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.
Denei To Shonen CQ — “Quatre Nuits d’un reveur”
Though Denei To Shonen CQ displayed a diverse taste in styles this past year—gothic electro here, low-key jazz funk there—the pivot to a more indie-rock mode here in “Quatre Nuits d’un reveur” is a surprise. Dance music still runs in their blood, yet the song resembles more a dream-pop band’s approximation of a disco slow jam: paired with the two’s dazed vocals, the shimmery guitars fit a playlist dedicated to both beach days and a city-pop getaway. Almost a decade into their run, the idol duo is still turning in something new.
Dos Monos — “Burn”
Recent releases from Dos Monos have highlighted the trio's sonic ambitions and experimental tendencies. “Burn” reminds of what swaggering rappers they can be. Pushed ahead by a guitar riff, each member of the group delivers a verse in their signature style, highlighted by Botsu tagging in last to unleash a touch-unhinged passage where he pushes his voice in all kinds of directions. Listen above.
e5 — “BUTTOBASHIT”
It's easy to feel distance from an artist who primarily thrives online. Rapper e5 makes sure to get right up in your face on “BUTTOBASHIT.” It's one of her most intense deliveries as of late, and one that really plays up how physical it really is. It starts coated in a layer of digi-fuzz, but gradually she shakes it off to deliver passages featuring her raw voice, making her vocal blitz hit all the harder. Listen above.
Lucky Kilimanjaro — “Flower”
Lucky Kilimanjaro has long been dance dealers disguised as a band. That much is clear on newest single “Flower,” which opens by building a groove before letting it all loop and then bloom in euphoria. Elements of rock help push it forward, but its club energy that really pushes it forward. Listen above.
situasion — “Our Scheme”
It’s been only a month since situasion’s newest album, 2, and the group return with more brutal noise in Mo8e. They manage to make idol-pop in EP closer “Our Scheme” out of slamming drum loops and sizzling basslines that you’d find from industrial-electro sets than a typical TIF livestream, but just barely: their shouted vocals get mangled into electronic fuzz, grinded into the machine. There’s idol music to be heard among the static if you listen just close enough.
Snow Man — “Itazurana Tenshi”
There are currently two personas fighting for supremacy inside Snow Man: the over-the-top party-starter of “CHARISMAX” and the suave romantic heard in their new song, “Itazurana Tenshi.” With its mood-setting and group-R&B melodies, this one hands a tough competition against the former song. As they confess their want to steal you away along a midnight disco groove, the STARTO idols exude a classiness reserved more for the agency’s legacy acts like late-career Arashi. A possible solution for Snow Man to reconcile the differences: why not both?
