Welcome to SPIN‘s Singles Mix! SPIN staffers have rounded up their favorite, must-hear tracks for your personal playlists. Collecting the finest from Swedish psychedelia experts, bedroom-pop players, sultry Top 40 queens, and more, these are the songs you need to know right now.
Dungen, “Akt Dit” (Mexican Summer)
So 2011 was the year of the indie-rock sax solo, but damn if Dungen isn’t going to make their comeback this year with “Akt Dit”‘s Bowie-esque high drama and a horn outro that could make a Midnight City go dark. The Swedish group are calling their new album Allas Sak, which loosely translates to “everyone’s thing.” If this track’s sunny-eyed psych is any indication, that title may be prophetic. — COLIN JOYCE
Favored Nations, “Always” (Antler Records)
Multinational trio Favored Nations — otherwise known as dance floor princes Morgan Phalen (currently residing in Sweden), DJ James Curd, and Surahn “Sid” Sidhu (both Australia) — have no agenda on this funk-flecked, hip-swiveling bouncer but to put your two left feet in motion. “This is dedicated to eternity / And if you’d like to spend that time with me / Then I’m here to stay always,” Phalen promises as synths and ’70s-era strings swell in the background. He’s not bluffing. — RACHEL BRODSKY
Palehound, “Molly” (Exploding In Sound)
With strained, sweet vocals à la Colleen Green and surfy guitar zigzags that run into walls, Palehound’s gorgeous anti-anthem “Molly” brings back all kinds of indie-rock heroics unknown to 2015, with attention-grabbing lyrics (“I swear you better stick with me”) and a beat that ranges from Batman-era Prince to Foil Deer-era Speedy Ortiz. — DAN WEISS
Katie Dey, “unkillable” (Orchid Tapes)
Originally self-released in late April, Katie Dey’s “unkillable” properly surfaced this week thanks to a paper-cut video and a tape release on Brooklyn boutique label Orchid Tapes. It clatters like the corroded remnants of the last few decades of indie pop, as if she melted down dusty records by the Pastels, the Unicorns, and the The, and then tried to reconstitute the ooze. “unkillable” is the nauseous sound of Dey failing beautifully. — C. J.
Kiiara, “Gold” (Self-Released)
Enlisting icy dance producer Felix Snow — he’s a SZA collaborator — for her blippy new song, Kiiara turns her cooing whispers inside out, using that sultry-sweet voice of hers as a weapon. “Say you’re ‘sorry, honey’ / But you never really show me,” she says all weary-like as a metronomic clang slams repeatedly in the not-distant background. It’s the moodier “Dancing On My Own” for the Tumblr generation. — BRENNAN CARLEY
Klyne, “Paralyzed” (Aesop)
A gorgeous electro-pop slow-burner that never relents — just slowly exudes nervous tension — Klyne’s new single builds itself around a thrumming drum machine, ringing bells, and a sultry double-layered vocal. It doesn’t get ostentatious with its brilliance, but it knows its own worth. — B.C.
Ryan Adams, “Burn in the Night” (PaxAm)
Now that Ryan Adams has apparently made peace with his one-letter-separated ’80s superstar predecessor, he’s also much cooler with sounding vaguely like him too. No references to five-and-dime six-strings to be found in “Burn in the Night,” but the rousing, power-pop-inflected stadium rock of Adams’ new 7-inch A-side is positively Reckless, and the song’s chest-pounding nostalgia (“Way back when we used to sleep all day / And go howling to the dawn”) is similarly potent. You could call it “Summer of ’99,” if that didn’t conjure memories of Fred Durst inciting festival audiences to break s—t. —ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky, “Good for You” (Interscope)
“I’m gonna syncopate my skin to your heart beating,” Gomez breathes over a low-key snap-drop beat, not unlike Lana Del Rey’s luxuriously tossed-off lines (also about leaving tight dresses on the floor, and probably having diamonds big enough to make Tiffany — yes, that one — jealous). Slowness and simplicity work well for Gomez here, leaving room for Rocky’s verse to feel like a natural inclusion. — HARLEY BROWN
Shura, “White Light” (Factory Floor remix) (Self-released)
U.K. dance trio Factory Floor’s Gabe Guernsey gives “White Light” – an understated, disco-sounding strip of silk from British/Russian singer Shura – a workout in this extended remix. Stretching the track like taffy and then vibrating it like a string, Guernsey drops in distorted foghorn sounds and cowbells on top of his signature warehouse throb. Just in case you lose touch of the original, Shura’s voice pulses like a gentle beam of evening light throughout. — H.B.
