BEST CHILL SONGS – WEEK 16

Hey chillheads! Did you have a happy 4/20? Did you blaze it? Did you mark the occasion with Snapchat's fucked up Bob Marley filter? COOL! Anyways, that fun may be over for another year, but BitCandy is keeping the good times flowing this Friday with the latest dose of Best Chill Songs for your listening pleasure! Featuring Novo Amor & Ed Tullett, Young Magic, James Blake and lots more, I hereby declare that your weekend starts here!

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NOVO AMOR & ED TULLETT – ALPS

Novo Amor and Ed Tullett have done it again, fam. After collaborating in 2014 on the goosebumps-inducing “Faux,” the British brothers-in-arms are back this 2016 with “Alps.” As I patiently await the return of Bon Iver, I can safely say that it's songs like this in all of their beautiful, soaring, reverb and falsetto-laced glory that help me to get through the day.

LIVI – BLUE SKIES – CURATOR DUFFSTER

Having gone unnoticed on SoundCloud for almost 6 months, “Blue Skies,” the debut single from London chanteuse LIVI, is finally getting the attention that it deserves this April thanks in part to a repost by our very own Curator Duffster. A devastatingly lovely trip hop ballad complete with a contemporary London Grammar edge, this is both a song and an artist that you don't want to be sleeping on for much longer.

FLORA CASH – FOR SOMEONE – CURATOR DUFFSTER

Introducing Flora Cash, a husband-and-wife duo from Sweden who together craft some of the most visceral folk music around. If you watch one thing today, make it their video for the aching drift “For Someone,” though prepare to have some Kleenex to hand because this mythical tale of star-crossed lovers is truly tragic. BRB, going to call my boyfriend.

BROOKE BENTHAM – OLIVER

Once in a while, a voice comes along that completely stops you in your tracks. Brooke Bentham is one of those voices. The London balladeer opts for a no-gimmicks approach to her debut single “Oliver.” Backed simply by the scratches of an acoustic guitar and some wisps of strings, Bentham mesmerizes and commands with her lamentations of lost love, finding an overwhelming strength in her fragility in the process.

IDER – SORRY

London duo Megan Markwick and Lily Somerville aka IDER captivate from the off with their debut single. Combining R&B and ambient production techniques, “Sorry” is a hypnotic, meditative ballad that quietly permeates the atmosphere, carrying with it a message of empowerment as it goes. “Unlike most love songs it's about finding your own love for yourself” say IDER. “Despite the song's title, it's pretty unapologetic.”

KUČKA – HONEY (MEDASIN REMIX)

After killing it in February with a remix of Flume's “Smoke & Retribution,” Medasin is back at it again this April with a soulful, smooth, sexy “redo” of Perth songstress Kučka's “Honey.” It hears the Dallas producer transform the synth pop original into a chill trap banger packed full of bass vibes, and according to Medasin, is the first of several upcoming collaborations between him and Kučka.

YOUNG MAGIC – SLEEP NOW

Having previously made use of the Javanese gamelan on “Lucien,” Young Magic vocalist Melati Malay continues to explore her Indonesian roots through her music on “Sleep Now." Featured on the upcoming album Still Life, the percussive-heavy reverie and its accompanying video, made up of footage from the archival documentary Lost In Bali, are both majestic odes to the island country on which Malay was born and raised.

JAMES BLAKE – TIMELESS

James Blake recently announced on his Radio 1 residency that his much-anticipated third album is complete, and to celebrate, shared an unheard song in the form of “Timeless.” No confirmation if said song is actually set to appear on the Bon Iver and Kanye West-featuring Radio Silence, but the experimental womp is worth a listen or 10 regardless.

HONNE & IZZY BIZU – SOMEONE THAT LOVES YOU – CURATOR DUFFSTER

HONNE make my heart skip a beat whenever their name materializes in my SoundCloud feed. The London duo deliver the goods every fuckin' time, and their latest single comes as no exception. A collaboration with BBC Sound Of 2016 nominee Izzy Bizu, “Someone That Loves You” is a sparkling slice of nocturnal electro soul that HONNE say is “fundamentally about forbidden love, but from both sides of the story.”

TENDER – BURDEN

TENDER can be my burden any day, if you catch my drift *nudge, nudge, wink, wink.* The London R&B duo, who you may remember describe their sound as “dark grooves with room to breathe,” set the mood on their latest single “Burden.” A funky, slinky slow jam complete with a bassline to die for, the EP II cut is best listened to with the lights down low.

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Thanks for listening chillheads! See you next Friday! x

“Photo” by Alexander Shustov is licensed under CC0 1.0 (cropped and resized).

About Jess Grant

When Jess Grant isn't writing on music, she can be found playing it – on her guitar, on her ukulele, and on her recently acquired mandolin. Playing it hideously, she ought to add. Jess also studies. She studies the English language, to be precise. Jess is currently on her way to a degree in the subject, and enjoys starting and never finishing novels, screenplays, and poetry in her spare time. She also likes dogs. Lots of dogs.