Cola — “Blank Curtain”

Cola features guitarist and singer Tim Darcy and bassist Ben Stidworthy (formerly of the now-defunct Montreal-based post-punk band Ought) along with US Girls drummer Evan Cartwright. The band’s first single is the trancelike psych rock track “Blank Curtain.” “If you could invert the color of the ‘Blank Curtain,’ you might have something like a Chicago house track that sounds like a band in a room,” Darcy recently said of the song’s unique sound.

Bakar — “Build Me A Way”

North London singer-songwriter Bakar (aka, Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr) mined diverse musical influences on his breakout 2018 mixtape “Badkid.” With “Build Me A Way” Bakar recently offered an intoxicating sneak peek into his official debut album due out this year, and it sounds just as sonically complex. The song is rich with atmospheric subtlety leaving space for luscious harmonies and the musician’s intriguing vocal flow.

Carson McHone — “Hawks Don’t Share”

Country rock artist Carson McHone has seemingly been on the verge of breaking out nationally for the past few years. With “Hawks Don’t Share,” she might just get over the hump. The track is the first single from a forthcoming album (her first with venerable indie rock label Merge) and features contributions from Daniel Romano. McHone’s talent is made evident as she stretchers her captivating voice to meet the song’s steady, building instrumentation and a host of rollicking choruses.