Japanese Breakfast, Tom Misch, SPELLING and 6 New Songs to Stream Right Now

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

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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

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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

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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

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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 

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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.

Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube