic to echo into the chasms of the ages courtesy of Natasha Heaszl, Lee Ordway Maps, with choreography by Devin Fulton, and costume design by Molly Minot Hubley. The Ojai artist elevates the punk poetics in the face of power as an introspective endeavor to asses the wars that rage inside of us, to the ones that occur on a cellular level, the battles within our own home communities, to the even larger clashes that define the frail fabrics of domestic civics, alongside the inverted operas that transpire on the geopolitical stage of world theatre.

simmcat

Reflecting with Simona Catalani, aka simmcat; press photo courtesy of the artist.

On the heels of soaring through the existential expanses on the lifted head spaces of “What is Real”, simmcat ventures deep into the heartlands of vulnerability on “Always”. The moniker of Italian artist Simona Catalani shares a sweet swaying string dream from the album I Heard She Lost You via WWNBB that follows up the debut Thought I Was Dreaming. Catalani carefully weaves chamber chansons that move from the deepest senses of the soul and into the uncharted outer realms.

MAN LEE

Tim & Sam of MAN LEE; photographed by Tayler Smith.

In a whirl of thought and sound is MAN LEE with the debut of “Wind”. The Brooklyn based duo of Sam Reichman and Tim Lee follow up their recent treatise on the modern malaise “Celery” with musings on nature, the meanings we apply to the spaces that strike our interests, the magnitude of the world through the lens of memory and so much more. Working in conjunction with producer Arthur Moon, “Wind” breezes through the remnants of places we have known while traversing through the annals of time to the modern day states of longing, desires, wants, and needs. Featured off the upcoming debut album Hefty Wimpy arriving March 7, Reichman & Lee make music for today’s dreamers that yearn dearly for something outside the tired regiments and indoctrinated routines that are suited to serve the status quo of late capitalism’s mechanically engineered orchestrations (and functions).

Myriads

Floral affinities with Myriads’ Maria DeHart; photographed by Meredith James.

Debuting a song for sleepless lovers is Myriads with “5 a.m.” where the midnight movements are met with the sunrise beam signals of daybreak. Featured off the forthcoming Find Ourselves Again, Portland artist Maria DeHart follows up the 2023 EP Win Some, Lose Everyone with songs that center on the human connection. The ties that bind us to loved ones, the threads that reconnect and center us to our inner-selves, and the ways in which we discover newfound energies and inspirations in others and our surrounding communities. Maria makes music about what it feels like to find love, channeling the thrills, excitement, the tinges of anxiety, ecstasy, and enthralled sentiments that defy descriptors of becoming lost in the presence of someone that we are falling truly, madly, deeply, and ultimately head over heels for.

Hectorine

Sarah Gagnon of Hectorine; photographed by Emily Dulla.

Presenting Arrow of Love, the new album by Hectorine. The latest chapter in a lauded and revered pop oeuvre that follows up Live at Lost Church, Tears, and the self-titled — Sarah immerses the audience in the chansons that float between worlds alongside fellow creative visionaries Geoff Saba, Max Shanley, Jon Wujcik, Joel Robinow, Betsy Gran, J.J. Golden, et al. It is no hyperbole to describe this album as one of the year’s most anticipated release in the Bay, a collection of industrial symphonies that traverse the under-worlds and outer-worlds of the most intimate realms of our own personal communities and consciousness.

Alexi Belchere (Gloomy June, Nocean Beach, et al.)

Bay Area fields forever & Alexi Belchere; photographed by @play_w_cc.

Gloomy June is a collaborative journey to draw upon the connections that make us feel a strong sense of empathy, just as the solo and singular vision of Nocean Beach is a celebration of self-examination, actualization, exploration, and acceptance. Alexi entertains the constructs of the ego and super ego as two sides of the same coin, a drive to create the most catchy and meaningful songs that centers the spirit and cultivates the importance of communities. A polymath who seems to be everywhere in the Bay Area all at once, we present the latest creative developments from the artist who further delves into an array of influential constructs that are key to the engine of their unrelenting volition. [see also Gloomy June’s “Kill You”]

eggcorn

The many modes & meditations of Lara Hoffman, aka eggcorn; photographed by Ginger Fierstein.

Entering into the fray of dissecting these polar dualities is Vallejo, CA artist eggcorn with the debut of the fiery and fierce “Hitler Was a Vegetarian”. The Bay Area band based on the pensive perceptions of Lara Hoffman scours the human psyche in a Jungian flight of frightening fancy to understand the good and bad that exists at the savage heart and core of the individual. Featured on the album Observer Effect, Lara follows up Your One True Love with songs that wade into waters that confront the contradictions and abundance of complications that are rife within the messiness of the human condition. Moving toward the closed corridors of chamber championed trajectories that tread through the troves of interior examinations and actualization of the soul; “Vegetarian” grasps at a better understanding of the cogs, coils, and chaos that comprises everything that makes us who we are as people.

Softie

Best of the Bay — Softie; press photo courtesy of the artists via Instagram.

This year saw a barrage of song sketches, works in progress and more from Oakland-based visionary Nicholas Coleman of Softie, featuring singles "Gauzy", "Don't Look Down", created in collaborations amongst friends and fellow creatives. And while those mythic recordings, as of the writing of this feature, currently remain unreleased: they might very well be part of yet to be disclosed larger project. Those big bright tones can be heard within the raging roar of the new single "Kiss Kiss Kiss". Like the magnificent experimentations of ten thousand feet waves of dissonance with expressive intention found on the beloved debut Strong Hold; Coleman shakes up the conventions of infinite possibilities again with the monumental Somersault via Cherub Dream Records. Featuring a strong collaborative showing from longtime friends from fellow beloved acts such as Buddy Junior, Christina's Trip, Figure Eight, Fitting, H. Salt, My Pet Fossil, engineering/mixing by Brad Lincoln, and mastering by Curt Walls; the next level of the Softie vision is realized in full at Deathbed Studios in a recording that shakes the rafters of heaven in lantern shatters of celestial sunlight.

Monte Lately

Sidewalk sits with Monte Lately; press photo appears courtesy of the artist.

In pushes for those elusive better days, we find inspiration in the voices and arts that emerge from the deafening clamor of the crowds. A newfound source of inspiration is SF’s Monte Lately who caused a ripple with the vulnerable beauty and pop bravado of “Pity the Fool”. A new arrival to the Bay scenes, “Pity” is a lavish and loud anthem that exists in the languid spaces of breathy bedroom bop to big stage sensuality. The sleepy, and sinewy lo-fi lyrical lattice textures climb upward to tree tops that find new degrees of clarity and confidence that shines like a well-lit sky path to celestial places. 

On the debut of “Fever Dreams”, Monte Lately excavates the resounding effects of loss through all of the eras and exploring the impacts across the catacombs of consciousness. When the everything doesn’t make sense, the tendency is to venture into the recesses of ourselves and learned schools of logic to rediscover and reconnect to the grounding foundations of reason. Sometimes, often times this is a task better posited than accomplished.

The Pennys

Presenting pop genius of The Pennys’ Mike & Ray; photographed by Alejandro B. Joven.

In the spirit of the Bay's marathon of prominence and aspirational ubiquity — Mike Ramos and R.E. Seraphin unveil the anticipated self-titled of their collaborative pop clique — The Pennys. Formed out of sessions for Ray's solo work at Mike's Bernal Heights flat, the duo expanded their collaboration to include fellow local mainstays Yea-Ming Chen (of Ye-Ming & the Rumours, Ryli), Owen Kelley (previously of Sleepy Sun), and Luke Robbins (formerly of Latitude, as well as Ryli).

The simpatico nature of these collaborations are a no-brainer given the creative cross-sections of connections between all the involved artists. Witnessed here is a captured kind of magic that is one of the most exciting things the Bay hasn’t really heard since the halcyon, hopeful, and restless days of 2009. A time where you could easily bounce between Bottom of the Hill, Eagle Tavern, Hemlock, Hotel Utah, Rickshaw, etc and catch the like of the Fresh & Onlys, Girls, the Sandwitches, Sonny & the Sunsets, Weekend, and countless other local phenoms. Given the current tight bonds shared by many in the local communities, a new era of collectives and cooperatives have emerged between the East Bay, SF, to the southern and northern Bay networks. There is something ecstatic that is happening here, and the momentum has only but begun an unstoppable showcasing of talents in a prolific parade of wonder works that feature contributions from some of the most inspired imaginations.

Yoh

The year of Yoh; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Presenting the debut of the new album Leaning for Youngbloods, Yoh leans further into themselves. From taking leaps of faith into new environments, discovering a greater love, working in new mediums, and accepting new personal challenges; Leaning showcases the artist moving into higher streams of creative movements and exploring even richer textures and lyrical textiles of sound. Self-produced by Yoh, the album offers a privy adventure into new worlds where the visceral and meditative operate on parallel planes of elaborate expression energized with the percolating heartbeats of life.

Cautious Clay

Ticks of the clock observed by the one and only Cautious Clay; photographed by Travys Owen.

Delivering a brand new conceptual work orchestrated to the tick of dawn’s rising clock is The Hours: Morning for Concord Records. Recorded after making the move from Brooklyn to Philadelphia, Cautious Clay’s latest odyssey witnesses the motions and trajectories that transpire at the beginning of a new day. The event of daybreak glides with a demure, intoxicated glee like a late amorous evening turned into a soiree that soars past a planned wake-up call on "Tokyo Lift (5am)". That early morning-after energy breaks like nascent sunrays of light on the heart ripping romanticism of "No Champagne (6am)", that turns the hazy tilt-a-whirl of thoughts during rush hour into a big center stage stealing number on "Traffic (7am)". The classic Cautious Clay sound can be experienced on full sparkling display with the driven vision a.m. jogging "The Plot (8am)" that joyously races ahead like the rapid firing thoughts in the runner's theatre of the frontal cortex.

Fitting

Fitting, from left; Greta, Phil, Eli, and Joey; photographed courtesy of @lo__fire.

Sacramento band Fitting present their new album Stable Vices, titled after the concept of cooped-up equestrian idleness; Greta, Eli, Joey, and Phil deliver a conscious rocking rebellion against those institutions of inertia found in our shared ecosystems and communities of unrelenting reality. Like the relatable sentiments and sensational snapshots that strive to convey the many moods and emotions of modern existence experienced on their lauded album Minutes; Fitting further mines the places where formative memories meet larger picture concepts.

Pax

In the mix with Pax; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Los Angeles-based bedroom pop boffin Pax has mystified the musical undergrounds for years. With a career spanning over a decade, the elusive musician [fka Pictochat] has made a name for themselves as your favorite artist’s favorite artist with countless genre-defying tracks. With an oeuvre spanning releases like leaving, Sophomore, melo.grano, lookbook [french house tape], cherry: outtakes, a holiday album with TV Blonde, Because We're Old, CAMDOG, Tricot, Hazards! & more — Pax presents an east meets the Pacific west discotheque with the island aura of Bermuda.

The new album Bermuda brings a new retro batch of funk and disco that spans across the globe, and expertly trips into different dimensions of time and space. Kicking it off with "Cairo", Pax commands rhythms and keys that dance into a variety of decidedly demure movements and moments that sparkle like that elusive holiday in the sun that you have always wanted. The ultra chic of "San Francisco Disco" is the perfect head bopping number that you want to hear while hitting up your favorite café in the Mission, with a slick and smart style that will transport anyone listening in the world to a bespoke Bay Area natural wine salon replete with obscure vintage wax spinning on the platters. Featuring vocals from TV Blonde, the dreamy vacation vernaculars carries over on to the title track that drifts off to North Atlantic coordinates to explore parts unknown, uncharted, and all around intriguing. "Domino" gradually kicks up the party to the full hilt of a Friday night at a beloved local haunt that makes even the most humble neighborhood dive feel like the most rustic and wondrous watering hole located somewhere in the opposite corner of the world.

Ryli

Bay-dreamers—Ryli; photographed by Corey Poluk.

Ryli arrives like a soaring dove heralding the arrival of a sun-beaming solstice, riding down the UV solar ray slides like the descent of Icarus returning to the cradle of charred earth. Presenting the eagerly anticipated album Come and Get Me: Yea-Ming, Rob Good, Luke Robbins & Ian McBrayer provide ample further evidence of the Bay Area's current creative streak of unstoppable proliferation and collaborations. Philosophies of togetherness, extoling the principles and powers of banding together, combining talents to make a sound of serendipity and an impactful synergistic connect that synthesizes styles into airwaves that broadcast near and far.

Come and Get Me fights the fears that keep us anxiously awake afterhours with pursuits toward places of purpose, prosperity, and points of reason. Opening with “Medicine Speed”, Ryli takes the listener on the rollercoaster of the late night thoughts that toss and turn to find a comfort that shines brighter than an electric nightlight. Yea-Ming’s organic, earnest, and iconic delivery in conjunction with Good’s crisp chiming tones, in hand with McBrayer & Robbins rhythm section that altogether ventures into the foray of freakbeat favorites that pioneered the the no waves and new waves all the movements with post as the prefix.

Omo Cloud

The aura of Omo Cloud; photographed by Jake Kelsoe.

Embarking upon the journey to feeling whole again is San Diego artist Omo Cloud, the moniker of Cole De La Isla. Presenting a first listen to their album Mausoleum courtesy of Dusty Mars Records / Silver Girl Records; the artist works through the youthful traumas that have shattered themselves personally, along with their faith in systems of belief and the character of society at large. In hand with the perils experienced by them (and all of us) during the pandemic, Mausoleum smashes the boulder stones of a cold crypt for something ethereal, eternal, and all out transcendental in ambition, vision, and execution. Cole orchestrates ballads in ways that are unique, unusual, and fascinating in their forms, arrangement, and heartbreaking honesty. It’s an album that confront sobering realities in a sweeping assembly of moving forward whilst putting the pieces of themselves together again on a road of personal discovery, and recovery.

Sex Week

Richard Orofino & Pearl Amanda Dickson of Sex Week, photographed by Alyssa Vitalino and Dillon Camp.

Searches for substance, sincerity, and sensuality amidst modern society's inescapable deluge of smog-cast skies, polluted ecosystems, broken civics, and such is a breathless search and rescue mission in the name of respite. Flooded zones of natural disasters, climate decay, executive edicts of incessant entropy, undermined states, targeted vulnerable groups, social breakdowns, and countless other calamities cause further rifts that further rip people further and further apart from each other. Shining an inviting, beguiling, brightly burning lighthouse lantern red glow amid the ever-present fogs of smoky, manufactured fear is Brooklyn duo Pearl Amanda Dickson and Richard Orofino presenting the Upper Mezzanine EP. The follow-up to last year’s self-titled EP finds the duo building upon their debut with a sound styled for the world’s loftiest stages that can make vast, expansive spaces feel secluded and intimate (and vice versa).

Time Thief

Time Thief, from left: James Walsh & Zoë Wyner; press photo courtesy of the artists.

Providence, RI based artists Zoë Wyner and James Walsh as they present their latest collaboration as Time Thief. Announcing their self-titled debut via Lost Sound Tapes and Musical Fanzine: the duo present the debut of “bus song” that chronicles the changes made by the developer class and the political set determined to redistrict and reduce preexisting socioeconomic ecosystems with little care for communities in a lower tax bracket. Having previously collaborated together in the band Dump Him, together as Time Thief they make music with heart and spirit in the faces of those that seek to alter worlds with little to no input from those that are the most affected by such seismic and callous shifts.

Liz Melina Godoy Nieto

Icon eternal—Liz Melina Godoy Nieto; photographed by Brenden Beu.

The movements and madness of desire and determination rage ahead on “Esa Avaricia” from creative powerhouse Liz Melina Godoy Nieto. Having received an arts grant from the Arts Council of England last year, the currently UK-based multi-hyphenate shares a hyper Banda single that sprints madly like a racetrack runner trying to be the best bet yet. Like the previous single “Display”, Liz orchestrates traditional Sinaloense horns in radically rhythmic sequences that blare like prosodic klaxons for all to heed and feel. 

Mini Golf Water Feature

Relaxing about with Mini Golf Water Feature; photographed by Ellen Rumel.

Introducing Mini Golf Water Feature, from Tacoma, Washington with the debut album Discography 2024-2025. The band’s first proper physical release, courtesy of DIY stalwarts Musical Fanzine; it includes works from their previous digital releases putt, Crop Circles, Stupid Car, as well as a host of new material. The quartet of Nat Peterman, Audrey White, Ollie Nattrass, and Nick Pollock make music to accompany the modern condition of pervasive maladies, ennui, exhaustion, consumption for the sake of consumption, the veracity of vehicular venerations, and a bevy of emotively imbued observations. Rolling out the terroir driven mouth of gravel and mulch is the premiere of “Dirt Eater” from one of the most entertaining, exciting, and beloved surprise releases of 2025.

Kadhja Bonet

Kadhja Bonet’s eyes of perception; photographed by Kelsi Gayda.

Doing the work is Toronto’s shining star Kadhja Bonet who rolls out the debut of “Transistor” off the new EP Battlewear. The rustic cycle of demos follows up 2018’s Childqueen and The Visitor from 2016 that turns up the urgency for a more intensified degree of care and caution as we all collectively navigate the terrain of these brave new worlds. While the existential and very real threats against the LBTQ+ communities, minority groups, and other vulnerable folks are nothing new: the active menace to reduce, silence, and oppress all perceived opposition and dissenting peoples is happening on a scale that defies measure. Bonet brings a sound forged out of armor, building testaments not merely out of defense against the indefensible regressive trends that abound but as a way to break through with hope for an enlightened epoch of equality, empathy, and constructive actualization.

Weekend Lovers

Pop wonders Weekend Lovers; press photo courtesy of Ed Arnaud.

One of Tucson’s top bands Weekend Lovers rolled out their anticipated new album In Your Dreams. Lead by the iconic and mighty Marta DeLeon (previously of the New York and Seattle scenes), with guitarist Dane Velazquez, and percussionist Rick Bailey; the trio present their biggest album of expansive consciousness where the interior/exterior of experience becomes blended and blurred. Recorded by Steven Lee Tracy at St. Cecilia Studios with mastering by Dana Fehr, In Your Dreams beautifully articulates the heart and spirit of these strange times with a tight orchestration and assembly built upon the pop cultural canons of the latter 20th century institutions.

Slugfeast

Slugfeast almighty; photographed by Nicholas Coleman.

Introducing Slugfeast, the Sacramento/Davis/Bay Area trio of Alejandro Magallan, Claire Tauber, and Lucas Wieser who discuss their self-titled album from Cherub Dream Records. Recorded at Deathbed Recording in Oakland with an engineering/mastering assist from Brad Lincoln: Slugfeast present the culmination of their collaborations that have spanned across the past couple years along the western edges of interstate 80. For all of the jaded hearts of the universe, this is the record that will have you falling in love with rock & roll once again. A record that will redefine the worlds that DIY musings can build. A reminder of those fraught balances of beauty and boldness in a harsh and brutal world. A reminder of the power of friendship, and the infinite outlets of expression that fly forward on the wings of inspiration with the power to arrive at new echelons of understanding and artistic enlightenment.

Giant Day

Giant Day’s Emily and Derek live; press photo courtesy of the band.

Giant Day delivered the urgent new album Alarm from the Elephant 6 collective. The duo of Derek Almstead (from Elf Power, The Glands, of Montreal, The Olivia Tremor Control, etcetera) and Emily Growden (of Marshmallow Coast, Faster Circuits) ring the bells that strike with tones of high alert, and an even higher degree of ethereality. Having made the move from Athens to a family farm in Pennsylvania; they follow up Glass Narcissus with a timely record of warning that is just as urgent as it approaches the dawn treading gates of the ephemeral. The two together combine their talents in the face of the threats to our democracy, our worlds, our humanity, all through the power of song that examines everything from the material, spiritual, and supernatural scales of comprehension and manifestation.

Kate de Rosset

Popping out down the spiral staircase with Kate de Rosset; press photo courtesy of the artist.

In this spirit of healing, humanity, and spiritual growth is the glorious new song "What Wish" from the musical pop painter of new ages, newer waves and new-new romantics Kate de Rosset. Featured on the new album It Will Burn arriving in the new year from La Double Vie: the sentiment and expressive intent is one that reaches toward higher grounds and places of unbridled bliss and thanksgiving. It Will Burn acknowledges the torrid and roughshod ways the material realm moves in all of its uncompromising, obstinate, and unconscionable manners of self-serving, short-sighted pigheadedness. Kate shares a series of meditations that lend more than merely coping with the catastrophes that exceed the limitations of singular control and finds the things that bring greater degrees of meaning and deliverance from an otherwise fleeting society of questionable stability that forever finds itself flirting with the drain circling whirlpool trajectories of entropy.

a.gris

Alex Delamard of Hoorsees embarks upon a solo endeavor of economic maximalism; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Addressing the states of our disconnection and deviations is French artist Alex Delamard of Hoorsees, launching the solo project a.gris with the debut of “oblivion 2025”. Taken off the upcoming EP Gris slated for 2026 via the esteemed Parisian imprint Géographie: Alex channels the sum of his creative visions into a vacuum of sound where every chord and note reverberates with a loud and uncanny degree of resonance. It bids farewell to the inexplicably logic defying year of incomprehensible insanity and regressive movements with intoxicating overtures that manifests electro angels and gods in the machines that may descend like mythic spirits set on saving us from ourselves.

Still Ruins

Still Ruins styled as a trio of cool crows; photographed by James Grossi.

Presenting the prismatic luster of Still Ruins’ new single “Our Penance”, out now via à La Carte Records. The successor to their self-titled album, the valiant trio of Frankie Soto, Jose Medina and Cyrus VandenBerghe continue to combine the sum of their talents, bands, projects, and creative visions into a new venerable vanguard of lush pop nobles. From Frankie and Jose's Balearic dream designs in Surf Club, to the weaving of textural tomorrows found in Cyrus' Welcome Strawberry: together they fuse sophistipop fantasias that can be felt like synthesizer phantasmagorias of the sentimental and sublime.

…and so many more…

Keep up with all of our features from this past year and beyond here.

Just what the world needs; another exhaustive, self-aggrandizing end of year “best of”/”roundup” listicle for the masses to consume. Surely the media landscape is inundated with these comprehensive, competitive rank systems and schemes that attempt to convert the quality of international artistic works into quantified gatekeeping that are more pretentious, lazy and lousy than the pomp and circumstance of any awards programme administered by the various respective worldwide academies and outlets of discerning taste. Week in Pop proudly presents just a brief snapshot from some of our favorite releases (albums, EPs, singles, et al) that does not pretend to be complete or absolute by any means. 2022 saw artists step it up in major ways to release some of the wildest arts into the world that we have witnessed yet. As the 2020s prove to be some of the most challenging, bizarre, difficult and transformative eras that we have experienced in our lifetimes — this year reinvigorated us with a new sense of hope, a chance for a higher state of grace, happiness, humility and a vibrance that inspires and shines brighter than 10,000 suns. The future is yet unwritten and if the whirlwinds of this year are any indication — we are very much here for 2023. So without further ado we give to you:

Week in Pop’s Year in Pop: 2022

Ricky Lake, Altered (Text Me Records)

The rise of Ricky Lake; press photo courtesy of the artist / Text Me Records.

Emerging out of the harrowing throes and smoldering ashes of the global pandemic we have witnessed the dawning of pop polymath radical Ricky Lake. Featured on the pages of our media hub from local artist showcases to our debut of “Choka” — Ricky has traversed the North American trails from Los Angeles, to Southern Nashville before setting up shop in Oakland to find a creative home among contemporaries and friends from Taifa Nia (Same Girls, OCD), Steezxxz, TheMobsJEDi, Stoni, Studio Dad among the expansive Text Me team of genre defying creatives. Surrounded by some of the world’s greatest pop art luminaries, Ricky Lake shatters the conventions of style into a musical blender of sparks that lighten up a messy and cloudy planet. Ricky resists any semantic attempts of reductive containment, tackling the contemporary artistic conundrums of what aesthetics can be that draw from the textile canons of rhythms, blues, beats, rhymes, rhythms, life, trad poetics, fusing and synthesizing art into the double helix core of thesis / synthesis permutations into new terrain and new stratospheres of sensations and sentiments.

Linqua Franqa, Bellringer (Ernest Jenning Recording Co.)

Activist, artist, icon ⁠— Linqua Franca; photographed by Sean Dunn.

From the zeitgeist of the fever and fight rises the fearless genius and might of Linqua Franqa. A multi-hyphenate with talents more potent than the semantics of a polymath could ever describe; the Athens-Clarke County Commissioner, linguistics PhD candidate and grad school teaching assistant at the University of Georgia is the queer artist and activist the world desperately needs. Following on the heels of their lauded debut Model Minority (of which we had the pleasure of debuting back in 2018) ⁠— Mariah presents the next chapter with the alarm sounding call to consciousness and proactive arms with the release of Bellringer. One of the year’s most monumental albums, it is a necessary interruption from the pratfalls of apathetic complicity to awaken the masses to the systemic issues of reality that are all too self-evident.

Josh Stokes, Bobette (Internet & Weed)

Baltimore artist Josh Stokes bringing the big beat and so much more; press photo courtesy of the artist.

In the maternal tradition of infinite inspiration is the new Josh Stokes’ album Bobette, taking its name from Stokes’ mother who left the material world on December 20, 2006 but a spirit that lives on in perpetuity. Her lessons of creativity, imagination, individuality, self love and love for others shines on in one of Stokes’ most staggering works to date. Incorporating styles that span the world over and back again to the Baltimore beat — Bobette is a dedication to an inspirational figure whose influences live on in infamy; eternally. Bobette stands tall as a remarkable dedication to Josh Stokes' mother and greatest inspiration and shines as one of the most ambitious works in the Baltimore artist's catalogue.

Baseball Gregg, Pastimes (Z Tapes)

Presenting the crown princes of pop ⁠— Baseball Gregg’s Sam & Luca; photographed by Giacomo Manghi.

Developed over the course of the decade and borrowing its title from a James Joyce passage from Finnegans Wake [“Pastimes are past times.”] ⁠— Baseball Gregg have graciously blessed the whirlwind of 2022 with one of the year’s best albums with the indelible and beguiling maelstrom of holistic beauty that is Pastimes. Brought into full realization in Bologna by Italian wunderkind Luca Lovisetto and Stockton, California’s patron saint Sam Regan; the pair create a harmonious album curated by explorations of causality and the correlatives between the photo albums, diaries, picture books, old love letters, vintage social media posts and more from yesteryear and its curious relationship to the present and the premonitions that stand at the threshold of our mysterious grand tomorrow.

Zenizen, P.O.C. (Proof of Concept) (Topshelf Records)

Icon incarnate — Zenizen’s Opal Hoyt; press photo courtesy of the artist.

2022 is the year of Zenizen. The vision of NYC-based artist Opal Hoyt, the new album P.O.C. (Proof of Concept) is not only one of the year's most anticipated releases but a work of staggering genius that fans have awaited since the acclaimed debut Australia. The performer, producer, media boss, multi-hyphenate is your favorite's artist's favorite artist who has worked with everyone from Helado Negro, Suzi Analogue, Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz, Sad13) and countless more, readying her biggest creative statement to date. Opal’s new album is the most ambitious Zenizen outing yet that draws inspiration from her own life events from being adopted, living in Alaska, making moves to Australia, Las Vegas, Jamaica, DC, Vermont and so forth with New York serving as a home base (one of many). A creative polymath celebrated in the independent circuits and insider circles delivers their most sprawling and spectacular work with a style, attitude and ambition destined for the biggest and brightest lit main stages.

TOPS, Empty Seats (Musique Tops)

One of the world’s greatest bands — TOPS; photographed by Samuel F. Houston.

For over a decade, Montréal, Québec’s beloved TOPS have become an artistic intuition. A group that has lived up to all the hype and more, from word of mouth buzz among their fellow artists to gaining a worldwide following ⁠— the group of Jane Penny, David Carriere, Riley Fleck, and Marta Cikojevic have delivered an EP of universal healing and hope with the lauded Empty Seats via their own imprint Musique TOPS. Through an economy of five songs, the quartet paints portraits of our fractured world in all of its turbulent transitions. TOPS with their trademark sophisto-pop of grace and signature suave elements surveys the bad, the good, the anticipation, the hopes and prayers of our universe teetering on the brink of both perdition and a bountiful beauty beyond the measurement of standard metrics.

Total Slacker, ExtraLife (self-released)

DIY legend Tucker Rountree of Total Slacker; cover art from the album ExtraLife photographed by Lauren Underwood.

From cassette collaborations, the beloved Thrashin, Slip Away, Parallels and more — an artist that understands this degree of creative growth and geographical shifts is Tucker Rountree of legendary DIY pop institution Total Slacker. Moving back home to help out family, Tucker traded Brooklyn to work alongside his dad in Utah (his father a musician in the 70s/80s group The Western Reflections) where through the process of painting homes and soaking in the surrounding small towns inspired a new course of songwriting full of new heartfelt/heartland perspectives. On the new Total Slacker album ExtraLife; Rountree presents a new sound and style singing ballads about humble places and people that stand at threshold between antiquity and uncertainty. Tucker takes us to the main streets of everytown USA, extoling its rustic charm in the emotively tinged chords while observing the droughts and economic recessions and depressions that have left them in the dust. The record is dedicated to the pursuit of a much more meaningful existence and echelon of unrelenting grace. ExtraLife is about us. Our life in a muddled time, with infinite hope for a brighter path of better directions and unlimited possibilities of limitless beauty.

Fitting, Minutes (Research Chemical)

Sac town’s own Fitting; press photo courtesy of the artists.

The culmination of veteran independent pop talents Eli Wengrin, Greta Soos and Phil Barkel; Fitting gives us their debut EP Minutes courtesy of DIY imprint Research Chemical. The three piece explodes the minutiae of the moment, the temporality of time, forging the facets of fleeting seconds that make up the hours and measurements that comprise the days, nights, weeks, months and years that can fly by us faster than we can consciously acknowledge. Fitting makes music to find the meaning behind the otherwise menial, perfunctory and procedural actions of which we pay little to no mind that are a part of our day to day. Fitting gives the world something we can feel, embracing the shadow play and gestalt of all the moving parts that are acting and operating beneath the surface when we are just going through the motions.

Past Palms, Ambient Music For Watering Plants (self-released)

Past Palms’ Sam Friedman; photographed by Nuria Rius.

The prodigy artist’s latest work shines in a damn perfect union of ambient ASMR stems and opulent, electronic orchestration. NYC by way of Richmond, VA pop polymath Sam Friedman has found a way to somehow encapsulate the sensory field sound sample in the raw, articulating it's attributes into the consciousness opening rhythm cycle and spin of expertly applied electro touches. The opening movement of Ambient Music is the breathtaking "Meditation I: Palm" that is the fulfillment of the promise that all the witch house sales people never fully delivered. Think about the trill wave makers of hip hop and buzz band production fodder from back in the 2010s, envisioning another green world where Past Palms presents a new legacy in the electro-ambient canon. Sam demonstrates a methodical approach to atmosphere expanding mixing and sequencing that has long been in the works. Following intuitively along the path from the self-titled, Vernal, When the Sun Reaches Its Highest Point in the Sky, Senescence and Empyrean — we arrive at the lush landscapes of the beauty beholding majesty of Ambient Music for Watering Plants. Friedman invites the listening audience to venture deeper into the greenhouse of growing wonders.

Van Chamberlain, In the Sun (Very Jazzed)

The Van Chamberlain brothers; press photo courtesy of Kevin W. Condon.

Brooklyn based brotherly duo Van Chamberlain lean into existential meditations on their new album In the Sun via the chic cult boutique imprint Very Jazzed. Van and Jacob cut their teeth touring in Eternal Drag, Phantom Buffalo, following up their 2019 demo “L.Y.” (known as “Light Years” on the new album) with their full length debut delayed, like everything else in the world, by the global pandemic. Hunkering down in the Williamsburg studio Strange Weather with engineer/producer Garret de Block; Van Chamberlain creatively crystalize that curious liminal place where the past and present meet like intercepts and plots on a graph of grand vision. The concepts of heart and honest reflection are expressed through a robust sound that resonates like the eternal California sun met by the endless winters of New York.

Young Prisms, Drifter (Fire Talk Records)

SF’s own legendary dream gazers Young Prisms; photographed by Jared Silbert.

We here at Week in Pop have long felt a romantic kinship with Young Prisms. From our San Francisco-based connection, having both shared nascent beginnings among media hubs of our familiar, boutique imprints and mutually adored aesthetes of notoriety — they have always remained a group of great importance in our Bay Area offices. And today the band of Stefanie Hodapp, Matthew Allen, Giovanni Betteo and Jordan Silbert return with the following insightful curation and their brand new album Drifter; released through the fellow DIY institution Fire Talk Records and produced by fellow vision beach breaker Shaun Durkan (Weekend, Soft Kill).

Guerilla Toss, Famously Alive (Sub Pop)

Royal hyperpop majesties — Guerilla Toss; photographed by Ebru Yildiz.

Guerilla Toss are on another level. A different playing field. A different stratosphere. A different dimension and yet are very much an integral part of our shared universe. As the prestigious and lauded group signs to Sub Pop with the blazing glory of Famously Alive; we boldly embark upon the latest chapter from one of the world's most fascinating hyperpop art nouveau phenomenons. Pop writers, critics, editors and fans alike continue to trip over themselves in attempts to describe and pigeonhole, exhausting their lexicon in valiant efforts to describe the group’s style and sound that refuses to take the shape of any convenient (or conventional) descriptive signifier. While we here at Week in Pop have continued to chronicle one of the most beloved and beguiling aesthetic entities over the past decade, we stand in appreciation of Kassie Carlson, Peter Negroponte, Arian Shafiee and their dedicated commitment to maximalist experimentation and artistic excellence.

Death Parade, It Was Worth It to Love, Though It Hurt So Bad (Halfshell Records)

PDX proponents of goth pop nouveau — Death Parade; photographed by Sam Gherke.

Returning to the lush, raincloud corner of the pacific northwest marches the passionate, maudlin and mesmerizing pop act Death Parade. Lead by Laura Hopkins of Blackwater Holylight, the group [formerly known as Laura Palmer's Death Parade] takes you deep into the woods of a moonless night toward a transportive zone of reckoning with shadows and mirror visage representations and tulpa semblances of the self and the soul. Alongside the talents of Eirinn Lou Riggs, Danny Metcalfe and Robert Grubaugh; Hopkins and company present their ambitious new album It Was Worth It To Love, Though it Hurt So Bad courtesy of Halfshell Records that revels, rocks and roars in songs of triumph, songs of tribulation, songs of trepidation and songs of ecstatic heights. The album pulls back the red curtains from the stage to reveal poignant portraits of pain, testaments to the darkened corridors, twisted hallways and lost highways of candid tales normally reserved for esoteric folklore and nocturnal confessionals shared beneath a coal black sky like a lacy shrouded veil.

Maita, I Just Want to Be Wild For You (Kill Rock Stars)

PNW pop orchestrated by MAITA; photographed by Tristan Paiige.

Presenting a reflective work of nostalgic affinities, Portland pop phenoms MAITA, lead by Maria Maita-Keppeler along with Matthew Zeltzer, Nevada Sowle and Cooper Trail are one of the PNW's most important and exciting groups as of late. From a trajectory spanning pastoral operas and psalms from Waterbearer, the sharp rocking debut album Best Wishes, various covers, to the advent of the new album I Just Want To Be Wild For You; MAITA deconstructs the old worlds we once knew, the worlds we currently know in anticipatory hopes and praise for all that still can be.

VRITRA, VOID (BTM Records / Mint Songs)

The volition of VRITRA, aka Hal Donell Williams Jr.

You already know the portfolio and prestige. From the legendary Atlanta collective NRK (Nobody Really Knows), The Jet Age of Tomorrow, Odd Future, Pyramid Vritra and now just VRITRA — the multidisciplinary shaman pop prodigy Hal Williams delves into the bewitched fun house frequencies in the dizzying dimensions of VOID. A delicately and diligently designed media event is self described as an ‘exploration into fan/artist connection & access to an experience beyond listening / streaming a track.” Inviting audience interaction with access to the stems and other elements, Williams and the world are invited to mine an astral realm of ethereal, lavish experiments that oscillate between elegance and experimental abandon.

Annika Zee, Bleu ( Absurd TRAX / Vain Mina)

Designing the future of pop fashions and more — Annika Zee; photographed by Anika Larsen.

Returning with the follow-up to 2019's conceptual craft of majesty Factory Pageant is NYC by way of Toronto pop art designer of future musical fashions Annika Zee with the new album Blue. A joint release by Absurd TRAX with Vain Mina Records, the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music alum continues to challenge the tropes of style and concept of superstar with an azure saturated statement of unrelenting autonomy. Akin to fellow contemporaries Agua Viva, Zenizen to Luxe / S the Supplicant conceptual provocateur Sally Horowitz; Zee works in the new emergent art spaces that redefines how we see, hear and experience aesthetics. Redefining what it means to be an artist. Breaking the antiquated and obsolete pantheon pillars of preconceived cultural prejudices and gender biases, Annika elevates art and authorship to new enlightened levels and heightened hues of colors that have yet to be assigned with a name or corresponding signifier. Picking up where Factory Pageant left off; Annika Zee once again pushes past the tired shows of pageantry and mechanical motions to paint on new canvases from new palettes to embody the presence of a new kind of iconoclast for a new era of new discoveries.

[also check out Annika Zee’s latter 2022 releases A Faith Made of Silk & LOST DEMOS 2021-2022]

Maggie Gently, Peppermint (Refresh Records)

The suave, sincere and art savvy styles of Maggie Gently; photographed by Amayah Harrison.

Maggie Gently has been generating some buzz here at home in the Bay Area and far beyond for good reasons. A queer artist that is very much involved in her local/global communities, Gently has been making modern pop meditation cycles styled as sincere vignettes crafted with a pointed velocity and sharp volition. Maggie's art concerns the journey of reconnecting us to our selves, displaying the otherwise inner monologues and psychic dialogues as odes to loving our own interpersonal idiosyncrasies. Following up the 2020 debut Good Cry with Peppermint via Refresh Records, the San Francisco-based tunesmith presents a desperately needed creative panacea for our turbulent times. Enlisting fellow local luminaries Pllush and The She’s own Eva Treadway, Sinclair Riley and Maggie's brother Joey Grabmeier; Peppermint offers assuaging anthems of love, care and a profound concern for others, ourselves, with a deep empathy for the human experience along the mercurial plane of existence.

R. E. Seraphin, Swingshift (self-released)

Cult pop icon Ray Seraphin; press photo courtesy of the artist.

It has been postulated that Bay Area artists experience the world differently. From well read understandings of record store savoir faire, the modern and new contemporary canons and other respective troves of influential knowledge and limitless talents; these aesthetes conduct crafts guided by the enchanted breeze of the Pacific offshore winds to create musical paintings of unrelenting splendor. Beholden to this time honored tradition rises the solo works of Vallejo-based beloved cult pop wonder R. E. Seraphin with the release of the Swingshift EP. The latest offering from the former Talkies bandleader distills your favorite power pop phenomena into a DIY blender, riding high into a new stratosphere of new-new romantic revelry and grace unbound.

Joel Jerome, Super Flower Blood Moon (Dangerbird Records)

The prolific Joel Jerome; photographed by Julia Brokaw.

The back to basics approach often yields some of the most raw and realized work from a multidisciplined artist. For LA polymath Joel Jerome, their new album Super Flower Blood Moon for Dangerbird Records was assembled from a rudimentary ritual of recording phone voice memos, organized by way of a four-track application. Having worked with Cherry Glazerr, La Sera, LA Witch, Dios (Malos) and more over the years; Jerome shines a light on stripped down songs from the soul, further aided by atmospheric production touches supplied by Rob Schnapf. Famous for the home studio dubbed the Psychedelic Thriftstore; Joel Jerome leads the audience to lush pastorals of the spirit that lay between the rolling metropolitan valleys and hills and the seemingly infinite spaces of the galaxies.

Loco Tranquilo, “Summer Rain” (Text Me Records)

Love, light and Loco Tranquilo, aka Julián Gervasi; press photo courtesy of the artist.

“Summer Rain” basks in the mesmerizing glow of how wonderful our reality can be (while opening the door to new realities of grandeur and bliss that you never thought were even possible). Loco Tranquilo has blessed the world with one of the most gorgeous songs to commemorate the summer of 2022. Otherwise known as Julián Gervasi, the song is a collaboration with Mackenzie Bunch that was developed during the lockdown days of quarantine that accentuates the inherent bliss that exists in the here and now of life. A song that embraces healing and a degree of self-actualization that our world desperately needs now, more than ever before. The sun-kissed, morning dew christened anthem to inspire new degrees of carpe diem and higher levels of learning and loving has valiantly arrived (and not a moment later or sooner).

Sleap-e, Pouty Lips (WWNBB Collective)

The arts of Asia Martina Morabito, aka Sleap-E; photographed by Maicol Guidetti.

Sometimes a certain stylized bouquet of sounds can sweep you away to new places, rich with feeling and collage boards of thought. Such is the art house fashion chic of Pouty Lips ⁠— the new album from Sleap-e, aka Asia Martina Morabito of the illustrious Italy by way of the Bay Area WWNBB Collective (We Were Never Being Boring). Having been over two years in development with instrumental assists from Luca Gruppioni, Francesco Bonora, Natan Dall'Aglio, Jacobopo Finelli and other assorted members from Baseball Gregg; Pouty Lips is a record that exists in a Euro café or thrift store boutique of its own. Asia expresses brass inflected exhibitions of emotively charged observations, idea fragments and other miscellaneous short stories that are sung in motions that mist like the steam from a ristretto shot of espresso or the fog from a lit cigarette ember.

Lissie, Carving Canyons (Lionboy Records)

Modern pop legend Lissie; photographed by Lili Peper.

Over the course of the past decade, Lissie has valiantly risen to the illustrious heightened prominence as one of the singular spirits of the mystic North American heartland. From the quilted farmlands, valleys and fields of the Midwest; the Iowan homestead-chic artist makes triumphant hymns that survey our whole wide world as a vast stretch of farms, peaks, rivers, ranches, townships, forests and friendly cities. An organic, ethereal, earnest and commanding presence like a Stevie Nicks-esque bohemian raised on the range — the art of Lissie’s work is in the keen ability to transform the hectic world that we know into a quaint global village surrounded by the roaring splendor of the natural realm. A delivery that awakens the weary and dormant sprite from within and strums the electric chords and strings of the heart, Lissie’s songs make a lonely roadhouse dive sound like a magnificent amphitheater or a Royal Albert Hall sound like a humble wooded cantina outpost in the middle of Nowheresville, USA. Continuing in this tradition is the new album of conflicts, care, quandaries and catharsis titled Carving Canyons. A record developed in Nashville with fellow femme luminaries such as Sarah Buxton, Madi Diaz, Natalie Hemby, Bre Kennedy, Morgan Nagler, Kate York and production by Curt Schneider; Lissie delivers a rugged, raw and righteous epic of love, loss, healing and the limitless prowess of perseverance.

Wild Arrows, Loving the Void (self-released)

Communing in nature with Mike Law of Wild Arrows; photographed by Lindsey Law.

Wild Arrows unleashed an apparition of amour with “Here’s the Ghost” from the album Loving the Void. Lead by Mike Law of EULCID and New Idea Society, the NYC-based artist works under a thesis to make some of the most incredible art never before attempted. While elements might strike notions of familiarity of previous movements and anachronistic aesthetes and such, Law alongside assists from Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) and Alan Cage (Quicksand), Gary Atturio, Grady Walker and Nick Krill collaborate together to create the tones, note sequences and progressions that have never before been heard, felt or experienced before. Far from the futile task of a re-inventing the wheel, Wild Arrows takes aim at the arrangement of moods, textures and tonal landscapes that the world has never before witnessed.

Jennifer Hall, “Belonging Forever” (self-released)

Chicago’s own star Jennifer Hall; photographed by Matthew Gregory Hollis.

Chicago artist Jennifer Hall focuses on the infinite healing powers and properties of art in the face of all obstacles. Having recently graced these pages with the debut of “Why Cut Time” — Hall returns with a simmering synth studded symphony dedicated to the power of creativity and the mesmerizing properties of music with the premiere of “Belonging Forever”. The baggage of unbearable weights beset by the world’s overwhelming tilted whirl is countered with life affirming sung shouts that ring out and resonate to places beyond the material realms that we know all too well. Jennifer edifies the importance of the aesthetics and avenues that lead us toward the precipices of the eternal, stepping through the ineffable slipstreams of vision into new arenas and dimensions of the unknown and never before embarked upon.

Ecstatic International, self-titled (Sister Polygon)

DC’s own disruptors Ecstatic International; press photo courtesy of the band.

Introducing DC’s latest upstarts Ecstatic International, interrupting our regularly scheduled programming with something that is not a technocratic application nor a reproductive health supplement (as seen on tv and on the net, hawked by toxic wannabe demagogues). A group devoted to the radicalization of new riveting rhythms, G.L. Jaguar (Priests) Laura Harris (Ex Hex), Nikhil Rao, Anno (Olivia Neutron-John) and Jacky Cougar Abok (Des Demonas) have banded together under the self-styled banner of ‘radical optimism and energies sourced from Purple Music's outer reaches.’ Collectively EI blends the inner and outer tensions in a synthesis that takes on the conflicts and paradoxes that plague the mind, body, spirit, populous and other aspects of hive consciousness into a cathartic art form.

Katie Lass, Hypnopomp (HHBTM / Remove Records)

Detroit’s rising wonder Katie Lass; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Meet Detroit-based artist Katie Lass who has pressed some of your favorite records on wax and now steps into the spotlight with the debut album Hypnopomp for HHBTM / Remove Records. The gatekeepers of the world might lavish the breakout record with superlatives alluding to subversive artistic movements past, present and future, but what becomes abundantly clear on Hypnopomp is an ambitious approach to experimental world building. A fancy free dawning springs to form on "Can You Take Me Back", to the night riding shades of midnight of "Luster", rhythm collage experiments on "Hypnopompamus", the mesmerizing twinkle and shine of "Ctan6 - !", the echoing coastal balladry that comprises "Shadow on the Shoreline", to orchestrating new takes on the construct of genre with "Nonpop". Atmospheres are created in some unusual manners that oscillate the mind like the coolness of "Claw", the waterside psychotropic escapes of "Seaweedhead", to the further transcendent splashes heard and felt on "Pin & Ripple", weaving new textiles of new wonders with "Porous Rags", producing portals to new realms through "Long Window", as "Eidolon Orbit" summons specters from the netherworlds, concluding the song cycle with the experimental candied canyon warp of "Sugar Chasm".

Tiny the Dream, “Many Selves” (self-released)

The visceral vision realms of Tiny the Dream; photographed by Jeanette Chwan.

Introducing Tiny the Dream, the latest incarnation from Buffalo, NY artist Suzanne Bonifacio that bridges heart beat pulsing beats and evocative atmospheres. Presenting the debut of “Many Selves”, Bonifacio explores the multiplicities of being that re-imagines that infinite roles and realities of everything an individual can be. The moody EDM imbued ambience of the track takes on a subterranean feeling, like adventuring into a clandestine cavern, turned discreet makeshift club by a band of stylish partygoers occupying an abandoned subway station or an ancient repurposed water utility. The serious tone implies pensive and diligent dance step motions, with chopped vocal stem utterances that contribute to an otherworldly sense of awe and elevated headspaces. Tiny the Dream is a re-imagining of the self, the transformation of the artist on their own terms, on account of their own perceptions, thoughts, feelings, visions and more that manifests a rhythmic meditation on the myriad possibilities of personal and creative re-invention. Decidedly different from the emotive chamber guitar pop of Bonifacio’s single “Condense” from last year; Tiny the Dream takes kinetic forms of aesthetic fusions and syntheses to the far out places beyond the constraints of linguistic expressions.

Teen Daze, “New Spirits” (Cascine)

Wizard of wondrous waves — Teen Daze; photograph courtesy of Faked Potatoes.

For over the course of the past 12 plus years, thus has been the creative trajectory of Teen Daze’s Jamison Isaak. The Vancouver-based artist has spanned works that have been lauded with all sorts of innovative superlatives from every corner of the blogosphere to the last bastions and vestiges of print media in praise of Isaak’s breakthroughs of ushering in new degrees and valence levels of ambient rhythmic dimensions. The latest in a catalogue of countless releases is the fresh and fantastical beauty of “New Spirits”. Drawing from the European ambient works of the 1970s to Japan’s city pop movements of the 1980s and even deeper, dustier, record bin grooves — Jamison entertains the mystery of the sensations and worlds that we cannot fully define in the structures, syntax and logic of established lexicons and polytechnical schools of associated sciences. The newest Teen Daze compositions concern themselves with the worlds that are left to the writings, paintings, discourse, et al. of vague conjecture, ethereal questions with ambiguous answers that remain open ended outside the auspices of the experiential mind’s eye [and ear] of the beholder.

2022 releases of import & note:

Beyoncé, Renaissance (Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records)

Cites Aviv, Man Plays the Horn

Denzel Curry, Melt My Eyez See Your Future (PH / Loma Vista Recordings)

Alex G, God Save the Animals (Domino)

Cam Maclean, Secret Verses (self-released)

Mitski, Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans)

PLAINS, I Walked with You a Ways (ANTI-)

Sault, Air, 11, AIIR, Earth, Today & Tomorrow, Untitiled (God) (Forever Living Originals)

Steve Lacy, Gemini Rights (RCA)

Terrace, Just Say Maybe (self-released)

Toro y Moi, Mahal (Dead Oceans)

Weyes Blood, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop)

Beyond the headlines of telecom standoffs, sports sweeps, political primary dramatics and a whole lot more—Week in Pop presents the latest media medleys that you have may have missed. Now with the latest top stories, big news as Denton, Texas DIY pop icon Claire Morales announced the upcoming album with a listen to the title track, "All That Want" that is guaranteed to expand your consciousness and arriving September 29; Baltimore's Tierra Whack astounded the world with the 15-minute visual release Whack World; Free Cake For Every Creature announced the new album The Bluest Star available August 3 via Double Double Whammy and graced us with one of the most inspiring singles you're gonna hear all year with "Around You"; Tomberlin mesmerized the world with the Laura-Lynn Petrick-directed video for the spellbinding song "Self-Help" from the upcoming Saddle Creek album At Weddings; Grimes shared snippets of new songs; Half Waif presents the ambient, universe-expanding Gigi Masin remix of "Back In Brooklyn" from the Cascine album Lavender; new Chicago upstarts Glass Famine delivered the beguiling and bewitching fun new single "Grumbling Bellies" from the group's upcoming 7" available at the end of July; Bergen/Oslo quartet Softcore untd. presented the astounding new single "Sjansespill" courtesy of Cascine with news of an album in progress; PBSM presented their own electric take on Lana Del Rey's "Blue Jeans"; NADINE announced a summer tour with Remember Sports with a viewing of the Emily Cross & Jimmy Magliozzi video for "Pews" involving cool choreographed calisthenics from the Father/Daughter / Memphis Industries debut album Oh My; Chromatics released the vinyl exclusive Camera 12"; Helena Deland delivered a look at the intimate and artistic Mégane Voghell visual for "Take It All"; Toronto's Freedom Baby dropped the 14-minute plus wonder "I Want To Give"; El Ten Eleven dropped their massive and moving new single "Phenomenal Problems" featured off their album Banker’s Hill available August 10 through Topshelf Records; Kim Gordon and Bill Nace, aka Body/Head announced the new album The Switch available July 13 through Matador and shared the delightfully distorted new single "You Don't Need"; 070 Shake delivered the Mustang coast cruising visuals for "Mirrors"; Matt Costa delivered the traveling and strolling reflections and sentiments displayed on the Pamela Littky and Jordan Lovelis visuals for "I Remember It Well #2" from the Dangerbird Records album Santa Rosa Fangs; Heathered Pearls jump-started our party with the "Under The Bridge (Matrixxman 8am Mix)" off of Detroit, MI 1997 - 2001 Remixes EP available July 13 via Ghostly; Toronto's Wes Allen offered the invitation for earnest inquiry with "Ask Me Now" featured off the debut EP; Echo Courts announced their upcoming Room With A View album arriving July 13 via Refresh Records, providing a listen to the swept-away and striking single "Take Away"; Jenn Champion's anticipated album Single Rider arrives July 13 via Hardly Art; buzz for JAY-Z's "Made In America Festival" and the "On the Run II Tour" with Beyoncé; Jeff Rona released Projector Remixed; Rome's Sweat just released their retro-riding Peach Gloss EP available now via WWNBB Collective; Saweetie delivered the ultra-posh Bae Mix and equally fancy visual for "ICY GRL" ft. Kehlani; The Frights presented the creature-comforts visual for "Crutch" directed by Jason Link and Richard Dotson, starring Christopher Candy; Discus presented the world with the passionate pop single "One Step"; Portland's The Fourth Wall delivered the mega-ton single "Circular Ruins" featured off the forthcoming album available this summer via Bug Hunt, before a tour with Typhoon; Nick Brewer returned with a listen to The Incredibles produced wavy and atmospheric new track "Headphones"; Max Richter is releasing The Blue Notebooks via Deutsche Grammophon on May 11 (standard edition) and June 29 (super deluxe edition); Jack Tatum announced the new Wild Nothing album Indigo arriving August 31 via Captured Tracks and shared the serenity-inducing single "Letting Go"; 

Tiny Fighter delivered the dramatic and expressive visual for the expansive anthem of human exchanges "Hollow Talk" directed by Alexandra & Silja-Marie Kentsdottir; Yialmelic Frequencies exploded our consciousnesses with the attention enrapturing "Clay" visual from Jules Guérin off the album Yililok courtesy of LEAVING Records; The Internet delivered the sentimental and smooth r&b with the Syd-directed visual for "Come Over"; Zackey Force Funk announced the new album Bodyrock Shotgun available July 20 via MoFunk Records and delivered the snazzy XL Middleton-produced title track; Seeb delivered the indulgent weekender single "Drink About" ft. Dagny; Miguel & Chicano Batman performed https://youtu.be/1TmaO8wjCDM "Sky Walker" and "Black Lipstick"; Liverpool's own St. Jude the Obscure delivered the wild roaming electro-ultra-pop of "I’m the Wolves"; Welles rocked the world with the bold & blistering guitar chords of "Rock N Roll" off the upcoming album Red Trees and White Trees available June 15 via 300 Entertainment; Manchester's New Luna offered an introspective listen to the new emotive-edged single "Knew Too"; Saltwater Sun shared the sunshine-crashing summer anthem "Hot Mess"; Suede delivered the viaduct swinging visual for "The Invisibles"; Sun June presented the kind and endearing expressions heard and felt on the single "Records" off the upcoming album Years available June 15 from Keeled Scales; De'Anza delivered the cosmic dub of conflicts and confrontations with "War" from the upcoming concept EP Cosmic Dream available June 29; Future Generations delivered a listen to the ultra-bright electric single "All the Same" off the upcoming album Landscape available September 14 via Frenchkiss; Radiant Children presented the wild adventure video for "Life's a Bitch" with word that their debut EP Tryin' will be available later this year; Lenny Zenith shared the bright lit pop art of "Trouble" featured off the new album What If The Sun available June 22; Strange Relations shared the "For Sure"; Sakima dropped the new electronic essences of bold pop on the track "Show Me"; Isaac Grace presented the lavish performance/analog recording visual for the big new single "Running On Empty"; Power Trip unleashed the pure fury and ferocity with "Hornet's Nest"; So Stressed helped us decompress with the therapeutic epic "Very Long Cloth"; L'FREAQ dropped the pop-cosmica visuals for "Moonlight"; Femdot delivered the autobiographically inspired album debut Delacreme 2 courtesy of Closed Sessions; Anna Calvi announced the new album Hunter available August 31 via Domino with a look at the William Kennedy visual for the anthemic ode to identity pluralism "Don't Beat the Girl out of My Boy"; The Buttertones shared a look at the suspenseful, fancy-lit Zack Bernstein video for "You and Your Knife" (complete with a sax solo) from the new album Midnight In A Moonless Dream courtesy of Innovative Leisure; Ward shared a look at the dramatic performance visual for the equally theatric single "Soothe the Soul"; off the new album TESTING, A$AP Rocky presented the visual for the Harlem-hometown ode/testimonial "Praise The Lord (Da Shine)" ft. Skepta; Tennyson presented a live look at "Uh Oh!" ft. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson performed/recorded live at Valentine Studios in LA; AVANT! Records announced Ritual Veil's Wolf In The Night 12" arriving June 8; Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) delivered the body shaking Matias Aguayo remix for "Beautiful Thing"; Clyde Guevara presented the desert DeLorean-rolling visual for the level elevating "Higher Vibration" off the upcoming freeJAH release available July 20; Rizzla turned up the stripped-down percussion with the ballroom beat-em-up "Black Eye" off of Adepta available July 6 via Fade To Mind; Ross From Friends presented the cool club-catering single "Project Cybersyn" off the upcoming debut album Family Portrait available July 27 via Brainfeeder; Honyock unveiled their debut cosmic pop single "Patron" from their upcoming album El Castillo available July 27 via Friendship Fever;

San Cha shared the inspired, spirited and festive title track from the forthcoming debut EP Capricho Del Diablo available July 13 via Outside Insight; CMDWN delivered the minimalist woozy awakening of "Strong"; hype for Jeremi and Ty Dolla $ign's collaborative cut "The Light"; Late Bloomer presented the new summer-sun-soaking track "Listen" from their upcoming album Waiting available July 29 via 6131 Records; Julian (Julia Leiby) flipped our consciousness focuses with the single "Asleep" from the upcoming Real Distance EP available June 15 via Fire Talk; Jane Church signed to Greenway Records with the single "Rocket To The Kremlin" that catapults the audience to the former-USSR off the 7" available July, debut album slated for fall 2018; Jade Bird brought the rage with the Toby Ross-Southall video for "Furious"; Twin Shadow shared a look at the Aaron Hymes co-directed visual for the nostalgic longing for chill weekends with "Saturdays" ft. HAIM; Caroline Says delivered the conscious reflections that oscillate between the mind, sun and sea in the video for "Mea Culpa" off the new album No Fool Like An Old Fool courtesy of Western Vinyl; A.R.Kane celebrated 30 years of their album 69 with a listen from Jübl EP Thinking Sweet (available June 20), with the reflective mediations of "Thinking About You";  Gang Gang Dance graced the world with the new inverted dance-floor destroyer "Young Boy (Marika in Amerika)"; Hartlepool's Para Alta delivered the performance presentation visual for "Dusk" courtesy of Big Indie; the TURN IT AROUND: THE STORY OF EAST BAY PUNK documentary available June 22 courtesy of 1-2-3-4 Go! Records; BOYO announced a stateside tour with a listen to the new smooth and cool single "Take Me Away" ft. Dent May; La Force, Ariel Engle of Broken Social Scene, presented the honest and spirit searching single "Lucky One" courtesy of Arts & Crafts; SOPHIE announced the debut album OIL OF EVERY PEARL's UN-INSIDES available June 15 via Future Classic; Gorillaz dropped the new jam "Sorcererz"; Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams, Jr., delivered a look at the video for "I'll Pretend" ft. Justin Vernon directed by Poliça’s Ryan Olson and Isaac Gale from the album Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune available September 7 from Joyful Noise Recordings; Mourn delivered another arrangement of organized dissonance with "Doing It Right"; Phish announced The Baker's Dozen Box Set, Live at Madison Square Garden November 30; Rita Ora dropped the Helmi video for the controversy stirring single "Girls" ft. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX; Die Antwoord presented a look at the surreal/extra-terrestrial Ron Castellano co-directed video for "Alien" ft. The Black Goat; PEOPLE Project buzz; Mating Ritual play San Francisco's Brick & Mortar on June 23; the Byrds' Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman to celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo with a special tour; The Prince estate announced the upcoming release Piano & A Microphone: 1983 available September 21, sharing the passionate piano pop of "Mary Don't You Weep"; rare copy of Prince's The Black Album emerged; Eric André and Derrick Beckles' "Mostly 4 Millennials" hype; Thom Yorke's score to the Suspiria remake can be heard in the trailer; Bonnaroo offering a complimentary laundry service; Dave Grohl's stunt double stage antics, with further news that the artist's mom Virginia Hanlon Grohl is producing a doc about rock stars' moms titled "From Cradle to Stage"; Talib Kweli sparring with former collaborator Res over claims of sexual harassment; the Ticketfly data breach situation; BBC's historic Maida Vale Studios are apparently closing down; Lil Wayne's recent settlements; Low End Theory announced the night's last 10 shows; and we celebrate the life and works of designer Kate Spade, Clarence Fountain of the Blind Boys of Alabama and Last Poets co-founder Jalal Mansur Nuriddin.

Keep up with all of the buzz via Week in Pop's news section.