Clockwise from top left: Gillian, Charlie Burg, Dream Wife, Miquela and Teyana Taylor, Low Cut Connie, and
Cautious Clay with Remi Wolf and Sophie Meiers.

Low Cut Connie, “Private Lives” — Low Cut Connie’s Adam Weiner explores people at their most authentic—namely, who they are in private. The single has an infectious hook that’s hard to get out of your head. The video follows the lives of two people with polar opposite “outer” and “inner” lives. These differences manifest in one seeming most authentic when she finds herself surrounded by people she trusts, and the other when she’s surrounded by strangers. Weiner’s arrangement has the same energy as a live performance, with powerful vocals and a danceable beat.

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Charlie Burg, “Channel Orange in Your Living Room” — Here’s a song that’s ready for a coming-of-age movie scene when a protagonist realizes he or she is in love. It gets its name from Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, an album that elicits a plethora of emotions. Burg associates it with the moment he kissed a girl while drunk at a party and now can’t get her out of his mind. It starts off with a more mellow tone, but as he starts singing about that fateful party, the music starts to pick up with more prominent percussion and more dense vocal harmonies.

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Cautious Clay, Remi Wolf, Sophie Meiers, Still Woozy, Claud, Melanie Faye and HXNS, “Cheesin'” — “Cheesin'” is a self-isolation collaboration made almost entirely remotely with all the proceeds going to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Funds. All the artists came together to make this indie soul, rock and pop anthem. Remi Wolf, Still Woozy, Sophie Meiers and Cluad take care of the verses, while Cautious Clay handles the chorus. Melanie Faye comes through with catchy guitar licks throughout the song as well as a tasty solo at the end. “Cheesin'” centers on the different perspectives in a “situationship.” Sometimes people just want the physical connection, others might want more emotional support, and the rest want a relationship without the responsibilities. The track’s upbeat pace becomes a foil for the less fun lyrics. It’s a song to which almost everyone can find a connection because of its many different takes on relationships.

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Dream Wife, “Hasta La Vista” — Iceland-born, London-based punk rock trio Dream Wife’s second single for its upcoming album, So When You Gonna…, was actually the first thing the friends wrote after coming back from tour. It was made in response to the relationships that fell apart and to the new ones that formed during that time. It’s about accepting change and being grateful for the memories. “Hasta La Vista” would fit perfectly into the Mamma Mia franchise, with its disco-inspired synths and fiery feminist perspective. It’s also the least aggressive song in the band’s catalog.

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Miquela, featuring Teyana Taylor, “Machine” — Miquela collaborates with R&B icon Teyana Taylor to highlight the main axiom of hookup culture: don’t fall in love. Dancing around that line is what the whole song centers on, asking the other person if he can seal the deal without feeling something deeper. The song has sultry R&B influences in the vocal department, but it steps away from genre limitations by way of nuanced synthetic textures. The song breaks out of traditional ballad mold.

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Gillian, “high” — Pop singer-songwriter Gillian delves into the ways in which addiction affects relationships. The song is driven by delicate piano and haunting vocals. This skeletal arrangement brings more attention to the lyrics, which shed light on what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone who’s lost. It emphasizes the point that Gillian, in a previous relationship, became second to drugs. When she needed someone to be there for her, he kept disappointing her. Gillian’s voice and lyrics display a maturity uncommon for a 16-year-old. She has a really strong emotional presence, even within a more stripped-down sound.

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Aarushi’s Pick: This week my favorite is “Channel Orange in the Living Room” by Charlie Burg. It takes me back to all the times I listened to Frank Ocean with my dorm-mates and reminds me of when I was still at college having fun with my friends without a care in the world. That’s not some distant memory of my youth. This was just a month ago, before everything stopped. I haven’t stopped listening to Burg’s song since it came out and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. He reminds me of Gus Dapperton in his early days, especially in his earthy, resonant vocals. He’s vulnerable without being sappy or making the listener uncomfortable as he recounts his personal experience.