Despite the ease of access that streaming has brought to the distribution of music, the volume that's released can make it a daunting task to find unique new stuff every week. In this recurring weekly feature we put together a short list of new songs from the past week that stand out amongst all the noise and deserve a spot in your rotation.
All songs featured in this recurring series can be found in our scrmbl selection 2025 playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.
AssToro — “MAKEUP LALA”
“Underground, unpretentious and sublimated into pop.” That's the way rapper and producer AssToro describes themselves, and “MAKEUP LALA” captures this description just right. Originally shared on SoundCloud a couple months back as “a vibe” AssToro had one day, they've run with it and let the buzzy bouncer play out even more. It shows both their rap side and ability to milk a great melody for all of its potential, while still sounding miles away from the mainstream proper. Listen above.
Laura day romance — “running in the dark”
A taste of the band’s upcoming new album, Nemuru - bridges, “running in the dark” sees Laura day romance adopting a slicker sound informed more by pop beats than the pastoral rock of their past. The shift may be a conceptual choice as much as a stylistic one: Nemuru - bridges is a sequel to this year’s Nemuru - walls, fast-forwarding the narrative in the music from the flashbacks of the latter album to the present. And so the production ticks like the skittering drums and fuzzy build-ups hit as if to time-leap the song into the modern day. The music of “running in the dark” functions well as a plot device; the actual plot is still hard to parse just from this song alone.
Magnolia Cacophony — “traceback”
Shoegaze and vocaloid make such a good combination in part because of how textural the latter can often be. Band Magnolia Cacophony offer one of the better examples of this with latest song “traceback,” where synthesized singing lurks underneath layers of feedback. While not in the spotlight, the Vocaloid voice adds a prettiness to the noise, offering a contrast to the guitars that creates the tension that powers the track. Listen above.
PAS TASTA — “SCYTHE”
Electronic supergroup PAS TASTA excel at sonic shapeshifting. Not long ago, the project created a perky pop number serving as the opening to an anime series about school life. Now they bring out “SCYTHE,” a sharper electro banger built around burbling bass and samples being smothered underneath it (including nods to 2010s EDM classics, in case the inspiration isn't clear). They still bring a neo-J-pop age via the vocals which keep the churn catchy, but this one is all about the force of the music. Which, turns out, is something they can just hop into when needed. Listen above.
SOM4LI — “MARET”
SOM4LI’s guitars in “MARET” seem frostbitten compared to the sunny tones heard in last year’s Chachacha EP. The band’s dusty rock groove and ghostly harmonies make for brooding blues. Yet in classic goth fashion, they sing of love amidst all of the darkness: “I feel like I can fly anywhere / with you.” It looks like SOM4LI still has yet to shake off the beach-goth feels from their previous EP.
Yutai Communications — “Wordsworth”
In this year’s Yawning Civilization, Yutai Communications often put down the guitar to indulge instead in some beat construction. In “Wordsworth,” the trio locate a fine midpoint between their split worlds of folk and electronica. They braid together loops of acoustic strums and tiny bubble of synths into breezy indie-pop whose tactile textures isn’t too far away from those of guitar-pop tinkerers like Ohzora Kimishima. If Yutai Communication seemed indecisive on which path to pursue, this new track hit on a direction that doesn’t compromise either of their impulses.
