Today's Top Tune

SYML is the Welsh word for "simple", but it's also the solo project of Seattle musician and producer Brian Fennell, whose music explores the instincts that draw us toward sanctuary: sometimes it's a place, and sometimes it's a person. His latest is "I Was Stone", a swirling, stark and emotional contemplation of a love lost.

The new album from Berlin-based, Danish-born singer, pianist, composer Agnes Obel is a deep dive into the impact that motherhood had on her creative process. Dedicated to her daughter, the album draws inspiration from the poetry of Sumerian priestess Enheduanna, the world's first known author, the philosophers Hannah Arendt and Emanuele Coccia, and Danish pop.

Kate Bollinger's Shop Girl is a set of "songs from an imagined musical". Smartly produced by Jonathan Rado (Foxygen, Weyes Blood, Tyler Ballgame), the 5-song EP was inspired by the '70s kitsch of Lynsey De Paul, Kate Bush and a love for the 2006 rock opera Ribbons of War by the Philadelphia band The Extraordinaires, a favorite of Kate's while growing up.

A new compilation, decades in the making, brings together 25 pioneering experiments between musicians working with pre-Columbian instruments and artists working with more modern sounds. Compiled by Carlos Icaza and dublab's Mark “Frosty” McNeill, the collection features a mesmerizing work from Antonio Zepeda and Eugenio Toussaint called "Viento de Lluvia". 

The latest from Lucy Dacus is “No Thank You, I Love You, Goodbye”, a song that she wrote 10 years ago, originally set to be part of her debut album, "No Burden". Although it never made it onto the final, it's been a favorite at live shows. Now it's available for the first time, and set to be part of the 10th anniversary vinyl reissue, due December 4th.

The innovative Argentine rapper Dillom came up in Buenos Aires' trap scene, but on his latest, he pushes further into post-punk, new wave and electronic rock. The new album is called La Nueva Violencia, or The New Violence. The title track is a two-minute controlled explosion—frantic and noisy, setting the album’s chaotic tone, and it's Today's Top Tune. 

Under the artist banner Harmony Index, LA songwriter and producer Nico Leibman creates a world where dream pop, trip-hop, ’90s dance and R&B meet. Her debut album, Lights On, traces five years of opening up to love and creative risk. Closing song “Trust” turns surrender into a metaphor for that evolution—a tender fantasy of falling in love again. 

Costa Rican pianist, singer and composer Sofi Paez creates intimate, cinematic music where modern classical meets songwriting. Now based in Berlin, she was the first artist signed to Ólafur Arnalds’ OPIA Community. Her debut album, Silent Stories, transforms themes of memory, loss and belonging into emotionally resonant piano-led songs. 

Dutch artist and producer Benny Sings studied sonology at The Hague’s Royal Conservatory before becoming a cult figure in the indie pop world. An early win was co-writing Rex Orange County’s “Loving Is Easy”—a song he initially thought was so bad he shouldn't release it. His new album, 22 Durnham Dew, is out today and our favorite is "Syllable Salad".

Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Shepherd’s Bush in West London, Ethiopian-Egyptian artist Alewya sees herself as a painter who makes music. Following critical acclaim for her debut album, her collab with Moses Boyd and a support slot for Little Simz, she returns with ZERO: a self-produced, spiritually driven album exploring identity, instinct and freedom.