TOP CHILL MUSIC - WEEK 16

by Jess Grant
4/19/19

If there's one thing that we can count on to be there for us during tough times, it's music. As Beca explained over at Best Indie Songs, it's been a pretty rough week for me. Even during life's most inconsolable moments, however, music manages to act as a soothing balm for a troubled mind. Whatever difficulties that you may be going through this Friday, then, the team and I hope that you find some level of comfort in the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Chill Music, featuring Billie Marten, SYML, Chris Malinchak, Maisie Peters, Andrew Bayer, and more <3.

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BILLIE MARTEN – CARTOON PEOPLE

Billie Marten's music is a welcome moment of calm in the rocky storm that is life. The softly-spoken 19-year-old is careful not to turn away from the tumult entirely on “Cartoon People,” however, with Billie revealing that the lyrics of the lullaby-like song were written from the perspective of Ivanka and Donald Trump: “I just had this image of them sat in some smoky, sleazy bar downtown, with him buying her drinks to keep her mouth shut.”

 

SYML – THE BIRD

Love is a delicate thing, and SYML reminds us to treat it with respect on “The Bird.” “Fragile to touch/She melts like the words on my tongue/The goddess of heavenly love/Fades out of sight,” sings Brian Fennell on the song – a haunting, poetic piece of music that hears SYML challenging himself as a producer more than ever before (Does anyone else hear some alt-J influence in there?).

 

CHRIS MALINCHAK – PHOTOGRAPH

New York City house producer Chris Malinchak is capturing the feeling of staring into a Polaroid of a tropical vacation of old on “Photograph.” With a sultry vocal sample lilting and looping over a smooth blend of stabs and saxophone, it's impossible not to get lost in this balmy five-minute time capsule, which gently warms the bones like an island sunset.

 

MAISIE PETERS – FAVOURITE EX

Hurt, anger, sadness. These are feelings that we typically associate with exes. Maisie Peters proves that things don't always have to end badly between former lovers, however, on her latest single “Favourite Ex.” “And you were my best nights and worst fights/And couldn't care less/You were my gold rush to cold touch/Favourite ex,” sings the Brighton artist on the tender string-laden ballad, which showcases a vulnerability to which we can all relate.

 

ANDREW BAYER (FEAT. ALISON MAY) – TIDAL WAVE (IN MY NEXT LIFE MIX)

Andrew Bayer is bringing a touch of the otherworldly to nightclubs the world over with this brand new version of “Tidal Wave.” Originally featured on his 2018 album In My Last Life and remixed for his 2019 album In My Next Life, this ethereal production will have you sweating out your troubles across the dance floor with blissful, euphoric ease this Friday evening.

 

CRUMB – NINA

Ahead of the release of their debut album Jinx in June, Crumb have shared the trippy-as-hell “Nina.” With the lysergic-laced melodies of frontwoman Lila Ramani meeting a jazz-indebted rhythm section, “Nina” is a neo-psychedelic slow-jammer that pulls you further down the rabbit hole with every passing second.

 

ONE HOPE – WON'T YOU STAY?

There's very little that I can tell you about One Hope, but it really doesn't matter as the Alberta artist is letting the music do the talking on “Won't You Stay?” Clocking in at just under four minutes, “Won't You Stay?” is what you might call a sad-boy acoustic ballad with a twist, with One Hope making use of legitimately forward-thinking electronic flourishes in order to increase the impact of his heartbroken narrative.

 

BLACKBEAR – DEAD TO ME

blackbear continues to build up to the release of ANONYMOUS – due out later this month – by dropping “DEAD TO ME.” It's an angsty bop that hears the rapper doubling down on his dark emo vibes, with blackbear turning his attention, lyrically, to a girl who intensely wronged him: “Dead to me/Even if you're still alive/It's a mess to me, so rest in peace/You're dead to me/Left me here with nothing, took the best of me/Left my destiny.”

 

KILTER (FEAT. YORKE) – OVERDRIVE

Kilter is cranking it up a gear on his latest single “Overdrive.” The song is a stunningly hypnotic piece of MØ-esque pop music that explores that feeling of electricity that surges through the veins from the moment of falling in love, with feature artist Yorke delivering a gorgeously captivating vocal performance against Kilter's festival season-ready high-octane drops.

 

NORA VAN ELKEN (FEAT. TROVE) – NEEDED YOU (CHILL MIX)

Concluding this week with some blistering summer vibes courtesy of Nora Van Elken. The Dutch producer is calling to mind white-sand beaches and turquoise oceans with this “chill mix” of the Trove-featuring “Needed You,” which will have you counting down the days to your next island vacation with its combination of dappling vocal chops and scintillating dance beats.

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For more, why not follow out We Are: The Guard's Best Chill Daily! on Spotify? Much love. x

Photo by Iwan Shimko on Unsplash

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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.