Kiesza
Love Me With Your Lie
Even if she had never released anything else after her 2014 banger Hideaway, pirouetting firecracker Kiesza would for ever remain a top-tier pop exponent. Her latest may be semantic quicksand – what exactly is the lie doing? – but the tipsy yet relentless synth pulse is irresistible. An enviable example of nimble disco-house that might just salvage this socially strangled summer.
Jorja Smith
Rose Rouge
Blue Note might be more than 80 years old but the venerable jazz imprint has slyly perfected the art of the hip replacement. Just invite cool artists to revamp your back catalogue every couple of decades. So here’s a swooning version of St Germain’s Rose Rouge – itself a remix from 2000 – that sounds suitably sprawling and cosmic, with the luminous Smith periodically checking in over voyaging sax solos.
Kenzie ft Sia
Exhale
Mackenzie Ziegler, AKA kiddie dancer-turned-teen pop star Kenzie, is younger than my cherished 2 Fast 2 Furious DVD but is clearly wise beyond her years, recruiting galaxy-brain hitmaker Sia to guest on this slice of throwback R&B. It’s a laser-focused, zippy floor-filler that sounds like an imperial-phase Neptunes production beamed from the early 2000s.
Dalai Lama
Compassion
Move over Calvin Harris cos His Holiness is unleashing his first ever album next month and it is jam-packed with wall-to-wall mindfulness bangers. The vanguard track is a mood-soothing blend of artisanal jazz combined with a calming mantra from the chill octogenarian. Something to help all of us find our centre, and perhaps the most welcome drop of June 2020.
Tom Walker
Wait for You
Born drippy: why is every off-the-peg streaming playlist saturated with burly blokes who look like plumbers with unexpectedly soulful pipes? The current Super Mario is Big Tom Walker, identifiable by his Benny from Crossroads hat. You may not be entirely surprised to learn Wait for You is a heart-on-dungarees trudge toward catharsis that lets him do a growly bit in the chorus.
