Best New Music: July 2025

A ranking and review of the best new releases from K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and P-pop artists!

View the Substack version of this piece here!

#20: gongwon, “escape”
“escape” is a shoegaze-influenced song from an underrated indie rocker. gongwon sounds older than she looks, and it is startling to first hear such powerful pipes come from someone who looks so lost and small in the music video! Looking fresh-faced and wearing a teddy bear backpack, she wanders the city alone at night, while her words paint dismal pictures. She sings about feeling exposed (“There’s never a place to hide”), confused (“I don’t know where I came from”), and perpetually yearning (“In faces too busy running away… Words that have lost their way”). However, she also paints with strokes of defiance and determination, saying things like “Hold my hand / We will definitely arrive / We will definitely be found,” and “We’ll stay alive - we’ll protect each other.” Using future tense - “will” - implies that she is still lost; her “escape” remains ongoing. But she trusts that she will eventually succeed, giving her world-weary words layered implications.

#19: DUSTCELL, “TOMOSHIBI”

“TOMOSHIBI” (aka “Light”) is a genre hybrid elevated by an electrifying music video. The video consists of vibrant reds and blues and layered images that pop off the screen. Characters and items take on shapes and textures as if pieces of a 3D movie. The ceaselessness and dizzying speed of visual changes makes the sequences seem like one big movie transition. “TOMOSHIBI” serves that movie well, with instrumental intensity and in-character delivery. This self-described “chaos groove” ushers in an unapologetically devilish time, insisting that a “Tempest [is] more fun than emptiness”!
​
#18: RESCENE, Dearest
In cute and clever ways, RESCENE stick to their “memory recall via scents” concept. The main track, “Deja Vu,” describes a memory as a “faded note,” a reference to both a handwritten memo and the notes in a perfume. They describe secrets between friends as coming back to them when “[c]arried by the gentle breeze,” and they encourage each other to “hold on to that scent.” The B-side, “Mood,” is more direct with its analogy, describing being “[c]aught up in [a] fragrance.” Both songs are sung with a softness that matches the friendly and down-to-earth demeanor they have in the “Deja Vu” music video. They wear school uniforms, carry charm-adorned backpacks, have a group hug, and run around playing in a field together, in periods of both rain and shine. Scenes that switch to the look of a handheld camera add to the “hanging out with best friends” premise. 

Through well-curated video scenes and an equally thoughtful pair of songs, RESCENE communicate an important message about the simple yet satisfying memories worth cherishing. 

#17: BLACKPINK, “JUMP”
After nearly three years without a proper group-wide comeback, BLACKPINK had to go all out with “JUMP,” and they definitely have! The lyrics have their signature bite (“I’m not that easy to tame… All my tears turn to ice”), but the sound is new for them; it’s their first foray into the “hardstyle” dance music sub-genre. The music video is also both classic BLACKPINK and new for them. They literally go to new heights, flying and then performing on a levitating stage! Before that, they revel in the hold they have over people, controlling fans’ movements to stay synchronized with the rave-ready beat. They have a blast exploiting their inescapable power in other forms, too, including convincing fans to pursue them on foot, despite the members’ supersonic speed making it impossible to catch up to them; tilting the world to and fro; and giving “stuck in your head” a literal interpretation! 

BLACKPINK present one exaggerated portrayal after another of their very real global pop dominance, and they take the same approach to showing individual pop dominance, both by trading lines and appearing on individual billboards. However, the last impression they leave is one of being strongest when together. They end the video while on a floating stage yet staring upwards; despite already being in the sky, they imply that there are still higher highs they can reach!

#16: WayV, BIG BANDS
This era nails WayV’s main message: “We don’t need big bands to leave a big impact”! From the brassy hip-hop title track to the goofy jumble of noise that is “Ice Tea,” each song leaves an unmistakable aftertaste. While “Sad Eyes” and “Your Song” have a quiet presence, they are outliers to a raucous norm (and their influence on the listening experience is not just outnumbered but lessened due to the tracklist placement, sandwiched between versions of “BIG BANDS”). That norm is particularly obvious in “WOAH,” which involves a comically deep vocal, distorted bass, ad libs, frequent record scratches, and other look-at-me attributes. 

Like the songs, the “Tune the Band” teaser videos show that WayV are at their best when at their most out-there. Each member plays an innocuous role but goes about it in unconventional ways. Chef KUN whips up a bizarre recipe, barber YANGYANG gives one heck of a makeover, teacher XIAOJUN rewrites a lecture to be as basic and literal as it gets, and TEN and HENDERY separately win contests while not necessarily adhering to the rules! The whole group comes together for a teaser in which their fortune cookie offers these messages: “WORLD SHIFTING” and “DESIGN LOADING.” This foreshadows the “BIG BANDS” music video, in which scenes look like the viewers are designing them in real time via a computer program. The members stay upbeat while in their “playable character” roles and switch up their surroundings within seconds, embodying this era’s “down for anything” approach and “big impressions with minimal effort” message.

#15: PURPLE KISS, I Miss My…
These well-written songs seamlessly compile commentary about the past, present, and future. In “DOREMI,” PURPLE KISS sing about rewinding a “music box” of memories but frame that rewinding as a chance to chart a new path: “With this monotonous melody / I can find myself in the end.” In “LOST & FOUND,” they embrace the times they are both lost and found, because both involve a meaningful process of gathering “precious pieces,” lasting reminders that not all journeys need to end: “It will not be over / When I’m lost and found.” Lastly, “VVV” compares their current situation to filming a movie, describing it as being at the “climax” and calling “Action.” But it also looks forward: “Dive into a world you don’t even know;” “The new me, I rebrand my vision.” The “DOREMI” music video walks the same line between wistfulness and wonder. The members wear bohemian outfits, play in a field together, unfurl a keyboard-printed blanket, and toss flowers like confetti. They sing about savoring this summer day, dancing “the final waltz” and enjoying “Our festival.” 

Both the “DOREMI” video and these three songs take on new meaning in hindsight, now that the group’s November disbandment date is confirmed. Refreshingly, I Miss My… is not a classic “farewell” era, one that encourages, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Instead, its message is “It’s still happening, so enjoy it while it lasts!” Neither being entirely sad and nostalgic nor entirely future-focused allows this era to be a true gift, one that is more beautiful than bittersweet. 

#14: Xdinary Heroes, “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)”
As much as the “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)” music video is tonally intriguing, the pre-release “Mood Film” is even more so. “Mood Film : What ART means?” features a voiceover narration about the nature of art, both in terms of the perception and production of it. The narrator contemplates how language limits thinking, if it is possible to “escape” the confines of words, and the ways in which artwork can speak louder. The voiceover is paired with scenes in an art museum, ones just as worth reading into for what they lack as for what they contain. Much space remains open and empty, between works of art ranging from paintings to walls of changing text.

Xdinary Heroes have interrogated the meaning of reality before, but never in this specific context. They take that context further through constant changes in the “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)” video. It starts with one of them watching himself on television. They play the role of rockstars at times and as mad men under surveillance at others. They walk with confident strides and stares in some scenes, but while in a narrow hallway with lighting periodically turning red instead of green. Other mitigating variables on their powerful presence unfold during performance scenes. They rock out in leather looks, but they do so while black birds ominously fly around them and while on a relatively small platform, and their jam session is interspersed with squeamish blink-and-miss-it images, like vials of blood.

Overall, “Mood Film : What ART means?” and “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)” keep questions open regarding how self-discovery and self-defining unfold, given varying degrees of constraints and freedoms. The song itself stays loyal to the “experimentation” key word, with daring detours and a high-voltage yet refreshingly unrushed structure.

#13: ARrC, HOPE
This rookie group’s newest project packs a strong punch. Its inspirations span the past and present, with scenes that focus on typical K-pop music video elements - flames, graffiti - interspersed with homages to Korean folklore and 1980’s Japanese films. This rookie group modernizes and reinterprets sounds, too. “awesome” derives from early-aughts hip-hop, and the B-sides mix and match elements of jazz, soul, funk, hyper-pop, hip-hop, electro-punk, and even more styles! They draw inspiration from many places and do so in ways that are not derivative. They also make sure to leave an impression on the audience that is all their own with co-writing credits, unanticipated instrumental arrangements, and the repetition of their group name (“A Double R C, we ARrC,” they sing in “awesome,” and they end repeating “we ARrC”).

#12: UVERworld, EPIPHANY
This rock album is as ambitious as it is ambiguous. The one-of-a-kind, rollicking romps come in many flavors, and the ingredients are often swapped mid-song. “WINGS ever” gives the best examples of that real-time trading. The most humorously observant song is “MMH (EPIPHANY ver.)” (“Surviving myself, distorting as I go”). It also has the most inventive saxophone use, while the best harmonica use is in the eclectic “NO MAP.” When not headbang-worthy or jump-worthy, these songs are still just plain interesting, making the lack of lyrics in songs like “JUMP” excusable! On the other hand, some songs do have more substance: “If…Hello” is about trusting that brighter days will come, and “WINGS ever” is about making peace with life’s unpredictability. But commentary cedes a lot of ground to instrumental frivolity, and the album is better off for it! 

#11: Milena, Where to Begin
Milena has jazz sensibilities that fans of Laufey will appreciate but a story to tell that is all her own, and she tells it with clarity, candor, and dashes of comedy. Prior to the album’s release, she released a “Beginner’s Guide” with tips on how to enjoy her album to the fullest. The video’s caption: “It’s not that deep [Except it is]”! She tells the audience the album consists of “mostly true stories, except the parts that are made up,” which prevents the album from sounding too self-serious. She comes across as a peer more than a know-it-all or a mentor. The voiceover describes her broad and humble appeal as such: “You might not know her yet, but if you’ve ever fallen in love, overthought a text, or cried on your way home for no clear reason, chances are you already speak her language.” 

While addressing the crowded room that is those who feel lonely and unlucky in love, Milena acknowledges her own presence in that room! She never pretends to know any more than anyone else regarding how to navigate relationships, which makes this as likable of a listening experience as it is a lovely one. 

#10: AHOF, WHO WE ARE
There is welcome nuance in AHOF’s depictions of starting a new journey. The theme is cautious optimism, and they use star metaphors to represent both feeling small and insignificant and shining bright. In “The Little Star,” they interpolate the classic children’s song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and sing about being just a “single dot” in the sky. This opening track puts their inexperience and self-doubt front and center, and it stays there through the rest of the mini-album. A fear of being forgotten and of never making it big lingers, even as they try to focus on the “dream seen through a faint crack” (“The Little Star”), the “Fragments that [want] to glow” (“Incompleted”), and the ability to mark “the beginning of a new story” (“AHOF”). The songs are made with care and intent, pairing these conflicted lyrics with soft instrumentals and apprehensive, periodically hushed voices. The music videos are just as multidimensional. In “The Little Star,” every star shines bright, despite their many differences. They come in many sizes, quantities, locations, colors… The consistencies are just their shape and presence. They remain lasting “glowing fragments,” representing possibilities more than proof of accomplishments.

“Rendezvous” opens with a scene that brings to mind M. C. Escher’s Relativity, a work of art that is about the construction of one’s sense of normalcy (and even if that artwork is not intentionally alluded to, the opening scene remains significant; the members ride up and down different escalators and appear from different camera angles, representing how individualized senses of stability and direction can be). The way the world as AHOF know it is changing as they embark on their K-pop journey makes the metaphor apt; “Is this real life?” is probably something they ask themselves a lot these days! “Rendezvous” further represents both emotional ups and downs with presumed flashback interruptions, a performance in a crowd-less stadium, and “normal day” behaviors taking place amid hints at something supernatural. It all screams “anticipation,” a key word with neither an entirely negative nor positive connotation. 

WHO WE ARE and its corresponding videos are about the destabilizing nature of a major turning point, and AHOF symbolize this milestone through details that represent how not inherently the best, nor inherently the worst, but the most eventful, is yet to come!

#9: sunwoojunga, chan rahn 
This era impresses with its consistent commitment to representing a middle ground. In visuals and sounds alike, these jazz-and-soul-fueled songs temper both their exuberance and despair. While “WANT IT!” seems like the excitable exception, it also represents a stifled energy at first, juxtaposing a humdrum office worker’s life with an end-of-day outburst that seems to have built up over time.

But sunwoojunga sounds uninterested in finding out what’s wrong, and her lyrics repeatedly take on a listicle-like format, as opposed to one that digs deeper. In “WANT IT!,” she names things that seem simple to get but are not for her: “I want hope, I want sunlight / I want the wind, I want love…” “Long Form Life” also lists things she wants: “Something long / Something boring /  Something low /  Something slow / Something loose / Something moody / Something romantic…” She later asks, “Can someone summarize this for me?,” indicating a desire to get certain things she wants out of life without having to learn why she seeks them or how she can get them herself. She expresses ironic impatience while keeping herself in a middling state, between thinking of things she desires and moving towards getting them. She can’t get out of her own way, and self-sabotage is a recurring theme. “Your love brings me back to life again,” she says in “Revive,” before admitting, “I wanna hold you tight / But nights pass by with my head down, lost in dreams.” She seems unclear how much she truly wants to love herself in “lovemyself,” going from saying, “Loving myself, words that hurt me so,” to “Loving myself, words I wanna own.” And in “Relation ship,” she sings about how much she loves spending time with someone but stresses her desire to keep things platonic: “Right now is the time to stop;” “Let’s not get too close”! 

chan rahn speaks volumes both for what it says and does not say, making it a fascinating character study that is uniquely equipped to resonate with audiences who are initially resistant to introspection.

#8: Sarah Geronimo & SB19, “UMAALIGID” 
Besides being just plain catchy, “UMAALIGID” makes its mark through lyrics and a corresponding short film that leave listeners and viewers deep in thought. The title refers to “lurking” or “lingering,” which is how the song describes rumors and misinformation. They address the topic with crucial complexity, acknowledging the high stakes of falsehoods without relinquishing a sense of personal power over them. They cast rumor- and misinformation-spreaders as predators and themselves as prey: “they’re closing in… they might just capture you… don’t let your guard down; “Their eyes are locked and loaded / Watch out - they’re already after you.” However, lyrics like “Beware of the ones with nothing to do / Their words are weapons” lessen the depiction of these people as daunting and domineering. They are really just bored losers! And while the lyrics repeatedly acknowledge the very real harm they can cause with their falsehoods (“I’m addicted, a captive of the howling / Can’t break free”) and the ways they are not immune from the sirens’ call (“They know exactly how to reach / That itch inside your ear / And play your favorite melody”), they never fully cede narrative control to them. Falsehood-spreaders lurk like shadows that follow them, but just like shadows, it would be a mistake to treat them as having the same strength and presence as something tangible. Shadows are harmless, and while rumor-spreaders are not, the metaphor is helpful for staying mindful of rumor-spreaders’ egotistic self-images not matching reality. 

In addition to deftly handling the multifaceted topic of misinformation and its parasitic but magnetic qualities, “UMAALIGID” acknowledges one of its root causes, which is an information void that needs filling: “I feel ‘em creepin’ in my mind… These shadows lurk when truth is hard to find.” Yet another nuance they touch on is how news is not always entirely fake or entirely true: “snakes choose to taint clues to fake truth.”

Lastly, they address both the high stakes of misinformation and the hot-air-filled minds of those who spread it with a short film plot about an illicit gambling investigation and incessant finger-pointing. It shows the drastic actions some people are willing to take upon believing falsehoods, how quickly people can turn on one another, and how compelling but ultimately detrimental it is to play bad-faith actors’ games.

#7: ONEW, PERCENT
ONEW stays an effective messenger by centering his silliness in real-world scenarios. Cartoonish components are a part of the “Confidence” and “ANIMALS” music videos, but so are blunt reality checks, which speak to the naivete that is an endearing and definitive trait of PERCENT. ONEW has to learn the hard way that he cannot change other people, so rather than wait for the world to accept him or follow his lead, he decides to just live as his happiest self. 

In “ANIMALS,” his fellow subway passengers turn into animals and unleash their “party animal” instincts, losing all self-consciousness. But the video ends as it begins: with the passengers ignoring ONEW. People hurry to their offices without even looking his way, but he beams. So what if he’s the only one who remembers their “party animal” night?! At least he has tried to give others a spontaneous good time!

In “Confidence,” ONEW tries to fly. He makes himself mechanical wings and casually roams the neighborhood wearing them. The neighbors appear unamused, if not embarrassed by him. They remain that way when he mails them a miracle product that can supposedly turn them into fliers too! ONEW never succeeds at flying, but the universe rewards his genuine efforts, and his fall is softened by landing on garbage bags. After the fall, he finds many treats, and his wings gain colors. He is glad he tries to make his flying dream a reality, even if it does not work and does not generate the desired butterfly effect. He has tried to manifest a whimsical time for other people but has only succeeded at manifesting one for himself, which is enough to satisfy him. After all, he sings, “Look, the difference between a question mark and an exclamation point / Is just one thing / Built in doubt / A hunched back / Or a straightened attitude in contrast / With nothing but certainty.” He cannot stop others from living life as question marks, but at least he can show through example how to live like an exclamation point, with an uncompromising, if misguided, vision!

ONEW is content with how he lives his own life, and PERCENT is filled with songs about that contentment. Like his actions, his words lack self-consciousness and are the antithesis of cynical. He compares loved ones to “Caffeine” doses, to things as sweet as a “Marshmallow,” and to his life’s fun “roller coaster” rides (in “MAD”). Some other examples of his “Life is a gift!” mindset are in “Happy Birthday” (“The dream is right here; everything I ever wanted is all around me”) and “Confidence” (“[W]hat I really lost was / The confidence that I could do it.” He regains that confidence by tuning out naysayers: “If the world says I’m wrong / It’s the world that’s wrong”). 

#6: ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 ‘In Your Fantasy Edition’
Pre-repackage, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 underwhelmed. Now, ATEEZ have fully redeemed themselves! This excellent album expansion leans heavy into a Justin Timberlake-esque sound with “In Your Fantasy,” and each solo number is its own colorful character. They offer a little bit of everything: something harmonized and groovy (YUNHO’s “Slide to me”), bold and triumphant (YEOSANG’s “Legacy”), sensual and vocally unexpected (SEONGHWA’s “Skin”), boastful and cheeky (HONGJOONG’s “NO1”), frisky and risky (SAN’s “Creep”), condescending and commanding (MINGI’s “ROAR”), and committed and confessional (WOOYOUNG’s “Sagittarius”). They end with JONGHO’s guitar-starring ballad “To be your light,” which repeats the group’s promise to “make it happen.” Vague yet confident-sounding, it perfectly caps off a collection of tracks that speak to how the sky is ATEEZ’s limit and how they are fully aware of that!

#5: JO YURI, Episode 25
Episode 25 has some of JO YURI’s strongest lyricism to date. Some of the best lines are in “Farewell for now!”: “Letting go of a hand I held so tight / Could be love’s quietest kind of cry,” and “It’s clear in your eyes / I’m nowhere to be found.” Inventive metaphors fill the B-sides: “Growls and Purrs” likens her behavior to that of a pet’s, feeling too flustered to know what to do around a crush is compared to getting a “HICCUP,” and “Overkill” includes lines like “you pulled the rug / And you ripped my world at the seams.” Then there is “Going Under,” which compares several experiences at once to being underwater: consuming negative social media content that makes her want to just throw her phone in the ocean (“Blankly scrolling… All the noise that feels like it’s stabbing me / Drop it all in with a splash”), being in a toxic relationship (“a dangerous water game”), and getting by but just barely (“I regain some energy and start flailing again”). Episode 25 also shows growth in terms of JO YURI’s genre exploration, with a rock-influenced beginning and end and dollops of jazz and synth-pop between them. Her maturity takes yet another form with the message of the “Farewell for now!” music video, which is ultimately about valuing a relationship but being content that it has ended. 

#4: TWICE, THIS IS FOR
It remains impressive how naturally TWICE have matured. No comeback has seemed like a “grew up overnight” one that seeks shock value, and the bubblegum-pop fare of their early days has never gone away entirely. At the same time, they keep fans guessing, playing around with different styles in terms of both aesthetics and music. THIS IS FOR is another contribution to TWICE’s organic evolution. The sound is very much pop, but lyrics pertaining to puppy love and new beginnings are replaced with ones about more mature romances and more complicated life experiences. At the same time, they still sound bubbly! “FOUR” starts by asking, “Are you ready for the ride?,” and “THIS IS FOR” includes giggling and laser noises! Plus, “DAT AHH DAT OOH” has the same attitude as their debut single, “Like Ooh-Ahh;” both songs tout the group’s “It” factor!

These songs broadly fall into three main categories. One is songs that are flirtatious and playfully evasive, about keeping their “OPTIONS” open (“I’m not bought and I’m not chosen… I’m picky when I choose”), toying with someone (“I’d put you on a chain,” they decide in “PEACH GELATO”!), enjoying the fact they’ve gotten someone flustered (“BATTITUDE”), and urging a crush to make a move (“better start talking,” they sing in “HI HELLO”). A second category are songs about sisterhood, including “THIS IS FOR” (“This is for all my ladies who don’t get hyped enough”) and “RIGHT HAND GIRL” (“Don’t be messing up your eyeliner / For somebody who’s a part-timer”). The third category is where TWICE’s maturity is most evident: songs that are serious and contemplative. These include songs about a toxic relationship (“LET LOVE GO” and “TALK”), one that admits to loneliness on the road (“G.O.A.T.”), and a more frank assessment of struggling post-breakup than a younger TWICE would offer (“All the roads lead right back to you / I’m seeing all the signs, but I ignore the truth / And end up on Heartbreak Avenue,” they sing in “HEARTBREAK AVENUE”). 

#3: LEE CHANHYUK, EROS
While enveloping listeners in a retro, synth-heavy haze, LEE CHANHYUK sings about spectacles in ways that convey something is off. The audience is put under a sonic spell along with him, experiencing a state of belief suspension without being cognizant of what that belief even was or is. He tells unsettling stories that provoke more questions than answers. “SINNY SINNY” is about a “Man who lived in Seoul city.” He claims that “We all knew the reason why” he left and that “Now all that’s left [of him] is to be forgotten.” He wonders where the “Shining Ground” is that he’s heard so many myths about - the “radiant world [that] may never come.” And in “TAIL,” he wonders if anyone else has memories of being treated like a lab rat: “We were trapped inside a vast world / Our wings, as big as houses, were severed / Do you remember too?” EROS’s corresponding music videos are also unsettling. Space and time are both messed with: LEE CHANHYUK’s image roams in and out of liminal space in “Out of My Mind,” and what resemble post-movie credits appear multiple times. And in “Vivid LaLa Love,” he leads a strange dance while in a ballroom with singing animals, and he seems to be resurrected after falling out of a window (going from wearing angel wings to what looks like a garden, as if reincarnated as a plant).

LEE CHANHYUK’s status as a reliable narrator remains questionable, and his recollections can be seen as resurfaced memories, figments of his imagination, pieces of tall tales he grew up hearing, or a combination of all three. The possibilities all stay likely, especially given the meta detours some of his stories take, like “Out of My Mind” (“Crowds are clapping / Assuming I’m dancing… the stage is falling apart”) and “TV Show” (“See me on [the] TV show… look at this foolish version of me”). Plus, the EROS highlight medley video resembles VHS-recorded TV specials.

Overall, EROS is a strange and surreal era that is both beguiling and bizarre.

#2: TXT, The Star Chapter: TOGETHER
Stay tuned for a separate write-up all about this release!

#1: Jolin Tsai, aka JOLIN, Pleasure
Jolin Tsai remains as boundary-pushing as ever, refusing to compromise a creative vision that encompasses philosophy, literature, and social commentary (particularly pertaining to women’s roles and materialism). She sums up her mantra best in the title track: “All taboos are off.”

She begins her latest dive down through “Layers” of consciousness with, naturally, a layered song, one that is at times slow and cinematic and at times faster and club-ready. The trip-hop/electro-pop mix pulls listeners in, and “The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio” is a haunting choral number that sucks them in deeper. The rest of the album unfolds in the same multifaceted manner, with operatic threads woven into and out of R&B leanings and JOLIN’s dance-pop roots. 

While the overarching motif involves the Seven Deadly Sins, the source material that inspired these songs ranges widely. Testaments to that range include “SEVEN,” which is inspired by classic poetry, and “Fish Love,” which riffs off of a sermon about relationship give-and-takes. 

Some songs stay at a “surface layer,” like a straightforward song about loving oneself “Inside [and] Out,” while others get into “deeper layers,” exploring people’s most unguarded and natural instincts. The sounds do those depths justice, especially “The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio,” “Safari,” “Fish Love,” and “Bloody Mary.” They each seem to crumble in real time, as stuttering and glitching grow faster and more frequent. Elsewhere in Pleasure, periods of vocals and instruments fading into the background before moving back to the forefront or vice versa maintain the “resurfacing” theme, and her lyrics and tonal shifts reiterate a desire to assess the human condition from every single angle. This often involves double entendres, befitting JOLIN’s back-and-forth between cooing and calling the shots. She keeps her alpha status apparent via winks and nods or forthrightness, depending on the number of “layers” the song warrants.

While this immersive journey has plenty of highlights, the biggest one starts with “Hush Little Baby” and leads into “Good Girl.” JOLIN gives the “Hush Little Baby” lullaby an eerie and unsettling spin, and it bleeds into the start of “Good Girl.” A remixed version of the lullaby resurfaces later, not to fill blank space but to add to the cacophony, as if just copied and pasted on top of an already-full soundscape. The dramatic pauses and zigging and zagging between softer and rougher-edged sounds make “Good Girl” the most polarizing but praiseworthy track. It strikes the perfect chord to epitomize JOLIN’s image as a cunning character with a richly riveting presence.

Catch up on past “Best New Music” picks here and here!