Tracks we love right now, in no particular order.
Each week, The FADER staff rounds up the songs we can’t get enough of. Here they are, in no particular order. Listen on our Spotify and Apple Music playlists, or hear them all below.
HAIM, “Now it’s time”
The last track on HAIM’s I quit is a journey away from the band’s previous sound world. “Now it’s time” begins with a throbbing heartbeat and a nails-on-the-chalkboard guitar sample from U2’s “Numb.” It pivots to a bridge underwritten by unexpected Bach piano, where we glimpse Danielle’s final moment of reflection, “I held onto it too long,” before it careens into a rock outro. It’s a striking culmination of an album about leaving something — a person, a relationship, a moment — behind. —Nora Wang
KATSEYE, “Gabriela”
“Gabriela,” a sultry demo that was first shopped around to Anitta and Rita Ora, found its home with KATSEYE, HYPE’s global sextet that’s rapidly becoming the world’s next big girl group. While the previous leaked versions showed bland forgettability, KATSEYE’s go is campy and vivacious. The spark of life is clearly easier to summon when you’re part of a team. —Steffanee Wang
Joy Orbison & Overmono, “Lippy” featuring Skiifall
There is an undeniable magic whenever U.K. producers Joy Orbison and Overmono link up. “Lippy,” their latest collaboration, is perfect for balmy summer afternoons that melt into sticky nights. Montreal’s Skiifall provides the assist with a vocal that adds some tropical flavor to the Londoners skippy beat. —David Renshaw
Babyfather, “ƐƐƐƐƐ”
Babyfather’s latest marks the first collaboration between Dean Blunt and DJ Escrow (aka James Massiah) since 2024’s “bluey vuitton.” This one is a bit more aggressive, calling back to the road rap that inspired their union in the first place. Over a sinister drill beat, Escrow does most of the talking, unsurprisingly slick as he rattles off bars like “Bunny’s a rider / And you know say I keep that ting beside her / My opps them minor, not major / And I got keys for later.” —Raphael Helfand
Terry Riley & Sara Miyamoto, “Komol Reshab Asavari”
Terry Riley turned 90 on Tuesday, but he’s still making transcendent minimalist music. In honor of his birthday, he released an 11-minute raga in response to the threat of nuclear war. The track is led by Riley’s mesmeric voice and rounded out by his student Sara Miyamoto’s additional vocals and tamboura — a long-necked, lute-like Indian string instrument gifted to her by Riley himself. — RH
454, “CATEGORY 6”
Florida rapper 454 is an MC who can do it all, creating an entirely unique style without sacrificing lyrical or thematic integrity. “CATEGORY 6” is two variations on the same song: his signature sped-up style with all the makings of a frenetic joy ride, and a slowed and pitched down version with a more soulful sound. “This life shit detrimental, every day a horror flick,” he sing-raps between flexes, a glimmer of vulnerability amid the glitz of fast living. —RH
Jonah Yano, “Homerun 2021”
Mk.gee’s next move after the October standalone single “ROCKMAN” is a benevolent one: producing for Jonah Yano, a Montreal-based singer-songwriter creating soulful, gently ecstatic music. While Mk.gee’s fingerprints are unmistakable in the song’s viscous and funky guitar lines and production that shudders, peaks, and phases, it’s very much still a Yano song, his vocals steeped in nostalgia and yearning. —Jordan Darville
Ninajirachi, “iPod Touch”
In a recent interview, Tyler, the Creator gave a tongue-in-cheek defence of gatekeeping. Music we discover is ultimately meant for sharing, yes, except when a new song we love feels like a reflection. “iPod Touch,” from Australian electronic dance artist Ninajirachi, is about this feeling: “I’ve got a song that nobody knows,” she sings over a thrilling, Skrillex-adjacent beat, her voice capturing the joy of a delicious secret. The unnamed song both brings her back (“it sounds like high school front gate smoke in my face”) and pushes her forward (“‘FL Studio free download’ in my search history”), inspiring an ode bursting with candy-coated ebullience and sincerity. —JD
Caroline Polachek, “On The Beach”
Originally demoed with producer Danny L. Harle for Polachek’s 2019 album Pang, “On The Beach” was “almost too evil” for that project, Polachek says in a press release. Fortunately, video game auteur Hideo Kojima helped resurrect the song for the soundtrack to his new game Death Stranding 2, out this week. It’s Polachek at her most Homogenic adjacent, shimmering rave synths blotted over the lumbering industrial beats — such a grim setting makes her sound more like a siren in the wasteland than ever. —JD
Halima, “Cocoa Body”
Inspired by clubbing in Lagos, Halima’s “Cocoa Body” is an ode to “queer nightlife, softness, and the beauty of everything Black,” the artist says in a press release. Getting lost in its rhythmic groove, you can almost smell the lotion-y perfume of a space that’s at once bustling and tender. —SW
EsDee Kid, “5am”
Scouse rapper EsDee Kid’s Rebel is a much-needed injection of regionality into the fast-rising U.K. rap underground. Right now the standout track is “5am” featuring Fimiguerrero. Londoner Fimi immediately adopts the ways of Merseyside, drawing a link between the past and present of the city as he states: “Shell a show in Liverpool, I’m Paul McCartney.” —DR
Crushed, “Starburn”
Crushed packs a lifetime of fear and anxiety into a deceptively pretty call to arms on “Starburn.” It’s a gnarly song about slogging it out in the trenches of life and the moment hope starts to feel like delusion. “Gravity has come to collect on mine,” vocalist Bree Morell sings as she strives for the energy to fight the forces pushing her down. The song will appear on the duo’s debut album No Scope, due out on September 26. —DR