Listen: No Downtown by Charlotte Boin

As a teenager, I grew up living in the UK’s Suffolk countryside. Whilst I now have a sense of nostalgia for that landscape, at the time I felt suffocated by it. The place, the thinking, the people, and the sense of diversity all felt so small and stifling. I found myself longing for the potential and possibility of cities, which shimmered with the potential to find people more like me.

With my own experience in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that French musician Charlotte Boin’s new single resonates with me. Entitled No Downtown, the song “paints the picture of being stuck in a town too small for your big dreams”. Both written and produced by Boin, the song draws together soft alt pop melodies with R&B textured percussion, together with her own raw lyrical performance.

The resulting song is polished but emotionally authentic. Liberal use of sub-bass lends the song an introspective feel, whilst hinting at the nighttime thrills of the larger environments Boin longs for. Taking inspiration from artists that include Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, and Britney Spears, Charlotte’s sound reflects global sensibilities whilst still drawing on the roots of her southwestern French hometown.

Check out No Downtown below:

Listen: Temporary by Kylie Rothfield

Following on from last year’s big, impassioned single, Never Loved Somebody, US musician Kylie Rothfield is back with her new single, Temporary. Where Never Loved Somebody was an epic slice of emotive pop, Temporary is a more muted and understated affair.

Opening with clipped percussion and a Hooky-esque New Order bass line, Temporary shimmers with a series of close cinematic synth tones that underline Rothfield’s (once again) beautiful, crisp and glassy vocal. The song’s bruising lyrics pair with a streamlined, restrained production, the streamlined and detached sound reflecting Rothfield’s own disassociation from her situation and emotional state. As she sings the song’s chorus, it’s clear that this is a song about opting to stay in a situation where you are knowingly hurting yourself in an attempt to put off future, inevitable, pain:

“I blocked your phone on Saturday,
I keep on calling anyway,
We’re always acting like it’s not…
Temporary”

Temporary was written and produced by Kylie, alongside queer indie alt-pop artist Mothé, and takes inspiration from the likes of The Strokes and The Cure. Check it out below, and look out for Kylie Rothfield’s debut album, due in sprint 2025:

Listen: Our Flowers Grow by Cy Noel

Cy Noel’s new single, Our Flowers Grow, arrives on pillowy soft keys and a gentle kick drum, all in anticipation of the arrival of Noel’s vocal. The song’s lyrics cuts through the gentle instrumentation with a clear-eyed sense of humanity, reassuringly intimate as Noel declares, ‘I’ll be there’.

What Cy Noel has created here is the perfect pairing of vocal and production, the two components mirroring one another. During the opening moments of Our Flowers Grow, Noel’s voice benefits from the canvas afforded by the delicate and spacious production. As the song builds towards its conclusion, however, the vocal’s crescendo is met by a collage of musical detail… percussion accelerates and vocals are layered and pitched, accentuating the song’s emotional gravity. The result is a song that basks in the warm embrace of human connection, the music providing the equivalent of the quickening heart-rate that comes with feeling seen, understood, and cared for, by someone.

Overall, Our Flowers Grow is a warm, refreshing capsule of sonic love. Check it out below:

Listen: Ain’t Talking by Cutty

Comprised of singer Amy Precious and multi-instrumentalist and producer, Kev La Kat, Cutty are an artistic duo hailing from the UK. The pair first forged their partnership off the back of a seemingly simple conversation at a local bar, where Amy worked and Kev DJ’d, with Precious asking Kev for support producing music for an upcoming art exhibition. Having bonded on a shared love of 90s trip-hop, Björk, funkadelic, and electronic music, they established a deeper collaboration in Cutty.

Having caught the ears of BBC Introducing and DIY Magazine, Cutty have since established a following in their hometown of Hull. Drawing inspiration from diverse influences, their sound combines disparate styles with a high-energy aesthetic to create something raw, dynamic, and yet accessible.

Having initially released a portion of their work, Cutty took a break to further refine their sound, creating a number of new songs over the past year. They have now selected the best of that material to make up their forthcoming EP, Pump Funk. The first single from that EP, Ain’t Talking, is a statement of intent, demonstrating the way the duo’s sound is evolving.

Ain’t Talking opens with a swagger, chunky drums and thick bass providing a concrete platform for Precious’ vocals and attitude, as her lyrics explore a sense of running in contrast to those around you. This sentiment reflects the song’s articulation of what the pair describe as “defying the need to speak when what’s being said around you doesn’t matter”… It is an embrace of the notion of connection with others, whilst also taking the time “to piece together our own truths”.

Overall, Ain’t Talking is the kind of song that constantly keeps you on your toes. Taking a pause mid-way through, Amy’s vocals are joined by a slowly building guitar riff, before veering off into a cacophony of liquid drum and bass. This unpredictable nature makes Cutty’s latest single feel alive, thrillingly divergent and disruptive. I can’t wait to hear more.

Watch: Touch Me There by Ruby Gill

Born in Johannesburg but now based in Naarm/Melbourne, Ruby Gill is a breakthrough musician who has received coverage from triple j and BBC 6 Music, NME, Clash and the Independent. On Touch Me There, Gill is unveiling what she calls her ‘most special creation’.

A raw piece of anti-folk, Touch Me There bristles with authenticity and vulnerability. Gill wrote the song for herself, and it represents the moment where she first came out to herself, sitting writing the lyrics on a riverbank.

The song’s production and style is relatively simple — Gill’s vocals sung against a gentle background melody, strummed by Gill on an acoustic guitar. As the song progresses, however, her vocal is gradually joined by those of Gill’s ‘found family’ choir, made up of local queer, female and gender-diverse musicians Annie-Rose Maloney, Hannah McKittrick, Hannah Cameron, Jess Ellwood, Angie McMahon, and Olivia Hally (Oh Pep!).

As it slowly builds, Touch Me There reflects a growing determination and self-awareness from Ruby herself. Her lyrics, which include phrases like ‘want someone to know what I like when I’m tired’, and ‘tries to convince me that I am an angel when I just want you to fuck me on the table’, reflect someone who has long denied themselves the kind of connection we all need. Hearing Gill open up and articulate her own desires is a deeply moving and inspiring experience.

Talking about what the song means to her, Ruby Gill says:

‘During the longest dry spell of my life, I came out to myself. The first time I said it out loud was in this song — all that sitting by a river waiting for the truth to come out led to me being honest for the first time about who I was attracted to and what kind of sex I wanted in my life. It took almost two years of zero kissing to get to that point of self-knowledge. Not intentionally, haha — everything just felt so wrong and scary after being touched in really unsafe ways before that. I was numb for years, but I finally felt sensation in my body again after writing Touch Me There. It broke me open. I hope it breaks other people open too, whether it’s about queerness or otherwise. You have a say over your love and pleasure.’

Check out Touch Me There below: