TOP CHILL SONGS - WEEK 18

Happy May! Can you believe that we're already over a third into 2019? While we may no longer be holding ourselves to the resolutions that we set in January, there's nothing quite like a brand new month to press the reboot button on life. And what better place to start than with your music collection? With the first weekend of May almost upon us, then, why not take a moment to refresh your playlist this Friday morning with the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Chill Songs, featuring Palmistry, A-Trak, Kate Tempest, King Henry, Derek Pope, and plenty of other artists?

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ROKEN – COMFORTABLE

Long Island native Roken finds peace in solitude on his latest single “Comfortable.” “'Cause when I'm alone/I feel at home/There's nothing wrong/I'm comfortable,” sings the 20-year-old newcomer with his gentle falsetto on the blissful slice of alternative R&B – an auditory escape for the introverted and socially anxious alike that exudes a tangible warmth beneath its layers of chorus guitar and light percussion.

PALMISTRY – ROVIN

Palmistry follows up the SOPHIE-produced “Water” with “Rovin.” The song hears the London artist continuing to refine his introverted breed of dancehall – the kind made for sitting alone in your bedroom rather than wilding out at the club – with Benjy Keating's tender voice dexterously navigating the understated blend of beats and fingers snaps.

A-TRAK – WORK IT OUT

Fool's Gold Records founder A-Trak is proving that disco music can also be chill music on his latest single “Work It Out.” Clocking in at just over six-and-a-half minutes, “Work It Out” is a sanguine house groove that would sound equally as good in a nightclub as it would on a beach, with a soulful vocal sample declaring “Oh, forever, all together” over a French touch-indebted bassline that brings both the bounce and feel-good vibes.

MIRO – VOICES

I didn't think that I believed in magic, but then I heard “Voices” by Miro. The British producer has completely won me over with this eight-and-a-half-minute instrumental, which is comparable to floating among an ethereal, otherworldly fantasyland, with the song coming anchored by a four-on-the-floor kick drum that made sure that my feet didn't lift too far off the ground.

KATE TEMPEST – FIRESMOKE

Coinciding with the announcement of her fourth album The Book of Traps and Lessons – due out June 14 – London spoken-word artist Kate Tempest has shared “Firesmoke.” It's a warm, sultry number that hears the young poet laureate waxing lyrical about her woman, with Kate revering her mind, body, and soul like a temple over a bed of jazzy piano chords and organic percussion.

QUINN LEWIS – ONLY EVERYTHING

Meet Quinn Lewis, the Nashville crooner who's here to convince you that romance isn't dead with “Only Everything.” “'Only Everything' is about all the things I want in a relationship. It stems from the best memories of my past relationships and it's what I hope to be able to say someday soon,” says Quinn of the gently tender ballad, which won't just tug at your heartstrings, but full-on pull them out.

KING HENRY – LET YOU KNOW

GRAMMY Award-nominated producer King Henry follows up “What About Me” with the ominous “Let You Know” this Friday morning. Opening with an immediately atmospheric blend of synth arpeggios and vocal samples, before an electronic bassline enters to deepen the dark vibes, “Let You Know” is the definition of a foreboding club banger that sounds like the audio equivalent of storm clouds gathering over the dance floor.

DEREK POPE – US AND THEM

Once in a while, a song comes along that manages to completely transport you to another reality. Case in point: “Us and Them” by Los Angeles rapper Derek Pope. While I've never been under the influence of an illicit substance in my life, something tells me that I got pretty close to the physical and mental effects while listening to this number, with Derek's falsetto flow genuinely inducing in me what felt like an out of body experience against the backdrop of trap beats.

JVLY – TACENDA

This is my first time featuring JVLY in this column, but something tells me that it won't be my last time, at least if his latest single “tacenda” is anything to go by. Less of a song and more of an alluring musical environment built out of fragments of bleeps and bloops and complimented by the Sydney artist's smooth, soulful vox, “tacenda” is an entrancing listen that has me counting down the days until JVLY's next release.

MXMS – AFTER NIGHT

Concluding this week with the spectral “After Night” by MXMS. Okay, okay, so I already featured this song in this column last year, but since we're busy celebrating the release of Ariel Levitan and Jeremy Dawson's debut EP Funeral Pop I on our very own label here at We Are: The Guard, what choice did I have but to bring you this incorporeal beauty all over again? Listen to Funeral Pop I in full here.

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Photo by Pablo Hermoso 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.