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.
Ako — “Mona Lisa”
Singer-songwriter Ako adds a little bit of Sheena-Ringo-slink to her sonic arsenal on "Mona Lisa." The groove and beat move at spy-movie soundtrack, with a few bell and synth touches for extra depth. Ako's voice, meanwhile, remains a higher-pitched instrument that adds some lightness to a song otherwise presenting her as something of an object of attraction and, as she puts it, "a villain." Listen above.
CVLTE — “shinjuku syndrome.”
If you are going to wallow, make it theatric. This is something aggressive outfit CVLTE has done well for a few years now, adding modern electronic touches alongside heavier rock components to create dramatic tracks. They go even further on "shinjuku syndrome." Besides the usual chug, they add in church bells, demonic samples and ample vocal manipulation to up the unsettling atmosphere. What makes it really standout is the tension between maximal passages and minimal verses, which makes the moments the guitar roars in all the more effective...and over the top. Listen above.
Gliiico — “Pea”
There's a gleeful energy galloping through trio Gliiico's latest song. The band is always playful in how they interpret rock, but on "Pea" they practically pogo along as they sing about the joys of seeing someone and savoring time with them. It's almost delirious how the vocals tumble over one of them, working to boost the number's giddy nature. Listen above.
hardnuts — “morphium”
If the beachside cover art of hardnuts’s new album, Ark, suggest twinkling emo as a post-summertime balm, prepare to get your wig blown from the band’s exuberant riffs packed in its opening track, “morphium.” While the rhythm section simmers down in the verses, it doesn’t take for the sturdy bass line to build up into the urgent chorus. “But just keep on laughing! / I hear you say from somewhere brighter than here,” they shout toward the end. Much like the rest of the album, hardnuts plays loud in “morphium” just enough to ignite the needed spark.
MyM — “Omanju Kowai”
Given how music isn’t necessarily the primary focus for the three in MyM — comedians Mahiro and Yoshiko of Ganbareruya and Miyuki Ooshima of Morisanchu — their singles as a pop-R&B trio have no business being as good as they are. While the music video of “Omanju Kowai” takes the song’s addictive love and hams it up into a goofy stalker skit, the track itself is a chill hang with the glossy lite-funk beat cooling out the obsession behind their lyrics into something casual. Though their on-screen silliness shows up on the page, and especially in their raps, they play it so nonchalantly as pop singers, you’d believe this was their main gig.
P1nkboy ft. Worldwide Skippa & Yachi — “Bancho GEEK”
Has your TikTok feed been overrun by OOTD posts set to “Oshare Bancho”? That ORANGE RANGE song was inescapable while scrolling through the app this summer, and P1nkboy’s new one makes me feel seen with it sampling the viral hit. Producer TigerRoar doesn’t flip the song so much as they mangle it into a crude mix of Jersey club-esque kicks and blown-out 808s, the squeaky vocals of the original now croaking amid the swirl. As he raps about his day out, P1nkboy faintly interpolates the cadence of the sample like the melody won’t get out of his head. I know that feeling very well.
