Each month, Free Press picks a few of our favorite music releases from the month to highlight on our website. Below are six of our favorite albums, EPs, and singles ranging from EDM, experimental, to Top 40 pop that we just can’t get enough of.

Danny L Harle - Harlecore (4/5)

Longtime producer for PC music favorites like Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek, Danny L Harle has released his most auspicious project to date titled Harlecore. The concept for the album is an imaginary club called “Club Harlecore” that features different rooms with unique vibes and fantastical DJs who preside over each theme. Listeners drift between rooms and experience different soundscapes ranging from ethereal, other-worldly sounds to high octane bass and intense dance production.

Each track is a wholly different experience that captures entirely different aspects of EDM music. It is a fantastic listen that will have you longing for the raves and clubs of the pre-pandemic world.

fp Favorites: Boing Beat, Interlocked, All Night

ELIO & Charli XCX - “Charger” (4.5/5)

Rising bedroom-pop star ELIO and industry legend Charli XCX have teamed up to release a rework of “Charger” off of ELIO’s debut EP Can You Hear Me Now. The track is an intimate and honest glimpse into the grieving process of a breakup. The production on the track is incredible, a perfect blend of ELIO’s bedroom pop sound and open hearted lyrics with Charli XCX’s iconic bombastic bass and synth driven sound that make it one of the most fun songs of the year.

Charli XCX’s verse adds even more depth to the concept of the original song, based around the idea of leaving your charger at an ex’s house to symbolize the lingering connection and emotions surrounding the breakup. Charli XCX sings in her signature autotune, “One thing linkin' me to you…I left a piece of my heart there/I wish I never cared.” Overall, it’s a great new track that will have you bopping along throughout your day.

Nocturnal Houses – “Going Home With Him” (5/5)

From B.U. alumnus Maddy Mazzotta and producer Timothy Coakley comes the breakout single “Going Home With Him” from their new duo collaboration Nocturnal Houses. “Going Home With Him” is one of the most fun pop bops of the year. The production on this track is exceeded only by its infectiously catchy hook and beat that will have you bumping the song on repeat. The track explores feelings of jealousy and heartbreak and honestly belongs on every radio station in the country. It is really that good.

Maddy, a classically trained singer, was an esteemed member of the Binghamton University vocal performance program. This first foray into pop music is an incredibly exciting new venture for her, and we can’t wait for what comes next!

Lauren Auder - 5 Songs For The Dysphoric (5/5)

Visionary singer/songwriter Lauren Auder has released her highly anticipated third EP titled 5 Songs For The Dysphoric. These five songs are each a unique listening experience, with elements of pop, noise rock, classical, and hip hop infused into the melodies, instrumentation, and beats. Auder worked with a wide range of producers on this EP, from Danny L Harle, notable producer for Charli XCX and Clairo, to Clams Casino who is best known for their hip hop production for Vince Staples and Lil B. The EP is a perfect journey through the struggles of dysphoria and feeling disconnected from the world as a result of one's body image, gender identity, or other dysphoric feelings. Auder’s beautifully intimate lyrics coupled with her exquisite production make this one of the best and most important listens of 2021.

The EP begins with “Animal,” a gorgeously intimate track that centers around the worry that Auder or her feelings for the subject are “animal,” somehow bad or evil. “My hips and my ribs and their imperfections/Are holy now knowing that's where your head laid/And that’s not animal,” she sings, continuously repeating that she is “not animal.” Similarly to “Animal,” “Heathen” builds with incredible tension at its onset before cascading downwards into an electric guitar driven chorus. The track is infectiously head-bopping, with a cinematic rock quality that perfectly captures Auder’s experience as a trans woman as well as an artist.

The third track, “Quiet” is the most hip-hop influenced track on the EP that most explicitly deals with Auder’s journey of discovering her trans identity. From an interview with Imprint, she said of the track: “‘Quiet’ is the first song in a series that is significant in two ways. They are the first songs I wrote since coming out publicly, and therefore address this in ways I tended to mystify in the past — particularly the difficulty of human interaction, and the disappointments that inevitably arise when you are incapable of being seen as yourself. Naturally, these songs called for an opening-up in my songwriting process. Thus they are also the first songs that I allowed myself to work in more varied and collaborative ways than I have before.”

“Small Ghosts” equally channels “Quiet”’s hip-hop production with “Heathen”’s rock influences, as the chorus crashes around themes of the paranormal and being haunted. It features one of the most incredible lyrics on the EP: "I feel a small hand in mine/Such a long haunt from small ghosts." It conjures such a specifically powerful visual that resonates so well with the many themes of the project. 5 Songs For The Dysphoric ends with “Unseen” which features British singer Celeste. It is a powerful duet that complements many of the ideas of “Quiet” through the experience of feeling like the true you is “unseen” or hidden from everyone else. The production is starkly different from the rest of the EP, with background saxophones giving it an almost jazzy feeling. It is an excellent ending with a synth solo guiding us out of the experience and leaving the heavy thoughts of the EP firmly planted in our minds.

fp Favorites: Heathen, Quiet

Hayley Williams – FLOWERS for VASES / descansos (4/5)

Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams returns to the scene with her critically acclaimed sophomore solo release FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. It is an incredibly broad and emotionally impactful LP that explores a softer side to Hayley’s usual punk-rocker aesthetic. It is a study in sadness, whose darkest moments are equally beautiful as they are borderline uncomfortable to listen to.

fp favorite “KYRH” is a haunting listen that oscillates around a few sparse piano chords and Hayley’s voice. Its liminality in sound is matched by the lyrics which find Hayley expressing that distressing place between boundaries. The bass and overall production are incredible on this track, and are definitely worth a listen.

fp Favorites: KYRH, My Limb

Arca – Madre (4/5)

Madre is the latest release from acclaimed producer and solo artist Arca and features some of Arca’s most hauntingly incredible production. Recently featured in HBO’s Euphoria, the lead track features vocals from Oliver Coates and lilts along peacefully while constantly undercut by a sonic tension of orchestral strings and mounting bass. It is definitely worth the 9 minute listen, and fp recommends wearing your best headphones and turning the bass to the max to get the full experience.

Free Press Picks – February 2021