Before The Chorus

Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem, is an outspoken newcomer to the pop world. She shamelessly tackles mental health struggles, bad relationships, bisexuality, and more in her music. Her 2019 debut album, Compliments Please, is a reminder that pop music can be complex, contradictory and raw, even during its most danceable moments.

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Overcoats are a Brooklyn-based pop duo, comprised of Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell. Their second album, The Fight, follows their 2017 debut Young. While it has a few nods to their first release, The Fight is largely a departure for Overcoats. On their new album, their pop anthems unpack what it means to fight, in every sense of the word: fighting for womxn, against misogyny and ignorance, fighting to be understood, and fighting for one’s self-worth.

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Gengahr are a four-piece band from Hackney in East London. Their third studio album, Sanctuary, is an intimate dive into lead singer Felix’s experience with loss. It is also, however, a celebration of friendship and collaboration; Felix’s bandmates, Hugh, Danny, and John, stuck by him, and they brought on Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club as producer. The resulting songs are glimmering, heartbreaking, hopeful, and liberating, all at the same time.

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