Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
Purelink & Rainy Miller - "Barrons Hotel (I, to, Thee.)"
The genre-jumbling UK artist Rainy Miller steps into Purelink's ambient electronic world on a pair of new singles out this week. Both are spectacular, but let's zero in on "Barrons Hotel." Purelink are masters of building drama through minimalism, and here they've created an atmosphere that's brimming with tension yet also somehow serene. Miller sounds like Arthur Russell lost in space, until eventually he encounters the event horizon. Heard from different angles you might pick up flashes of Frank Ocean, caroline, Mk.gee, Bon Iver. And when it all ends, it's like a nuclear reactor melting down inside a Travis Scott song. There's so much going on within this gorgeous song, even when barely anything is going on at all. —Chris
Rare DM - "Honey"
On "Honey," Erin Hoagg sounds like an immortal creature that’s been wading through the centuries, longing for a soulmate. Her voice is cold and a bit detached over a throbbing beat and angular synths. It’s soft, but not as sweet as the title suggests. "I’ve searched for years/ To find someone that looks at me the way that you do," she sings. Wonky, rubbery sounds swim alongside her breathy vocal delivery. Skittering percussion crawls out from shadows. It's the exact kind of song I’d imagine vampires would danse (yes, not dance) to in films like Only Lovers Left Alive or The Hunger. It’s gothic, glitchy, and glamorous in a steely sort of way. —Margaret
Pouty - "My Own Beauty"
"Are you America's princess or just America's punchline?" In 2026 you can barely take the subway without seeing an ad for a GLP-1. You can barely watch a modern-day blockbuster without noticing an actor's eyebrows frozen in place. On "My Own Beauty," a dose of heavy-hitting power-pop from Pouty, Rachel Gagliardi shakes her fist at the "bunny society" creeps who've made the standard of beauty so demanding that abiding by it becomes a full-time job, turning thinness and youth into currency. Gagliardi acknowledges that it's tempting to want to abide by those rules — "I'm reclaiming/ My own beauty/ I need to be skinny again" — but at the same time, "My Own Beauty" cuts with an edge that suggests she knows better, too. —Abby
Man/Woman/Chainsaw - "Nosedive"
Man/Woman/Chainsaw, who we named a Band To Watch in 2024, remain worthy of the honor. "Nosedive" is adorned with effervescent synths, enchanting violin, and sparkling tambourine. The pace is patient, calmly swaying back and forth; the whole thing is hypnotic as it gradually moves toward its crescendo, which feels like one big party. All members pitch in vocals and the result is a sweeping, infectious singalong. It's a different sound for the band, but it fits them well. —Danielle
Olivia Rodrigo - "Drop Dead"
Some bars really do close at 11. They're not the most fun bars in the world, but they exist. Maybe they're even the kinds of bars where Olivia Rodrigo goes to drink. Or maybe not! Maybe she just wanted to namecheck "Just Like Heaven" and she forced a rhyme! That's fine, too! "Drop Dead" is a song about a specific situation — the whirling immediacy of a first date that's going really, really well, the kind where you eventually notice that your face hurts from smiling so much. A situation like that demands a fizzily incandescent pop song full of spiralling strings and '80s new wave synths and echo-drenched handclaps and overblown similes and impeccably timed guitar-crunches and entire choirs of multi-tracked harmonies. It needs a music-video moment where Olivia Rodrigo, grinning a grin as big as the whole world, beams at the camera while running backwards toward the Palace of Versailles. —Tom
