Keyoung – “kisss”: Keyoung continues his path away from his trademark hybrid spoken word/sound into a more seamless, happy medium that exists somewhere between the indie pop world and the contemplative end of the hip hop world. The song is brutally honest, and the refrain of “God damn, I’ll take em all” reads more like a social commentary rather than Keyoung, an open yet struggling Christian, expressing a profanity just for sake of doing so. Keyoung is illustrating how to struggle well through his songs, even if the methods behinds his songwriting aren’t always clear. As for the overall feel of the song, I’m a fan of the way it seems to flow in a midtempo, contemplative range.

Rat Motel – “Dog”: I don’t know what it is about the winter that makes me more of a sucker for raw, dirty garage punk music but there it is. Rat Motel is satiating my apetite for this sound right now, and it seems fitting that I’m hearing this for the first time on the winter solstice. The vocals are really “I don’t care” in tone yet deliberate in cadence. The song remains lo-fi in finish yet wobbles to and fro in a way that keeps me guessing. Rat Motel can certainly hold their own with the indie big guns that will dominate the blogosphere this winter.

Phangs – “Eyes Off You”: The rising indie pop star has carefully been crafting an image and loyal social media following, spurred by simplistic yet excellent branding and the songwriting chops to back all of it up. Everything the alter-ego of Jake Germany crafts is an earworm, and “Eyes Off You” is no exception. This song feels nostalgic and draws stylistically from Michael Jackson in the chorus – the falsetto here feels familiar and brings a classic style into the present. “Eyes Off You” definitely leaves the listener wanting more and will set the tone for the indie pop world in 2018.

Mangoo – “Beyond the Sky”: If you need something loud, here ya go. I’m a sucker for big walls of sound, and this track delivers on that front and then some. The Finnish band has a name that’s pronounced “Man-Go,” by the way. So don’t laugh too hard at that name. Listening to this track takes me back five years to a show I went to that featured O’Brother and Junius. A nice mix of impending doom, beauty, and headbanging, which is what this song is.

October’s Child – “Orion”: This band follows a dreamgaze sort of format, setting a foundation of a haunting minor key synth theme, before settling into an atmospheric chorus. The effect is borderline seductive. I read the background of the duo, and the morbid fascinations and live for the moment juxtaposition that is their worldview certainly gives the tone of the song a paradigm that suddenly makes sense. The chorus resolves tension built in the verses in a very Washed Out sort of way.