image creds

• vibi ‘nobody’s watching’ cover art; rachel chinouriri by @isaacfarley11
• graphic elements courtesy of virina design, sparklestroke, and Noval Pratama from Dikas Design

rachel chinouriri x vibi

recommended songs
rachel chinouriri – ‘all i ever asked’
vibi – ‘homesafe’

rachel chinouriri knows her way around electric guitar melodies and confessional pop choruses – her latest ep little house features plenty of those.

that’s not all there is to it, though; the five-track project’s newest addition ‘what a life’ brings out chinouriri’s vulnerable side, thoughtfully rounding off the ep’s buoyant first half. the brit star’s ability to make an impressive array of ideas work in her favour testifies to her versatility as both a performer and a storyteller.

enter vibi, a canadian singer-songwriter who released the deluxe version of her debut album, we had fun, didn’t we?, earlier this year.

spanning across seven earworms, the lp revolves around teenage angst that occasionally finds its way into one’s adulthood. evidently, that specific angst makes vibi’s music sound as if it was lifted straight from a 2010s coming-of-age film, where a chaotic self-discovery journey brings in a new perspective.

so, let us set the scene. it’s friday morning, and you come across a new release that dropped at midnight. it’s a glam-rock track (we’ll leave the title up to your imagination), which clocks in at three minutes and forty-two seconds.

vibi kicks off the first verse, with chinouriri taking the lead as soon as the song arrives at its high-octane chorus.

wait, perhaps it should be the other way around. or, actually, scrap that——

we’re 100% certain that a collab between them would be an absolute banger regardless of its structure and vocal arrangements.

image creds

• gigi perez by caity krone; greyson chance – photo taken from his website
• graphic elements courtesy of yana lesiuk, Junelle Apuya from sparklestroke, and Marya Vidal from sketchify

gigi perez x greyson chance

recommended songs
gigi perez – ‘sleeping’
greyson chance – ‘down & out’

alright, alright… these two might seem like an odd pairing, but hear us out.

if you’re familiar with greyson chance, you’ll most likely recognise him from either his first-ever record hold on ’til the night, or its more authentic and mature successor portraits.

however, chance’s third studio album (and, ultimately, his magnum opus) palladium saw the singer depart from the pop production that he became known for. instead, he tapped into a blend of alt-rock soundscapes and conceptual, folklore-inspired songwriting to unleash the wanderer within.

in a similar vein, gigi perez has a rare gift for penning narratives so compelling they almost feel supernatural.

her debut, at the beach, in every life, is a fully-fledged manuscript, woven from stories that delve into a wide range of themes, such as grief, religion, self-identity, and love. the case in point here is the project’s lead single – and its crown jewel – ‘sailor song’, which takes the listener on a turbulent voyage to a safe haven.

perez’s nuanced musicality would work perfectly with chance’s daring sound. we’d even venture out to say that a duet between them would result in a highly-intricate and eloquent telling of queer love, or the lack thereof.

image creds

• jae stephens; say now
• graphic elements courtesy of Anastasiia Hevko, Annet Debar, and slow_takes

jae stephens x say now

recommended songs
jae stephens – ‘afterbody’
say now – ‘brick by brick’

stacked vocals? check.

mesmerising choreography? check.

infectious, club-ready production? check, check, check.

jae stephens is a certified hit maker. her latest release, the sellout ii ep, went platinum at the echowave hq (special shoutout to the slinky pop anthem ‘afterbody’).

though relatively modest in its length – ’cause six tracks is nowhere near enough, we need a full album – the extended play is an electrifying body-of-work that puts stephens in a league of her own.

but within that space, there’s an excellent opportunity for collaboration, especially with three british girls who have carved out a lane for themselves, too.

for years, girl groups have been in decline – a phenomenon that wasn’t only heartbreaking for music lovers, but also a worrying sign of the times for the industry.

fortunately, that’s seemingly shifting. katseye has taken the world by storm, and netflix’s reality-tv-inspired programme building the band gifted us 3Quency; to say that we’re over the moon would be an understatement.

there’s one girl group in particular that we’ve been keeping our eyes on, though. say now, consisting of members amelia, Ysabelle, and Madeleine, have got that je ne sais quoi energy that simply keeps you coming back for more.

their breakthrough single ‘brick by brick’ blends those irresistible y2k beats with a faultless vocal delivery. what’s more, the song’s catchy lyrics take you back to the golden era of pussycat dolls, destiny’s child, and sugababes.

safe to say that we would’ve absolutely had our song of the summer if both stephens and say now had joined forces earlier this year.