Clockwise from top left: Rozzi, Middle Kids, MAY-A, Lund, James Ivy and Sara Kays.

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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James Ivy, “Sick” — Korean artist James Ivy breaks down barriers simply by being one of the few Asian-Americans with a platform in the current rock scene. His latest single, “Sick” verbalizes the helpless fear of watching a loved one suffering from an illness. Listening to “Sick” is a very cathartic experience. The song has a fast tempo and screamable singing. You definitely would have found a song like this on a ’90s coming-of-age movie as a theme for the protagonist’s edgy sibling or best friend.

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MAY-A, “Apricots” — Maya Cumming writes a letter to her younger self about queer yearning and discovering her sexuality with “Apricots.” The track covers an important theme in the lives of many women who love women: the trope of falling in love with a female best friend, but confusing it for platonic friendship. She also reveals the trap of dating a boy instead to fit in with societal expectations and suppressing her feelings toward women. This song’s emotive, dynamic indie-pop vibes fit the struggle presented in the lyrics perfectly.

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Middle Kids, “R U 4 Me?” — The 18-month wait for Middle Kids to release new music is over. New track “R U 4 Me?” centers on how lonely life can get while looking for a place to fit in. The track has a chaotic energy, punctuated by screams and laughter. “R U 4 Me?” matches the feeling of pure joy when you find a place to fit in with a gradual, emotional crescendo. The song will prove a great listen during fall and winter, imparting warmth and relatability to help listeners through the cold months.

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Rozzi, “Orange Skies” — North Bay native Rozzi wrote “Orange Skies” to address the wildfires in California that have worsened due to climate change. She wrote it about a year ago, but released it now so she can donate the royalties to the Red Cross and Sonoma Family Meal, which are helping with relief efforts after the damage done by wildfires in the Bay Area and Northern California in the past few months. She addresses the magnitude of the issue while taking very personal perspective, reflecting her first-hand experience with the fires and how they effected her. Backed by delicate singing and somber piano, the song is for Californians who experience severe wildfires every year and end up tasked with rebuilding entire communities.

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Sara Kays, “I’m Okay Though” — This song is off Sara Kays’ debut EP, Camera Shy. Kays shares her struggles with often wanting to stay in the shadows, even as she puts herself out there as an artist. The track takes a very literal approach, highlighting the struggles she faces with anxiety and trying to essentially fake it until she makes it. The song is founded on an electronic, shuffling beat and folky acoustic guitar strumming. It’s hard to listen to this song without recalling times you felt it would be best to pretend to be happy as a faulty coping mechanism.

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Lund, “Downhill” — SoCal singer Lund’s latest track, “Downhill,” is written from the perspective of someone stuck in a one-sided relationship. The person does everything he can do to make it work—but against his best efforts, it still doesn’t work out in the end. Such a lovesick theme works for the song’s downtempo combination of indietronica and R&B, a surefire banger for fans of Joji and other 88rising up-and-comers. Still, “Downhill” stays true to Lund’s distinct sound, centered on glitchy beats and lilting guitar strains.

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Aarushi’s Pick: “Apricots” by MAY-A is favorite from this week. For all its emotive lamenting, lighthearted lines like, “You go together like mayonnaise and apricots” make me laugh. It stands out from other songs about LGBTQIA+ issues that tend to double down on sadness in tone and content. This is only her fourth single, so MAY-A is definitely an artist for whom you should be looking out. Her ability to balance serious content with an upbeat vibe both empathizes with your problems and helps you forget them.

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