TOP CHILL SONGS - WEEK 23

There's something about summer and chill music that just seems to go hand in hand. Whether you're spending the blistering days by the beachside with girlfriends, or whiling away the warm nights on city rooftops with long-lost lovers, there's no denying that “the summer experience” is significantly enhanced by a dosage of chill vibes. As another scorching weekend edges ever closer, then, why not continue to refine your summer playlist this Friday with the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Chill Songs, featuring Jai Paul, PLS&TY, Taska Black, Sublab, Japanese Breakfast, and more?!

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JAI PAUL – DO YOU LOVE HER NOW

Six years on from that infamous leak, Jai Paul returns to flood our senses this 2019 with “Do You Love Her Now.” The song – which forms part of a double B-Side alongside “He” – is a glistening, golden piece of music that meets at the intersection of lush R&B slow-jammery and sun-kissed soft rock (think Genesis if they were fronted by Prince), with Jai's lovestruck falsetto coo soaring to almost spiritualistic heights on the cut.

PLS&TY – FEELING FOREVER

Future-bass producer PLS&TY is transporting us to the vibrant, bustling streets of India on his latest single “Feeling Forever.” Built around an audio clip of a street performer playing sitar that PLS&TY actually recorded on his iPhone while visiting the country, “Feeling Forever” unites the traditional and modern for a summer anthem that quite simply BURSTS with color. FFO: Four Tet and Jai Wolf.

SALEM – IMPATIENT (FISH FOX REMIX)

Just in time for summer, “Impatient” by Berklee College of Music's Salem gets a house makeover courtesy of Fox Fish. Listen as the New York producer completely switches up the vibe of the masterfully playful pop song through the use of deep synth stabs and melodic guitar curlicues on the beach-ready take on the cut, which features on Impatient (The Remixes) – out now on We Are: The Guard!

TASKA BLACK (FEAT. TRACE) – BACKWARDS LOVE

Taska Black and TRACE?! Erm, YES PLEASE! I'm relieved to say that neither artist disappoints on “Backwards Love” – an empowering declaration of self-worth that hears Taska pitch-shifting TRACE's breathy vocals over an alluring bed of 808s and heartbreak. “It's about feeling off about someone, when you want to feel on,” writes TRACE. “It's about getting what you give, and if you don't give it right, you can't and won't get it right.”

KIDNAP (FEAT. LEO STANNARD) – GROW

Ahead of the release of Grow on Armada Music on August 30th, Kidnap has shared the album's lead single of the same name. It's a deeply emotive piano ballad that hears Matt Relton once again teaming up with Leo Stannard, whose raw, soulful voice makes for nothing short of a perfect accompaniment to the incredibly moving production – the kind that leaves you wanting to close your eyes and drift away.

MANU DIA (FEAT. PANAMA) – KIDS IN AMERICA

Meet Manu Dia, the Spanish producer who's making his debut on We Are: The Guard with “Kids in America.” With glitched-out beats interweaving their way through a more traditional pop tapestry, the Panama-featuring cut is a delightfully playful, charismatic composition that Manu – whose EP Surface drops on TOKiMONSTA's Young Art Records on June 14th – says is “about being young and embracing the experiences of your youth.”

SUBLAB – TRUST ME

Having taken us on a late-night drive through the city lights on the flickering “You Seemed so Innocent,” Sublab is diverting us through the more dark, rain-speckled alleyways on his latest single “Trust Me.” With breakneck beats coming underpinned by warm, womb-like basslines, “Trust Me” is an inestimably atmospheric future-garage banger that features on the German producer's recent EP Garden of Oblivion.

TWO LANES (FEAT. TROVE) – BACK TO YOU

Sibling duo TWO LANES are taking listeners to a place of peace and serenity on the latest single to be unveiled from their recent EP Drifting. With only five words repeated throughout – “I fall back to you” – “Back to You” has an almost incantatory, meditative quality about it, with Trove's relaxing vocals and the tranquil guitar flourishes together serving to soothe the soul of all troubles and doubts.

JAPANESE BREAKFAST – HEAD OVER HEELS (TEARS FOR FEARS COVER)

Japanese Breakfast follows up April's “Essentially” with her take on “Head Over Heels” by 80s legends Tears for Fears this June. The cover hears Michelle Zauner stripping the Donnie Darko classic of its bells and whistles, leaving behind an eerily minimal interpretation of the song that really brings out the sense of obsession in the lyrics. “Japanese Breakfast has recorded a beautiful, ethereal reimagining of 'Head Over Heels,'” writes Tears for Fears co-founder Curt Smith. Listen.

BOERD – IT FADES AWAY

Concluding this week with boerd, the Stockholm native who's inviting us into his introspective world on his latest single “It Fades Away.” “I wrote this song at a time when I was pretty confused about some personal stuff, and the music seems to reflect that,” reveals boerd of the melancholy, gently pensive ballad, which is taken from his recent EP Misplaced I. “I feel pretty confused all of the time to be honest; I think most people do.”

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

Photo by Esther Driehaus 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.