Each week, the Jacksonville Music Experience team shares a list of new songs to stream. No genre restrictions, just songs we thought were worth your ears. Want this list to arrive weekly to your inbox? Sign up for the JME newsletter.
Avant Pop
Japanese Breakfast – “Orlando in Love”
Recommended If You Like: The Beatles, Jessica Pratt, Laura Marling
It was less that four years ago that Japanese Breakfast (aka Michelle Zauner) became a household name, rocketing to the top of both the pop charts and the NYT best-sellers list on the strength of the dance-y, synth-forward Jubilee and her memoir Crying in H Mart, respectively. Japanese Breakfast is back, teaming with super-producer Blake Mills (Bob Dylan, Alabama Shakes, John Legend) on a new album due out March 21 on Dead Oceans, the first taste of which, “Orlando in Love” is a gorgeous and serpentine piece of avant pop about the perilousness of infatuation.
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Chill/Jazz/Hip Hop
Tom Misch – “Colourblind” feat. Loyle Carner
Recommended If You Like: Jordan Rakei, Mk.gee, Yussef Dayes
Flying under the radar, lowkey guitarist and producer Tom Misch has worked with a broad range of artists spanning hip-hop and contemporary jazz – from Yussef Dayes to De La Soul. On “Colourblind,” from his new EP Six Songs, Misch teams with longtime collaborator, the rapper Loyle Carner, on a slinky, downtempo groover that showcases Misch’s complex-yet-approachable playing.
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Indie/Pop
Panda Bear – “Ferry Lady”
Recommended If You Like: Brian Wilson, Cate Le Bon, Harry Nilsson
Following the release of “Defense,” an evocative single featuring 2024 breakout star Cindy Lee, indie icon Panda Bear has shared the second single from the forthcoming Sinister Grift (Feb. 28 on Domino). On “Ferry Lady,” the Animal Collective cofounder returns to the well, dipping once again into the ornate pop of Smile-era Brian Wilson on a track that feels symphonic in its layered construction, yet as digestible as the simplest candy-coated pop.
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Post Rock/Electronic
SPELLING – “Portrait of My Heart”
Recommended If You Like: Radiohead, Joy Division, Portishead
Oakland-bred experimental-pop musician SPELLING, aka Chrystia Cabral, is back with the title track from a new album, Portrait of My Heart (due out March 28 on Sacred Bones). Over electronic drum tracks and a menacing electric guitar figure, Cabral lets the lyrics flow seemingly unmediated, turning a heartwrenching chorus – “I don’t belong here” – into an emotionally direct anthem.
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
World/Jazz
The Bongo Hop – “La Pata Coja” (feat. Nidia Gongora)
Recommended If You Like: Fela Kuti, Ezra Collective, Marcos Valle
French trumpeter Etienne Sevet leads the border-and-ocean-hurtling ensemble The Bongo Hop. The title track from the group’s new record, La Pata Coja (out now on Underdog Records) is a groovy, diasporic blend of styles, featuring funky, polyphonic rhythms, literal vibes via a nifty vibraphone solo and striking vocals by Afro-Colombian singer Nidia Gongora.
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Alt-Country/Indie Folk
Great Grandpa – “Junior”
Recommended If You Like: Big Thief, Ratboys, Waxahatchee
Bred in the primordial stew of Seattle’s mid-aughts indie-folk scene, the five-piece ensemble Great Grandpa is perhaps less well-known than their regional contemporaries like, say, The Head and the Heart. On “Junior,” the lead single from the band’s first full-length effort in five years, they prove they are one of the more harmonious and inventive of their class.
Feb. 20, 2025
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Feb. 12, 2025
Looking for an Alternative to Spotify? Consider Hopping on the band(camp) Wagon
Feb. 10, 2025
Khruangbin to Bring ‘A LA SALA’ Tour to St. Augustine in April
Jan. 31, 2025
Perfume Genius, Flipturn, Tamino + Mitski and 6 New Songs to Stream
Jan. 31, 2025
Song of the Day | “all tied up” by Glixen
Jan. 28, 2025
Lucy Dacus, Babe Rainbow, Pigeon Pit and 7 New Songs to Stream
Jan. 27, 2025
Three New and Notable Jazz Releases to Usher in the New Year
Jan. 23, 2025
New Playlist | Robert Glasper, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Terrace Martin on the latest episode of the Neighborhood
Jan. 20, 2025
Dweezil Zappa Returns to Northeast Florida to Celebrate Two Early-Seventies Landmark Frank Zappa Albums
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