Enfnts Terribles

1. girl in red – Serotonin

In less than two months, Norway’s most exciting new act girl in red will unleash her debut album if i could make it go quiet. Even before the release of her life-changing project, the anticipation around the memorable newcomer is building up to a new peak that could result in her giant breakthrough.

The lead single of her debut is called “Serotonin” and bundles all the amazing elements of previous songs into one track. The beautiful build-up towards the climax is a thrilling trip through girl in red’s mind and leaves us flabbergasted. This gem is on to something big and we can’t wait to be part of her rise to superstardom.

2. Ruby Grace – Winx

The Belgian pop fairy Ruby Grace has a long road behind her and established herself as a force to reckon with. Her love for the 2000s and pop culture moments shined through in her previous releases and resulted in jaw-dropping cyber pop bops, that sparkle as much as glitter.

Her newest addition to her discography is inspired by the legendary cartoon series Winx Club with cute references throughout the whole song. “Winx” is not just a cute song, but is a true feel-good track with a chorus you singalong with after only a few listens. Ruby Grace graces us with another great song, which cements her status as the underrated Belgian cyber pop princess.

3. Aziya – Slip

She might only be 21 years old, though British musician, singer, and model Aziya clearly knows where she’s heading. After she graduated from the iconic BRIT School in 2018, learned how to produce, and posted a good dose of riff-heavy covers online, the promising talent made her great debut earlier this week with the release of her very first single, “Slip”.

Characterized by a raw and gritty sound, the track finds the Aziya shredding on the guitar as hard as her vocals soar. A striking debut that sets the tone of her musical identity and only promises a very bright future.

4. Temptress – SOS

If you haven’t heard about Temptress yet, it’s only a matter of time before you do. Both upbeat and melancholic, their music instantly catches the audience’s attention: tainted by DIY sonorities and a classy pop-R&B fusion, it will make you dance till dawn like no-one’s watching.

This week, the London-based duo returns with the utterly groovy “SOS”, a self-anointed ‘lockdown anthem’ for tough times. Directed by the artists themselves, the accompanying music video is as striking as the song itself: it portrays the band causally fighting bandits around London’s streets, leveling up with Pootie Tang and The Matrix.

5. St. Vincent – Pay Your Way In Pain

Inspired by the 70s albums that shaped her childhood, Annie Clark AKA St Vincent returns with “Pay Your Way in Pain”, the first single of her upcoming album Daddy’s Home. With this track, the American artist unveils a new facette of her game, where Prince-like guitar riffs and raw synths brilliantly come together.

Directed by Bill Benz, the music video that accompanies the track portrays the artist in a psychedelic and futuristic atmosphere and does great justice to her atypical yet utterly charismatic universe. St Vincent’s forthcoming album Daddy’s Home will be out on May 14th, and we literally can’t wait for it.

6. EMY – Inconvenient

There’s still a lot of undiscovered Belgian talent that’s on the edge of breaking through. If we have to put all our money on a specific act that might have a big year this year, it will probably be the hauntingly talented EMY. Since last year, the career of the young artist got a little boost by signing a record deal and releasing some successful work.

The amount of passion and soul that has been put into “Inconvenient” reached our heart already after the first seconds. In combination with the striking visuals, this song grabs our attention from the start and doesn’t let go. Especially the last minute takes our breath away and makes us wonder how much longer it will take before everyone stops sleeping on EMY.

7. Au/Ra – Dead Girl!

Time flies when you’re having fun because it’s already three years ago since we met pop girl Au/Ra ahead of her show in Brussels. Since our talk, the singer scored a massive hit with “Panic Room” and released a handful of new tunes that helped her gain over half a billion streams on Spotify.

Au/Ra took her time to work on the visual concept of this new era in her career, which she finally kicks of with her new single “Dead Girl!”. While the singer loved to play with dark elements in the past, this release sounds a bit happier without losing any edge. Au/Ra’s aura remains and will attract a lot of new fans if she continues this road.

8. No Rome feat. Charli XCX & The 1975 – Spinning

The expected madness around No Rome’s collaboration with Charli XCX and The 1975 surprisingly failed to happen. There have been rumors about a possible alliance between the pop heavyweights for some time now with fans petitioning for a new song, but the hype stayed rather limited when the song came out.

“Spinning” might not get the attention we expected it to get, but the song definitely lives up to our expectations by merging the signature styles of the three acts in one song. This holy trinity provided us an ear orgasm, so let’s pray for a continuation of this supergroup.

9. SAENS – Runaways

Montreal-based singer-songwriter SAENS is heavily inspired by filmmakers like David Lynch or Jean-Marc Vallee, which is something he tries to reflect into his cinematic electro-pop. His upcoming album Drugs that don’t wear off promises to be a spectacular collection of atmospheric pop songs, which we can’t wait to hear.

Imagine a road by night, where you drive through an abandoned city. That’s exactly what comes to our mind when we listen to “Runaways”, probably one of the most mesmerizing songs we have heard this year so far. The sound elements remind us of a mix between The Weeknd, Daft Punk, and James Blake, and our desire to push the repeat button after every listen grows with every minute.

10. MODERN MODERN LIFE – LONDON WANTS YOU THERE

It’s a fact, British artists clearly know how to throw a party. Based in London, multi-hyphenate artist Frank Colucci aka Modern Modern Life has gradually made his way through the local electro scene as a producer to eventually kick off his own project with his striking debut single, “London Wants You There”.

Dropped yesterday via Different recordings, the track serves as an ode to the vibrant city whilst channeling the pain of seeing someone leave it. In addition to being an addictive earworm, this emotive project sets the narrative of what is to come from this exciting producer, as he pushes forward with his own sound.

Co-written by Diane Theunissen.