Five Songs You Need To Hear Right Now!

The current sounds of Pop are diving into experimental sounds and delivering them with endlessly catchy choruses, melodies, and mind-blowing moments. Here are 5 songs you need to hear right now to know what’s up.

Madeon & Sam Gellaitry – Red Jacket

A defining artist of modern electronic music, Madeon returns with Red Jacket, the fourth and final single in the run-up to his upcoming album Victory. Explicitly influenced by and sonically reminiscent of classic French electro and electroclash; the track is built around a distorted, pulsing guitar motif, blended with densely layered bass textures, and saturated vocals. Sam Gellaitry lends an incredibly energetic performance, delivering overdriven yet colourful vocals as the track immediately explodes into its chorus.

Following the release of Fire Away featuring Slayyyter, Madeon’s recent collaborations have begun to showcase the sonic identity of his new era. Working with artists who have become increasingly influential among younger electronic music audiences, Madeon places himself within the milieu of a new generation of dance music, embracing a sound that feels aligned with the current cultural moment, increasingly defined by distortion, maximalism, and emotional intensity.

– Devak Julka

Samba Jean-Baptiste & Rockie Rode – January Sweetheart

This single comes after the release of Samba Jean-Baptiste’s celebrated album +3, which has garnered the Haitian-born Brooklyn musician some well-deserved attention within experimental R&B, art pop, and electronic circles. January Sweetheart feels like a conversation between the two voices present; his frequent collaborator, Rockie Rode, who produces similar dreamy lo-fi tracks, counters Baptiste’s gentle vocals with a similarly hazy tone. The dichotomy between the tender lyricism and the resonant bassline creates a simultaneously pensive and dazzling atmosphere, a sentiment consistent with Baptiste’s delicately crafted R&B works.

– Helena Allen Kalb

Akriila & Jane Remover – suave

Serving as some of underground electronic music’s most prominent faces, Akriila and Jane Remover bring a digital crunch to their first collaboration on their newest track Suave. Chilean singer Akriila has been a defining force in Latin Pop music this decade, with her experimental edge bringing a new sense of liveliness to her scene, unapologetically blending reggaeton and dembow with blast beats, jungle breaks, and a wide range of experimental sounds. Jane Remover isn’t so different; their time spent on the web has made them a pioneering figure in internet music, heralded as one of online music’s most important figures. Both Jane and Akriila alike have an undeniable adoration for Pop music. On Suave, the duo brings that love to the forefront, topped with breakbeats, crushed saw-wave melodies, and smooth vocals sung in Spanish and English alike.

– Eero Deosaran

Kurt Vile – 99 BPM

In his latest release, Kurt Vile has brought his distinct flavor of laid-back, casual, flowing indie folk together into another incredible album. The best example of this style is the track 99 BPM, which also reflects Vile’s awareness of timing and rhythm. The song carries a unique mid-tempo groove, creating fluid and sporadic guitar lines that come from Vile’s twangy, country-adjacent guitar tone, becoming characterized as his trademark sound for this outing. Within the mix, each instrument cuts through with a tender brightness and lightness. The lyrics are a continuation of what is typical for Vile: a slangy, existential stream of consciousness, with a Chip Taylor-coded delivery. This is a captivating piece of psychedelic-folk music that slowly, steadily, and subtly grows. Vile can create a very specific, laid-back groove that becomes a very contagious listening experience.

– Theo Pereyra-Etienne

Steve Lacy – the feeling

Steve Lacy has been one of the leading voices in modern R&B and Pop for over a decade. His time spent in the band The Internet, his production credits across a plethora of mainstream Pop and Hip-Hop records, and his solo defined the latter half of the 2010s. And in the 2020s, Lacy is one of Pop music’s most adored voices, so when he announced his return after 4 years away from the spotlight, fans were overjoyed. the feeling is the first single off Steve Lacy’s upcoming July album titled Oh Yeah?, and it’s a spacious R&B crooner full of luscious synth passages, a rickety drum loop, and Lacy’s tender, longing vocal passages, all aiding toward a grander sense of yearning; the true heart and soul of Steve Lacy’s work.

– Eero Deosaran

You can find all these songs and many more in our “Now Playing At Activaire HQ” playlist on Spotify. We update it weekly, so be sure to hit that heart button.