April in Claremont is a reminder of why many of us chose to come from far away to spend four years in Southern California: the divine spring weather. Such a setting might give way to feelings of bliss, gratitude, or even introspection; feelings which might influence the music we listen to. Some of our writers each shared two songs that they couldn’t get out of their heads for the past month, so that you, too, might enjoy them!
Meraal
Olivia Dean – Dive: In “Dive”, Olivia Dean crafts a soul-soaked confession that’s as weightless as it is heavy. It feels like a quiet conversation with yourself. Her voice doesn’t just sing—it lingers, hovers, and trembles, capturing the emotional vertigo of surrendering to love. The minimalist arrangement lets vulnerability take center stage; every note feels intentional, like the space between breaths before saying something you can’t take back. What makes Dive so magnetic isn’t its polish but its restraint. It’s a song that trusts silence as much as melody. Dean doesn’t just explore intimacy—she embodies it, inviting the listener to lean in and feel the risk and reward of emotional exposure.
Dominic Fike – hi grace: “hi grace” is a genre-defying trip through the fragmented psyche of Dominic Fike, and it’s utterly thrilling. Built like a sonic collage, the track veers from melodic sweetness to lyrical chaos, each shift a jolt of unfiltered personality. Fike isn’t interested in cohesion—he’s chasing feeling, instinct, and imperfection. The result is a song that pulses with urgency, like a voice memo accidentally turned masterpiece. I love the song because it captures the sound of thinking too fast, loving too hard, and making art that refuses to be still.
Golda
Ariana Grande – dandelion: On March 28th, Ariana Grande dropped her deluxe album and short film eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead. While last year’s eternal sunshine explored emerging from a tumultuous relationship into a sunny new day, the deluxe songs pivot slightly in tone, evoking the sensual haze of golden hour dusk. Take “dandelion,” where the lilting brass refrain which opens the track folds into a mix of dizzying trap percussion and Grande’s sumptuous vocals which waft along like a plumed seed in the wind. It’s a slightly darker, jazzier territory for Grande that perfectly suits her cheeky triple-entendres about blooming at night and a lover “blowing” their chances. Over the past few weeks, “dandelion” has taken root in my brain, proving that even amidst blockbuster film promotion and year-long album rollouts, Grande is serious about growing her sound in exciting new directions.
Purity Ring – amenamy: I first found Canadian electropop duo Purity Ring back in high school, drawn in by how listening to their songs felt more like looking into a tiny world encased within a crystal ball. Lately I’ve been hooked on “amenamy” from their excellent 2012 album shrines, a bewitching blend of jagged, aqueous synth textures, heaving melodies, and scattered percussive throbs. Vocalist Megan James’s lyrics align with Carroll-style nonsense poetry, elusive in meaning yet deeply sensory in how they sonically unfold, rich with internal rhyme and vivid imagery: “Somberly, somberly, linger, lie longer-ly,” “Some shattering fawn / For this candented dawn,” “And broil and toil and foil thy scalloped breastbone.” We might never really know what “amenamy” means, but if you let yourself get lost in its depths, you certainly will feel it.
Ruby
Fleetwood Mac – Revelation: In 1973, prior to the group’s jump to stardom, Fleetwood Mac released Penguin, an album which tore the band into a newer, more eccentric direction. “Revelation”—which is my personal favorite song on the album—beautifully blends their guitar and drum-centered repertoire with the newly adopted Latin-inspired grooves. And while this song may receive criticism for its inconsistent rhyme schemes, I think that the structure adds flamboyance and supports the magical instrumentals behind it. The focal point of the song is not meant to be the lyrics, but the beat, which, in my opinion, is what makes it so great.
Electric Light Orchestra – Shine a Little Love: Electric Light Orchestra—a band known for their dramatic and thrilling style of music—wrote “Shine a Little Love” in 1979, and despite the fact that 40 years passed since its production, this song still carries the same magic it did in its heyday. Between the drawn-out intro and beautiful string quartet, there are few songs that will match the brilliance of ELO’s hit.
Katherine
Great Grandpa – Kid: This is the last song on Great Grandpa’s third album Patience, Moonbeam, released on March 28th this year. Written by guitarist, Pat Goodwin, and bassist, Carrie Goodwin, the song is an emotional reflection on the loss of their first pregnancy. The stripped-back layered vocals submerge themselves into a variety of sonic scenes, depicting both the turbulence and peace of mourning. There is a glowing light beneath the grief, “All good things, in time, define their meaning”.
Chrissy – Easy to Forget: Floating vocals and dream-like instrumentals carry the seventh track on Chrissy’s first album, Heaven Is in You to a place of beautified resentment. The song builds from a sorrowful diary entry to freeing chorus, as the guitar, strings, and backing vocals become amplified. The song is a realization of one’s power, a true getaway car anthem.
Shaylynn
j-Hope – Mona Lisa: Need a little sunshine in your playlist to motivate you for the summer? Then give j-hope’s new single “Mona Lisa” a listen. With its groovy and upbeat feel that makes you want to get up and dance, this song is a solidified summer bop. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo de Vinci’s famous painting, “Mona Lisa” is all about embracing your individuality and true beauty. From its bouncy retro-sounding intro to its trap-based instrumentation and catchy chorus, you’ll be singing “Pretty so fine” all the way to the beach.
Victony feat. Rema, Tempoe, and Don Toliver – Soweto: Initially released in 2022 on his album Outlaw, Victony’s 2023 remix of “Soweto” embodies late-night summer vibes. A chill yet catchy song describing being captivated by someone’s charm and allure, “Soweto” immediately went triple platinum in my house. Its initial release already being musically solid with its serene strings, hypnotic flute, and percussive bounce, the addition of Rema’s and Don Toliver’s smooth voices certified its hit status.
Andrea
Black Country New Road – Two Horses: Two weeks ago, Black Country New Road came out with their fourth album Forever, Howlong, and “Two Horses” may be my favorite track from it yet. After the leading vocalist Isaac Wood left the band in 2020, the band has been walking away from their self-inflicting joke that they are just another British Slint cover band. Their new record feels like the light at the end of the tunnel, with recurring motifs of friendship and community and bright melodies embellished with the three female leading voices. My friend Leo and I listened to the album for the first time while laying on Marston Quad, and this song spoke to me with its folk sound and some Mediterranean guitar strumming and the fast-paced interlude towards the end. It tells a story about solitude and vulnerability and the complications of putting trust in love.
Lufthansa – Japonija: Another six-person band, this time it’s a band from home. Lufthansa was created in 2020 in Skopje, North Macedonia and has been increasingly taking over the post-punk rock scene in the Balkan region and beyond. They are incredibly active with four studio albums and a long list of gigs and concerts around Europe. From their most recent album Daleku od vistinskoto neshto (Far away from the real thing), “Japonija” (Japan) is their longest and most ambitious song and fits perfectly as the closing track. As the lyrics echo the album title “This is far away from the real thing / This is far away from the real place”, it speaks to me of the complicated strings being pulled when you leave your land and your home. The progression of the sound throughout each stage of the song works well with the highs and lows of feeling nostalgic for your past — one of the reasons why I find myself constantly revisiting this song and album.
Jesse
prettifun – Dead First: An intriguingly uplifting spin on the rage sound. Overwhelming, in a euphoric way. The booming bass and dense synth layers just take up so much space. They, along with prettifun’s quirky, eccentric vocals, form some truly catchy melodies (especially the chorus). While “Dead First” is playing, it’s really difficult to focus on anything else.
Julien Baker – Everybody Does: For lack of a better word, pathetic (in the best way possible). Between the barebones guitar-and-vocals arrangement and the comically self-loathing lyricism, “Everybody Does” feels like a private performance that you were not meant to hear. It’s beautiful music, though, so I’m very glad that I can. The pacing of the song is immaculate; Julien manages to make a surprising amount of progress given that it’s a sub-two-and-a-half-minute minimalist folk song. It ends with a chorus consisting of an ashamed acceptance of her faults (“you’re gonna run, it’s alright, everybody does”) through passionate and grunge-tinted vocals.
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