Pricey listeners,

At any time when I put collectively one among these month-to-month collections of “songs you need to hear now,” culled from our weekly new music Playlists, my mind leaps to the “Now That’s What I Name Music!” font. Do you keep in mind these compilations? I’m guessing you do, as a result of a fast scan of the sequence’ impressively lengthy Wikipedia web page tells me they’re launched all around the world, and that they started in the UK in 1983. 1983! The “Now” albums didn’t arrive stateside till 1998, however to my shock they’re nonetheless being launched, even when the evolution towards streaming means they’ve receded from the album charts. However, they persist. “Now That’s What I Name Music! Vol. 86” was launched only a few months in the past.

Is as we speak’s playlist a sort of “Now That’s What I Name Music! Vol. 87”? Effectively, no. I don’t assume I can name it that legally, and most of those artists — just like the indie-rock group Palehound, the Canadian nation crooner Colter Wall and the Detroit hard-rock collective the Armed — are a bit too under-the-radar to make a compilation like that. However that additionally means you’re most certainly about to bump into at least one artist you’ve by no means heard earlier than. Now that’s what I name thrilling.

Pay attention alongside on Spotify as you learn.

1. Palehound: “Independence Day”

I practically put this one on my Fourth of July barbecue playlist, however I made a decision it wasn’t fairly celebratory sufficient to suit the invoice: I used to be undecided that anybody would need to hear a painfully vivid indie-rock track about an Independence Day breakup whereas grilling burgers, irrespective of how excellently written it’s. However, to make certain, this track is excellently written, by Palehound’s chief, El Kempner. “Sparkler in my throat, can we simply take all of it again,” Kempner sings atop a guitar that jangles like unfastened change. “Be a part of the neighbors and go dancing with a rocket and a six pack?” (Pay attention on YouTube)

2. Faye Webster: “However Not Kiss”

I’ll admit that I didn’t give the Atlanta singer-songwriter Faye Webster’s 2021 breakout album, “I Know I’m Humorous Haha,” a good shake for a really petty purpose: The primary track I heard from it, “A Dream With a Baseball Participant,” is an ode to Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., and as a fan of the group’s division rival New York Mets, I need to stay in denial about how good Acuña Jr. is. (He’s so good. It’s annoying!) I do just like the push-and-pull rhythms of Webster’s newest single, “However Not Kiss,” and the way in which the entire thing feels like an odd, woozy dream. Each time Webster confesses a sense, she — and the track itself — abruptly retreats: “I need to see you in my goals,” she sings, “however then overlook.” (Pay attention on YouTube)