TOP CHILL MUSIC - WEEK 24

Hi, hey, hello, and welcome to the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Best Chill Music! How are you? I arrived home from a mini vacation on Monday, and let me tell you – this girl was NOT in the schmood for returning to 9-to-5 office life! Turns out, however, that there's nothing quite like chill music to bust those post-vacay blues! One listen to this playlist, and I was back basking on the beach, tropical cocktail in hand! As another working week draws to a conclusion, then, why not join me in embarking on a lil' mental getaway this Friday? Just grab your headphones, and maybe a Bahama Mama too, and hit play on the following songs from Ólafur Arnalds & SOHN, Cigarettes After Sex, Lykke Li, and more!

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GNASH – IMAGINE IF

If you're like me and spend a lot of time lingering on regrets, then gnash has just the song for you. “Imagine If,” the latest single to be unveiled from the Los Angeles rapper's forthcoming as-yet-untitled debut album, is an extremely cute bop about all of those “what if?” thoughts that niggle away at the brain, with gnash using the video as a chance to fix everything that he wishes he did differently in a relationship (if only it was that easy *sigh*).

AUTOGRAF (FEAT. FRENCH HORN REBELLION) – GRAVITY

Summer just got a whole lot chiller thanks to Autograf, who're seeing in the next stage of festival season in style with their latest single “Gravity.” If you're a fan of that old-school Autograf sound, then trust me, you're going to love this duet with French Horn Rebellion, with the Chicago trio revisiting those deep house vibes that made their early remixes so successful, while still satisfying the dance floor with some Daft Punk-inspired synth lines.

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS & SOHN – UNFOLD

The world is in a dark place at the moment, but Ólafur Arnalds is here to remind us of the beauty of life with SOHN collaboration “unfold.” Prepare to feel your heart soar to every note of this stunningly moving piece, which was recorded using The Stratus Pianos, “two self-playing, semi-generative player pianos which are triggered by a central piano,” and features on the Icelandic composer's forthcoming album re:member.

PRXZM – TELL ME SOMETHING NEW

There's nothing quite like the thrill of falling in love, and it's that precise emotion that PRXZM are tapping into on “Tell Me Something New.” The latest single to be unveiled from the Indiana duo's recent debut EP Come Alive encapsulates that all-encompassing feeling that comes with meeting someone new, with producer Nick Ortega constructing a kind of trip hop whirlpool around singer Emma Maidenberg's intoxicating coo.

BENJI LEWIS – US AGAIN

Ahead of the release of his EP Together Apart, Melbourne's Benji Lewis has shared “Us Again.” Produced by We Are: The Guard favorite Golden Vessel, this ode to a long-lost lover and follow-up to “Deep Blue” can only be described as a gift from the Australian gods, with Benji's dazzlingly soulful vocals and Golden Vessel's warmly glowing beats sounding like a match made in electronic pop heaven.

CIGARETTES AFTER SEX – CRUSH

Cigarettes After Sex never fail to bring out the hopeless romantic in me. Their doomed breed of ambient pop is nothing short of intoxicating for us Romeo and Juliets who prefer to walk on the tragic slide of life. One year on from their self-titled debut album, the Brooklyn-based band continue to embrace their sensuous side on “Crush” – a candlelit hymn that hears Greg Gonzalez caressing our ears as he sings: “I wanna fuck your love slow/Catch my heart, go swim/Feel your lips crush/Hold you here my loveliest friend.”

BLYNE (FEAT. B O K E H) – SCHOOL

Coming to us by way of our friends over at Majestic Casual are BLYNE, a Berlin-based producer duo who're packing in the dreamy vibes on their latest single. Featured on their recent debut EP, the aptly titled This Is Our First EP, “School” is a swirlingly ethereal listen – the kind that's made for getting lost in – with BLYNE and guest artist B O K E H weaving together their otherworldly vocal melodies like string lanterns in the night-time <3.

THE INTERNET – COME OVER

Having dropped “Roll (Burbank Funk)” – a song that Kurt so accurately described as 2018's “Redbone” – The Internet are back with another low-key bop to see us through the summer months. “Come Over” is a sun-kissed neo soul groove that hears Syd returning to center stage, with the singer positively radiating her lighter-than-air vocals over guitarist Steve Lacy's funky ass licks. P.S. I also recommend that you check out the official video, because Syd in a crop top is quite honestly a vibe.

OTR (FEAT. BLONDAGE) – COLD FACTS

Temperatures are rising across the Northern Hemisphere, but OTR is here to keep us cool this summer with “Cold Facts.” The latest single to be unveiled from the aerospace engineer-turned-music producer's forthcoming debut EP Unfold hits like an icy blast from an air conditioning unit on the hottest day of the year, with feature artist Blondage sending additional shivers down the spine as she sings of moving on from the past and “breaking free from a version of yourself that you've outgrown.”

LYKKE LI – SO SAD SO SEXY

so sad so sexy is without a doubt Lykke Li's darkest album to date, although every once in a while, the Swedish songstress of old shines through the cracks. This is most notable of all on the LP's title track, when the trap-tipped sounds of “deep end” and “sex money feelings die” instead give way to an I Never Learn-indebted hymnal, one which finds Lykke coming to terms with the imminent end of a relationship: “I was only lyin' when I looked in your eyes/Now I'm lyin' with you one last time/And it's so sad, so sexy/So sad, so sexy.”

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Photo by Nathan Dumlao 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.