A soft launch instrumental album opener is all well and good, unless you’re Beyoncé and dropping the most anticipated record of the year. As it goes, she’s opted to remind us: “You know all these songs sound good,” (like we ever doubted it), with a full throttle statement of intent about what’s to come. And what’s to come is Beyoncé’s most interesting, sonically unhinged albums yet.

After channeling screamo, Shania Twain and Paris Hilton, Rina Sawayama continues to show us why she’s one of our favourite pop stars with her new single Hold The Girl. Inspired by a revelation the singer had after a therapy session in the cursed year 2020, the song starts out with gospel-esque vocals before spinning into a club banger.

After debuting the song on her Motomami world tour and teasing it on TikTok in yet another viral sound, Spanish singer Rosalía has officially released Despecha. Loosely translating as ‘heartbroken, scorned’ Rosalía has described how the song is about “moving without reservations or regrets” in that context.

What do you get when you cross a buzzy horror movie with Charli XCX? A pretty great soundtrack to be fair. The singer has just released the full version of Hot Girl, which will accompany the upcoming horror Bodies Bodies Bodies. The movie follows a group of rich teens who throw a party at a mansion only for things to take a turn when when of their friends is murdered. Party on.

Married couple Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn aka Sylvan Esso are back with a new album and a new era. For their third album No Rules Sandy they’re promising something “wilder and stranger and more cathartic”, and new single Didn’t Care hints at a renewed emotional and honest approach within the pop space.

Flohio has announced the release of her debut album Out Of Heart in October and dropped a new track full of glitchy synths that reflect the nostalgia-inspired sounds of the upcoming record. “I grew up around the time of games like Playstations and Nintendos; I’m bringing back the nostalgia of me in my living room playing games with my friends at age 10,” she explains.