Songs on Rehearsal (Mini Playlist) – Coog Radio
Throughout the year, I broadened my musical palette on what I listen to and I developed a particular penchant for Indie music. It’s refreshing to find artists with so much potential, who create music solely based on their artistic vision. I generally focus on how artists blend their core message through songwriting and song production. Here are the top picks of my songs on repeat (mini playlist):
“Harmless Pleasure” – Belot
One of my most recent finds, “Harmless Fun” is really catchy! It is well produced with an eloquent use of rhythmic vocals combined with its recurring melodic theme. Although it’s a short song, at 2:12, it makes you want to hear more, so much so that I have it on loop as well. If you liked this song as much as I do, I totally recommend that you listen to Belot’s EP!
“Saturday“ – Ódú
With a truly melancholic feeling embellished in the writing and production, “Saturday” is a song that quickly caught my eye. It has a perfect mix for you to feel the central message of the song. While not the happiest song, it really showcases her self-reflection. Ódú uses his voice perfectly to reflect his frustration and despair in his relationship with his significant other. In her lyrics, she expresses that she wants to spend time with her significant other, but isn’t sure if it’s really the right decision. This song is beautifully voiced and is also a constant repeat!

“Miss Understood” – HYRA
HYRA excels at creating such fun and intriguing emotion with her impressive vocals and use of background and production vocals. “Miss Understood” is a fun song with deep meaning. In the song, HYRA expresses her difficulty in trying to be herself without having to hide behind a character. The title of her song plays with this idea, as it can be interpreted that her personality is Miss Understood and her true self is misunderstood. Another constantly looping!

“SUMMER HIGH” – Amber Ryann
With catchy melodic and rhythmic use of his vocals and stellar use of production, “BEEN HIGH” is addictive to listen to. In the song, Amber expresses her success and how others want to bring her down, but they aren’t worth her time as she does what she wants. She exhibits that nonchalant attitude in her lyrical delivery that adds to the uplifting message of “BEEN HIGH.” It’s so easy to repeat this song! Amber has such a captivating voice and her ability to use it so artistically is truly inspiring!

“Sanctuary” – Laica
“Sanctuary” is one of my favorite songs of all time! The overlapping melody and vocals in the song add a comforting tone with a bittersweet message. In the song, Laica talks about mental health and the struggle to stay positive for others while reminiscing about the people she misses. Slowly, she loses hope of getting better and tries to find refuge in the memories she keeps of the people she misses. The context of the song’s lyrical message, the overlapping vocals and the background vocals add so much to the song’s reminiscent and nostalgic emotions. It’s the best song I’ve put on a loop!

I hope you will listen to these songs and I can’t wait to see more releases from all these wonderful artists!