Frontwoman Raphaelle Standell-Preston's lyrical voice has grown stronger, sharper. As on "Miniskirt," her words shoot from a place of wisdom; they are denuded, each rendered with incredible emotional fidelity. It's a performance to behold. As the spare piano chords coalesce over soft, flickering synth pads and take shape, the chorus snaps quickly into view, a triumphal movement of airy choral and quaking clubby low-end fastened to the ground by some jazzy uptempo drum work. - Chris Hampton
L.A. producer Nosaj Things pulls in Chicago wunderkind Chance The Rapper for this piece of minimalist downtempo R&B. Chance steps on with his dark detached brand of poetry, delivered cool and matter-of-fact, as though he's reciting a bus schedule or reading aloud from the morning news. If this is an elegy or a dark night of the soul or some other sad plea, he sounds resigned — he's done it before, he'll do it again. - Chris Hampton
The long-awaited debut album from Stockholm electro-pop outfit Kate Boy is nearing closer with the release of “Higher.” Thrown into a dark, heavily wooded, and foreboding forest, the '80s synths pulse along with your heartbeat. Kate Boy’s music lives in a dark cave, grasping onto leaking sunlight. Halfway through, glitchy electronic tremors pull you up and onto higher ground. It's signature Kate Boy, now we're just waiting for more. - Ryan Parker
NOW HEAR THIS: Braids’ “Taste” is a thing to behold; Nosaj Thing and Chance The Rapper do spoken word by Chart Attack | Chart Attack.
