Joy Crookes feat. Jafaris: Early

With a video filmed in her grandmother’s house in Dublin, Joy Crookes’ “Early” depicts a love story doomed or destined to last—depending on how you listen. Aside from Crookes’ soulful delivery, Dublin-based rapper Jafaris contributes a catchy verse and harmonizes with the singer on the chorus. But the pair admits that they “wrote this song called ‘Early’ when were both experiencing the opposite ends of …

Role Model: hello!

Buoyant piano, drums and horns back Role Model’s weighty lyrics, but it’s this balancing act that makes his newest single “hello!” so listenable. A swelling instrumental rises to match the track’s chorus, wherein Role Model (aka Tucker Pillsbury) pleads for an answer when he calls, before fading out. The song will appear on a forthcoming EP set to drop later this year, courtesy of Benny …

King Princess: Hit The Back (Playboy School of Pop)

Recorded to accompany her appearance in Playboy magazine’s Pleasure Issue, King Princess has released “Hit the Back (Playboy School of Pop)” and it’s an upbeat, seductive pop song—though the beginning prepares the listener for a ballad. King Princess (aka Mikaela Straus) impersonates a handful of high-school stereotypes in the accompanying video, and the stills in it are pulled from her feature in the magazine.