Clockwise from top left: Cassidy King, Yumi Zouma, Claire Rosinkranz, Spillage Village (J.I.D, EarthGang, 6lack, Mereba, Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB and Benji), Still Woozy and Jutes.

Every week, there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips.

Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does!

We pooled our resources to find some of the best new singles from all genres and backgrounds, so you can find your newest earworm without all the drama. Enjoy this week’s hidden gems.

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Cassidy King, “Safe Places” — “Safe Places” is a song of solidarity for sapphic women. Cassidy King writes about her experience of dating a girl who was also dating a man, without either party knowing. She expounds on her situation, showing how her lover was essentially using the man to present in a straight relationship, while secretly dating King. The girl used both of them—King for love, and the man to “fit in.” The title of the song is also very telling, since she only had the girl to herself in private where it was “safe” to love each other. You wouldn’t necessarily expect the intense relationship drama behind the upbeat indie pop vibes, but this song belies an intense emotional rollercoaster.

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Jutes, “Say It First” — “Say It First” elaborates on the Canadian artist Jute’s journey though heartbreak. The song continues the romantic trap-pop sound he established with previous single “Bad Dream.” This one comes filled with woozy electronics and heavy sub-bass, setting the stage for his brutally honest take on life and love.

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Yumi Zouma, “My Palms Are Your Reference To Hold To Your Heart” — The new single from Yumi Zouma’s upcoming album, Truth and Consequences, “My Palms Are Your Reference To Hold To Your Heart,” centers on taking a step back from someone who proves to be toxic for you, even though you still love him or her back. The track has a nostalgic feeling, and the synths seem to come straight from the golden years of disco to back Christie Simpson‘s lilting vocals.

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Claire Rosinkranz, “Backyard Boy” — Breakout artist Claire Rosinkranz blew up on TikTok with “Backyard Boy.” It’s the perfect song to close out these past six quarantined months with its upbeat quirks and “summer love” feel. “Backyard Boy” is about having a crush on the boy next door, and how Rosinkranz gets nervous around him. This is a common enough trope in pop music, and in Netflix films, but she brings it the song a profound innocence that’s often lost by other songwriters. It also helps that its hook is an absolute earworm.

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Still Woozy, “BS” — Oakland’s Sven Gamsky, who goes by Still Woozy, dives into his own psyche with “BS.” Gamsky emotively writes about his own struggles, but the track acts as a reassurance that love brings out the best version of yourself. Still Woozy highlights the lyrics with a more unplugged sound. This really lets the listener focus on what he’s saying, with no distracting, overblown instrumentation getting in the way. In that sense, it’s one of his more vulnerable tracks.

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Spillage Village, EARTHGANG, J.I.D, “Baptize” — Supergroup Spillage Village has released “Baptize” and announced its upcoming album, Spillinton. “Baptize” highlights the vocals of J.I.D and EARTHGANG to a terrific effect, and the track addresses the Black experience in the U.S. The Bible and churches are referenced throughout the song, particularly the story of Adam and Eve. The video is shot mostly in a church, emphasizing the importance of these places of worship within the Black community.

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Aarushi’s Pick: My favorite for this week is “Safe Places” by Cassidy King. The song is both very personal while also being a common experience for many women in the LGBTQ+ community. Even now, relationships between women are often considered taboo. Often times, they have to be explored in private. The idea of forbidden, secret love is still applicable today, even though society has progressed. “Safe Places” addresses a serious, often overlooked issue, with a catchy sound to boot.

Follow reporter Aarushi Nanda at Instagram.com/aarushi_nanda and at Twitter.com/aarushi_nanda.