This week’s roundup of the best new songs features Danielle Ponder, SANA SANA MÚSICA, and Chloe Slater. When you look at the biggest differences between the three artists, it’s easy to point to their cultural backgrounds or genres. However, what’s more interesting is how all three bring issues and truths important to themselves–ranging from accepting new beginnings to unpacking our political polarization.
Give each new song a listen and be sure to stream our best new songs of the month playlist for more new music released in October.
Danielle Ponder “Open Windows“
In the wake of her album, Everything Has Changed, out via Dead Oceans, Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Danielle Ponder keeps an open mind about life’s many changes on the emotional ballad “Open Windows.”
More specifically, starting from scratch after a relationship ends can be the moment things start to look up, turning desolation into liberation in a meditative anthem.
“When someone you love leaves, it can make you believe no one will ever fill that space, but a friend once reminded me that I hadn’t yet met all the people who would love me,” said Ponder. “‘Open Windows’ begins in a place of hopelessness, but the openness in the song makes room for new beginnings.”
Ponder’s familiarly stirring vocals on “Open Windows” are the main attraction. But more than the rest of the tracklist, Ponder shows her range and her ability to make emotional rollercoasters feel universal rather than isolated panic attacks.
The high of “I can’t let it die” to the low of “Who’s gonna love me now?” is enough proof of her talent, and an example of what makes Everything Has Changed hit so hard.
Listen to “Open Windows” the new single from Danielle Ponder.
RELATED: 3 New Songs to Start Your Week in a Groove feat. Danielle Ponder “Sun & Moon”
SANA SANA MÚSICA “Hay Que Volver”
Newly created trio SANA SANA MÚSICA took what was supposed to be their debut single, “Hay Que Volver,” and instead turned their cumbia track into a self-assured declaration from artists already operating at the top of their game.
Formed in Austin by three artists unafraid to confront their roots and put their Latin identity front and center, singer Sisi, guitarist/bassist Maximiliano, and producer Joseph bonded over what it feels like to be neither quite American nor quite Mexican or Venezuelan.
“This song is about the most prevalent feeling I’ve felt in my life — whether it be finding a way back home, or to your family, to your roots, to yourself, to your country,” said Sisi.
With so much of the band’s identity centered on their shared Latin roots, it makes sense that “Hay Que Volver” does the same. The cumbia rhythm kicks things off on a familiar note before the band finds ways to keep things interesting, ranging from flourishes of rock to Sisi’s own impassioned vocals.
For as long as cumbia has been around, it’s a feat in itself that SANA SANA MÚSICA managed to be so adventurous on their very first song ever released.
Listen to “Hay Que Volver” the new single from SANA SANA MÚSICA.
Chloe Slater “Get Me Out”
You’ll be hard-pressed to find another song that captures the hypocrisy and absurdity of the current moment like English singer-songwriter Chloe Slater’s “Get Me Out,” from her debut album Riot Youth, out now.
While no stranger to the sort of cathartic indie rock that can be equal parts ballad and shout at the world, Slater’s “Get Me Out” tackles those same existential thoughts and our collective polarization. The result is a fuzzy earworm of a track where Slater lets the lyrics do most of the talking.
From the get-go, opening with “All aboard the politician rehabilitation train / You can learn to love anything with a fucking human brain” places equal blame on the powers that be and the common people. That self-fulfilling cycle sets the tone for a song more concerned with capturing contradictions than weighing one view over another.
The repeated “I’m not here to preach” refrain hammers this point in the first half, making it crystal clear where Slater stands before a more traditional, radio-ready rock structure takes over in the second half. And when the deadpan delivery returns, Slater pulls off a balancing act and says so much in a song barely over two minutes long.
Listen to “Get Me Out” the new single from Chloe Slater.
See last week’s 3 New Songs featuring Angèle with Caroline Polachek “Love Triangle” + Snõõper & mary in the junkyard
Current Best New Songs of the Month
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