TOP CHILL MUSIC - WEEK 36

As I type this, the first of the autumn rain is hitting hard against my office window. It's all good, though, as I have a fresh cup of cocoa and my trusty oversized sweater to keep me warm. Oh, how I've missed you, fall <3! No, really, the only thing that could make this scene more perfect would be the addition of some soothing soundwaves, which, of course, is where the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Chill Music comes in. With the nights starting to draw in around us, then, why not join me in getting cozy this Friday with the following chill songs from Lauv, San Holo, Novo Amor, Mansionair, Michl, and more?!

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LAUV – SUPERHERO

SAN HOLO – BRIGHTER DAYS

Bad things happen to all of us, but it's important to remember that life moves on and things get better, and that's exactly the message that bitbird producer San Holo is sending out on his new single. The follow-up to “lift me from the ground” is an infectiously hopeful piece of future bass about all of the good times that lie ahead for each and every one of us, with We Are: The Guard favorite Bipolar Sunshine lending his ever-golden voice to the danceable bop.

NOVO AMOR – UTICAN

Novo Amor is back to his most celebratory best on “Utican.” The latest single to be unveiled from the folk troubadour's impending album Birthplace triumphantly gallops along to the point that it leaves your heart racing and lungs breathless, with Ali Lacey describing the jubilant composition – which comes paired with an emotional video directed by Ethan Graham  – as “a proud and immediate realisation of growing up.”

RHYE – SONG FOR YOU (MANSIONAIR REMIX)

Well, well, well, isn't this groovy as hell?! Don't get me wrong, the original is EVERYTHING, but We Are: The Guard favorites Mansionair are most definitely taking Rhye's “Song for You” to the next level with this chilltastic remix, which hears Milosh's vocals coming set against the kind of funky fresh bassline that packs in the club dancefloor vibes.

MICHL – BORROWED TIME

Existential crises have never sounded so dreamy! No, really, Michl finds himself questioning everything on his latest single “Borrowed Time,” a psychedelically soulful comment on time and space that clocks in at two minutes exactly. “It's weird for me to think about the future,” reveals the Riverside artist. “Sometimes I feel like everything's predetermined. And other days I feel like I just fucked everything up and my life is ruined...my belief changes daily...maybe that's how it's supposed to be.”

ALAYNA – BETWEEN DUSK AND DAWN

It doesn't get much more devastatingly beautiful than this, let me tell you. Listen as alayna discovers what it means to be vulnerable on this powerful piano ballad from the Auckland artist's recent EP Sweet Soul. “The song itself is about the rose-tinted filter being lifted and learning the hard truth of breaking beyond repair, and myself being the culprit,” says alayna of “Between Dusk and Dawn,” which was produced by none other than We Are: The Guard favorite FINNEAS. “Learning what it is to be ripped open to show your insides and finally seeing what 'being human' really is and it's not always pretty.”

ALWAYS NEVER – KNOW THIS

It's been a long time in the making, but Toronto alternative R&B duo Always Never have finally released their self-titled album, and let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint. And while I could've easily featured every song on the record here, I've opted for my current favorite, “Know This,” a moody two-and-a-half-minute brood that, like all other Always Never tracks, is best listened to deep into the small hours.

JACK WATTS – HORRORSCOPE

And now for something a little more unnerving than what we're typically used to here at We Are: The Guard. Jack Watts is inviting us into his nightmarish house of mirrors on his latest single “Horrorscope,” a disquieting ode to the loss of identity that hears the Brighton singer-songwriter's off-kilter arrangements coming draped in his androgynous vocals. The video is worth a watch, too, with director Tim Bidwell further helping to bring to life Jack's sinister visions.

AYELLE – TALK

Ayelle has a voice of gold and I'm pleased to say that the London songstress is putting it on full display on this cut from her recent EP Slow Clap. “Is it just too much?/Did it get too heavy?/First you make me blush/But you weren't ready,” begins “Talk,” a luxuriously sultry piece of R&B that hears Ayelle singing about a man's fear of commitment over one of her more experimental productions to date.

CROOKS – DREAMS

Hailing from London, Crooks is transmitting his haunting poetry to us through the night on his latest single. “I can't live with myself knowing that our dreams are broken/And things we promised became things we had just spoken,” begins “Dreams,” a shivering trap nocturne about a relationship in ruins that features on the 20-year-old rapper's recent EP Dog Eat Dog World.

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Until next Friday, why not follow We Are: The Guard's Best Chill Daily! on Spotify for more?! x

Photo by Kyle Loftus on Unsplash

Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.