With just two months left of the year, we’ve already been embarrassed with riches regarding new releases from up-and-coming artists and established acts coming out to prove they’re still in the game. While there’s still room for more surprises in November and December, 2024 has been a standout year for music across all genres. This week, we’re looking at three new songs that exemplify how this year shows no signs of stopping or bringing the energy to a halt. On top of these three songs, check out our Best New Songs of the Month playlist for frequent updates to ensure you won’t miss a thing.

Mereba “Counterfeit”

All signs are pointing to singer and multi-hyphenate Mereba entering a new and exciting era with the announcement of her signing to Secretly Canadian and announcing her latest album, The Breeze Grew a Fire, out Valentine’s Day next year. Having already made a constantly evolving career in R&B and continually standing out amid an always-growing sea of contemporaries, her latest single and video, “Counterfeit,” combines several elements from her catalog thus far, like soft electronic flourishes and melodies layered atop each other to create angelic choirs.

Since the album is focused mainly on Mereba reconnecting with her roots, whether it be in folk music or memories that still follow her inner child, “Counterfeit” is a meditative track looking in the past as her voice guides us through her mind. Through thick and thin, as well as some tongue-twisty yet satisfying rhymes like “Friends transactions, money-drenched passions,” she ends up with an uplifting chorus that’s true to who she is as an artist that bears their soul, reminding herself to not “let ’em counterfeit you.”

Visit Mereba on her website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

Listen to “Counterfeit” the new single from Mereba below!

Estevie “Cowboy Rockstar”

Matching her astronomic rise that keeps on rising with each passing release, Mexican-American singer Estevie continues to come into her own, albeit this time reckoning with newfound fame through her new song and video, “Cowboy Rockstar.” While still taking after cumbia trademarks such as Estevie’s vocal style and an especially somber guitar, the track is a large step in another corner of music from which she makes into her own in no time. The addition of electronic instrumentation interwoven with the guitar acts as a cushion from which all the words Estevie sings can lean on due to how much weight they carry.

Throughout, her voice never wanes or loses its emotionality, hitting at key yet brutally descriptive moments like when she sings “Llorar lágrimas de sangre / Pero eso nadie lo sabe,” roughly “Cry tears of blood / But no one knows that” in English. That sort of imaginative songwriting is far from a rare occurrence for Estevie, who not only flexes her abilities with “Cowboy Rockstar” by creating a narrative for the titular protagonist but becomes a star of her own in large part due to her creativity.

“It tells the story of someone who manifests their once hopeful dreams into a successful career but then struggles to navigate their new, often lonely reality,” said Estevie. “The pressures of fame have changed who they once were, now finding themselves lost and trying to cope with whatever vices are around – while also fighting to hold onto something, a person, memory, faith, or whatever it may be, that keeps them grounded and guided from losing themselves completely even at the highest, most unrecognizable moments.”

Visit Estevie on her website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

Listen to “Cowboy Rockstar” the new single from Estevie below!

Rey Pila “One of Us”

Mexico City’s Diego Solórzano, Rodrigo Blanco, Andrés Velasco, and Miguel Hernández, known together as synth-rock band Rey Pila, or King Battery in English, are among the many international acts who hold the electronic dance-rock of the 70s and 80s to high regard. The same is true for their single “One of Us,” a hard-hitting croon with glossy synths and drums that will slap you in the face and wake you up. Although the track starts off relatively stripped back, all four members gradually take it up a notch with a level of slicked confidence that weaves all the genres they occupy effortlessly.

Repeatedly saying “Become one of us” as if it were an incantation, the bass and guitar cut through the electronic production to ensure the band’s raw instruments are heard in full. Towards the end of the song, the once rapidly increasing intensity is substituted for a smooth dance groove that reflects the quartet’s self-assuredness to stellar results. Even when considering subtle influences heard here and there, Rey Pila comes out on the other end as a band with their own colorful interpretation of rock both modern in sound yet timeless in its approach and accessibility.

Visit Rey Pila on Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

Listen to “One of Us” the new single from Rey Pila below!

Beyond the three songs we feature any given week, there’s always something to discover on our Best New Songs of the Month playlist, updated regularly to make sure nothing falls under your radar. Elsewhere, we have New Music editorials and Music Artists You Should Know features coming out weekly for more on returns from already established musicians and new favorites waiting for you to find them.

Words: David Sosa