Girl K – “Girl K is For the People”: Take This to Heart Records have been really on point with handpicking their releases lately. Snarls, Palette Knife, and now Girl K. Girl K has a passionate, easygoing sound that mixes moods from Pale Waves and Alvvays. Featured here is the title track from their recently released EP, a fitting release for this warm autumn. Pensive and warm; one of my favorite combinations to be found in music.

Fleurie – “Supertropicali”: My first impression is that this is a side of Fleurie I have not heard before. Did she spend a weekend in Cancun and immediately pen this song upon her return? It’s a fun jam whose title is inspired by the classic Mary Poppins tune “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and it’s just a bop – what can I say? Bring the beach vibes with you all year round!

Allie Marshall – “Maybe”: Listening to this track, it sounds like Allie has had enough of people’s crap. The short 2 and a half minute long single is earnest in its delivery, but something tells me you wouldn’t want to shortchange Allie in real life. “Call it what it is,” she muses at one point. The production is on point and sets the mood well – always the first thing I notice when I listen to a track. I’m a mood person before a lyric person and Allie’s approach works here.

Mountains Like Wax – “Boxing Your Ears”: I’ve barely reached the first chorus and I’m saying to myself “this my favorite MLW track since ‘Control’.” The atmospheric elements of the band I love are present in spades, and vocalist Mitchell Taylor is pushing himself vocally in ways I haven’t heard him do before. I am thinking The War on Drugs may have found themselves an opening act for their upcoming tour.

The Raquels – “but it doesn’t matter”: Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but Columbus indie pop outfit seem to have remerged onto the scene with a vengeance. Even the vocals of Derrick Walter seem to be dripping with a level of attitude previously unheard. “but it doesn’t matter” is a healthy mix of dance and angst, with a hearty helping of crunchy guitars atop drums that punch the urge to move into the listener.