Best of CH 2019: Listen Up

Genre-blurring music that moved us this year

Music is more than entertainment—it can be a source of inspiration, provocation, awakening. Every day in our Listen Up section, we share our favorite new tunes and, while our collective taste in music is vast, every song we share makes us feel something. We have selected just a few standouts here, but browse our Listen Up 2019 playlist for all the music that sparked something …

Listen Up

From the surreal to the sublime, experimental and ethereal, our favorite songs from the week

BENEE: Blu BENEE’s surreal new single, “Blu,” arrives with a music video wherein she (aka Stella Bennett) puts on a performance aimed at unsettling its sole attendee (and all those watching on a screen). The lyrics suggest this lonely guest, who’s eventually held hostage and forced to watch a video of himself on stage, is an ex—specifically one that was unaware of how awful they’d …

Injury Reserve: Injury Reserve (Taylor Skye Remixes)

Essentially a modified reissue of their self-titled debut album from earlier in 2019, Injury Reserve (Taylor Skye Remixes) serves up beloved tracks like “Koruna & Lime” and “Jailbreak the Tesla” with unexpected twists. The raucous, energetic album becomes surprisingly ambient and, at times, nearly unrecognizable, aside from the track’s lyrics. Listening to both versions back-to-back proves entertaining thanks to London-based producer Taylor Skye and Injury …