Songs We Love: Pop : NPR

MorMor Basks In Uncertainty With 'Whatever Comes To Mind'

With an ambiguous, bare-bones style of storytelling, MorMor is Toronto's newest enigma. Jake Sherman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jake Sherman/Courtesy of the artist

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Songs We Love

MorMor Basks In Uncertainty With 'Whatever Comes To Mind'

April 20, 2018 • Like a balloon escaping the hands of a child or fallen leaf bobbing and floating downstream, the Canadian singer accepts the unpredictable nature of his path.

On 'It's Not Just Me,' Let's Eat Grandma Crystallizes A Crush

Let's Eat Grandma's I'm All Ears drops June 29 on Transgressive. YouTube screenshot by NPR hide caption

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All Songs Considered

On 'It's Not Just Me,' Let's Eat Grandma Crystallizes A Crush

April 18, 2018 • Newfound infatuation is tenuous and uncertain, but Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth revel in it for as long as they can.

Natalie Prass' 'Short Court Style' Is A Lush '70s Throwback

Natalie Prass' The Future and The Past comes out June 1. Tonje Thilesen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Songs We Love

Natalie Prass' 'Short Court Style' Is A Lush '70s Throwback

February 26, 2018 • Prass sheds Disney princess comparisons and instead gloves up to pole-vault with her first single off The Future and The Past.

The Intimate Revolution Of Odette's 'Collide'

Odette sets her healing process to music with the acoustic version of "Collide." Metaxia Coustas/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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The Intimate Revolution Of Odette's 'Collide'

January 24, 2018 • The Australian singer's new single is a quiet revolution. "I think that the most important thing that a woman in a toxic situation can do is to talk about it," Odette says.

Songs We Love: Jorja Smith, 'Let Me Down (Feat. Stormzy)'

Jorja Smith performs at the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival in 2017. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

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Songs We Love

Songs We Love: Jorja Smith, 'Let Me Down (Feat. Stormzy)'

January 11, 2018 • Two of the U.K.'s rising stars collaborate for the first time on an Adele-inspired heartbreak ballad.

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Slingshot

Songs We Love: The Shacks, 'Follow Me'

January 11, 2018 • The first song from the band's debut full-length album, Haze, balances Shannon Wise's airy vocals with a foot-tapping bass line.

Kimbra Climbs To The 'Top Of The World' In New Single

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Songs We Love

Kimbra Climbs To The 'Top Of The World' In New Single

November 16, 2017 • With angry synths, religious imagery and a symbolic music video, the New Zealand singer provides the empowering song we need at this time of year.

The Unsure Silence Of Sabrina Claudio's 'Stand Still'

Sabrina Claudio's new album About Time is out now. Kanya Iwana/Courtesy of Warner Music Group hide caption

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Songs We Love

The Unsure Silence Of Sabrina Claudio's 'Stand Still'

November 2, 2017 • The singer takes her time building a moment between two people who want the same thing.

Watch Tei Shi's Neon-Lit Video For 'Say You Do'

Tei Shi's Crawl Space is out now. Vevo hide caption

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Watch Tei Shi's Neon-Lit Video For 'Say You Do'

October 3, 2017 • Tei Shi's red thigh-highs weren't a deliberate reference to Britney Spears' iconic jumpsuit but, she admits, it may have been a subconscious one.

Chela's 'Bad Habit' Will Slap You Back Into Reality

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Songs We Love

Chela's 'Bad Habit' Will Slap You Back Into Reality

September 14, 2017 • You never stop being a punk, even when you start making pop music. Chela's new single is a complex and desperate dance inward, and keeps us wanting more.

Kali Uchis' 'Tyrant' Is A Love Letter To Summer 2017

Kali Uchis (right) and Jorja Smith in the luxurious video for "Tyrant." YouTube hide caption

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Songs We Love

Kali Uchis' 'Tyrant' Is A Love Letter To Summer 2017

June 22, 2017 • Light and airy in its sweetness, the song blooms into fluffy, ebullient tufts of cotton candy — only to soon melt in the hot June sun and dry into a hardened candy shell.

Showtime Goma's 'Secret NRG' Is A Triumphant Rallying Cry

Showtime Goma's debut album, Smiley Face, comes out June 16. Showtime and Luxie Productions/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Showtime Goma's 'Secret NRG' Is A Triumphant Rallying Cry

May 3, 2017 • Known for hopscotching between an array of bands, Jen Goma embodies numerous roles in the video for her empowering new dance-pop gem.

Showtime Goma's 'Secret NRG' Is A Triumphant Rallying Cry

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Experience Clarence Clarity's Demento-Pop With 'Fold 'Em'

Clarence Clarity's self-released Leave Earth comes out later this year. Dempsey Thomas/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Songs We Love

Experience Clarence Clarity's Demento-Pop With 'Fold 'Em'

April 20, 2017 • The London producer dresses the golden age of the Easy-Bake boy band in a mishmash of contemporary electronic garb.

Clarence Clarity, 'Fold 'Em'

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Perfume Genius' 'Slip Away' Is A Glitter Grenade

Perfume Genius' new album, No Shape, comes out May 5. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Perfume Genius' 'Slip Away' Is A Glitter Grenade

March 21, 2017 • Defiance is exhausting. Mike Hadreas' cosmically expansive, baroque declaration of love also acts as a protest song, depicting his lover as a godlike being who sustains his spirit.

Perfume Genius, 'Slip Away'

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In 'Heathen,' London's Colouring Just Wants To Believe In Love

Colouring's new single, Heathen, is out now. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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In 'Heathen,' London's Colouring Just Wants To Believe In Love

March 10, 2017 • The electronic band wrote the lush and romantic "Heathen" about love, but also about believing in each other, even when it feels like we've lost ourselves.

Colouring, 'Heathen'

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Be Charlotte Delves Into Human Mechanics In 'Machines That Breathe'

Charlotte Brimner is the lead singer of the Scottish band Be Charlotte. Murray McMillan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Be Charlotte Delves Into Human Mechanics In 'Machines That Breathe'

March 8, 2017 • This charming and impeccable bit of pop songcraft is enhanced considerably by the thick brogue of 19-year-old singer Charlotte Brimner.

Slow Dancer's 'Don't Believe' Video Is A Nostalgia Playground

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Slow Dancer's 'Don't Believe' Video Is A Nostalgia Playground

February 22, 2017 • Simon Okely's soulful serenade to a detached lover betrays his influences in its smooth '70s sound. The accompanying video is a retro haze of mom jeans and disco balls.

Don't Believe

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Sui Zhen Liberates Her Digital Alter Ego In 'Hangin' On' Video

Sui Zhen's new album, Secretly Susan, is out now via Twosyllable Records. Prue Stent/Courtest of the artist hide caption

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Sui Zhen Liberates Her Digital Alter Ego In 'Hangin' On' Video

February 17, 2017 • The Melbourne artist's Susan persona, whom she calls "a manifestation of social media metadata," gets a taste of freedom in a Butoh-inspired video.

Sui Zhen, 'Hangin' On'

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Anna Wise Shares 'Coconuts,' A Video For Female Unity

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Anna Wise Shares 'Coconuts,' A Video For Female Unity

February 3, 2017 • Wise, known for her collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, says the idea for the purple-lit video came to her during an "incredible" pedicure.

Anna Wise Shares 'Coconuts,' A Video For Female Unity

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Half Waif's 'Frost Burn' Reckons With Retreat

Half Waif's new EP, form/a, comes out Feb. 24. Landon Speers/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Half Waif's 'Frost Burn' Reckons With Retreat

January 31, 2017 • In a shimmering slice of indie pop, Nandi Rose Plunkett reflects on the idea that our geography cannot change our history; we carry our demons with us wherever we go.

Half Waif's 'Frost Burn' Reckons With Retreat

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Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's New Song Is Your 2017 Cheer Squad

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's new album, DROOL, comes out March 3. Johnny Fabrizio/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's New Song Is Your 2017 Cheer Squad

January 25, 2017 • Mal Devisa and JD AKA ThrashKitten join the Chicago multi-instrumentalist for the extraterrestrial "dOn't turn me Off," a song dripping with positivity.

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's New Song Is Your 2017 Cheer Squad

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Becca Stevens Gives 'Queen Mab' A Nightmarish Reading

Becca Stevens' new album, Regina, comes out March 24. Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Becca Stevens Gives 'Queen Mab' A Nightmarish Reading

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January 19, 2017 • With lyrics lifted from Mercutio's speech in Romeo And Juliet, Stevens tangles beauty with terror in a way that would give Shakespeare the shivers.

Becca Stevens Gives 'Queen Mab' A Nightmarish Reading

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