Torres covered Portishead's 'Wandering Star', made quite a different song; string arrangements on Ladybug Transistor’s 'Giovanna Please' sound like open spaces and countryside; Brutus slowed down their metal on 'Sand', but keep the intensity and melody; Channel Tres' 'Weedman' is a funny song about a “notoriously unreliable” weed dealer; another funny one - Chai's 'No More Cake' about too much make-up; Bizou features former and current members of Light FM, Smashing Pumpkins and Glaare - their new single 'Crashing Sky' puts them between pop and dark; Htiekal is a music project by the actor Lakeith Stanfield, and 'Fast Life' is his step into leftfield pop; Jessie Reyez released a retro-soul song 'Coffin' featuring Eminem; 'Only Children' by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit is a lovely sombre song.

"The Japanese quartet devote their second album to enthusiastic, maximalist pop with a bluntly feminist message... Chai is a band who screams yes to joy, and 'PUNK' is a record written in earnest about being yourself, loving your friends, and not caring about what anyone else thinks about the way you live your life... If […]