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T.G.I.F. — New Music Friday, that is. This week's roundup of best new songs and releases has longer projects, highly-anticipated albums, and brand new singles. Joyce Wrice has returned, this time teaming up with Kaytranada for her new EP; rapper Toosii's new EP Boys Don't Cry arrives today; Jean Dawson's third studio album Chaos Now* has also dropped, boasting features from Isaiah Rashad and Earl Sweatshirt; Joshua Bassett released a surprise single; and Katie Gregson-MacLeod debuts the official version of her viral TikTok song “Complex.”
There's so much new that your weekend playlist has basically been made for you — check out our selections of this week's best new songs and releases below!
Toosii, BOYS DON'T CRY
22-year-old Toosii is one of rap's brightest rising stars, and if you're not in his orbit yet, you need to tap in. The rapper has dropped his latest EP Boys Don't Cry, a follow-up to his last project Pretty Girls Love Toosii from December 2021. Boys Don't Cry is a compilation of tracks he's teased on social media and brand new records. “I wanted to give my fans a snapshot of where I’m at, of how much my life has changed with the birth of my son,” Toosii said in a statement about the new EP. “Growing up as a man, we were always taught to be tough, not to have emotions, and that boys don’t cry. But it’s just not true. It’s alright as a man to tap into that emotional side.” Listen to standout track “Heartaches” above.
Joshua Bassett, “would you love me now?”
Singer-songwriter — and TBH, bonafide multi-hyphenate — Joshua Bassett dropped a surprise record today, the ballad “Would You Love Me Now?” The 21-year-old's new single comes only a few weeks after the release of his latest EP, titled Sad Songs In A Hotel Room.
“At the end of the summer, inspiration struck me like lightning. I found myself up at ungodly hours barely keeping up with the songs. The new music felt urgent to put out into the world," Joshua said of the surprise drop in a statement. "This first track — 'would you love me now?' — touches on how even after heartbreak and distance, there are certain people you will always find yourself asking, ‘What if we tried it again?’ From long lost love, broken promises, reconciliation, and new beginnings — you can count on one thing: it’s complicated.” We're not crying, you're crying. (OK, we're crying, too.) Check out Joshua's new song above.
Jean Dawson, CHAOS NOW*
Sonic rebel Jean Dawson's highly-anticipated third album Chaos Now* finally arrives today, and it's distinctive, unbound, and genuinely empowering. The 26-year-old half-Mexican and half-Black musician and visual artist embarks on his debut headlining U.S. tour next weekend, kicking things off in San Diego.
In a statement about Chaos Now*, Jean penned a moving letter about his creative process and intentions behind the project: “I've been trying to put this album into simple terms and sentences, but the more I try the harder it becomes because it's simply not simple. It is a love letter to all the children that will grow up to change fractions of the world for the result of a greater whole. I hold no lofty ideals on music-making, rather I wish to serve as a proverbial sledgehammer to doors that have been left locked for kids that not only look like me but feel like me. Music-making has been the greatest gift I've been given so for that I give you all of me — every emotion, every splinter in my step. Feel free to use me as a mirror to see yourself if you wish. I hope to share moments with you, to be a minor theme for your laughs/yells/cries and everything in between. I'm growing up in your eyes, ears, and arms. With this little time we have on this big blue-green rock, I hope that it is well spent with those you love and with no fear under your chest! GO FOR IT!”
Joyce Wrice, Motive
With Joyce Wrice's newest project, she's poised to become R&B royalty. The exciting singer-songwriter has returned with the experimental and innovative new EP Motive, which was largely produced by Grammy Award-winner Kaytranada. “Iced Tea” arrived first a few months back, as a summer anthem of feminine confidence. Now, the single belongs to a collection of 5 songs, all sonically documenting Joyce's creative transition from her 2021 debut Overgrown to her forthcoming second album.
“In between coming off of my debut album and brainstorming ideas for my sophomore album, I was motivated to create an EP that the world could dance to,” Joyce said in a statement about Motive. “This new project is experimental, fun, carefree, and sexy. After ‘Overgrown,’ I was inspired to be free-spirited and to let loose and during this process I was consistently asking myself, ‘what’s your motive?’” Watch the brand new, official music video for "Iced Tea" above.
Katie Gregson-MacLeod, “complex”
21-year-old Katie Gregson-MacLeod went viral on TikTok in August when she posted “complex (demo), a 59-second snippet of a heartbreaking and vulnerable ballad. Within two weeks of the song's posting — which has been hailed by commenters as the next “Driver's License" — artists like King Princess, Camila Cabello, Gracie Abrams, and Madison Beer shared their own cover versions of the track.
The singer-songwriter hails from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, and currently works in a coffeeshop. The full, official version of “Complex” is Katie's first release on a label and follows her independently released 2021 EP Games I Play. Katie was named one of BBC Scotland's 25 Artists to Watch in 2022, and best believe, the world is watching. If you're ready for a new song to top your “Sad Girl” playlist, dive into the incredible, woeful, tender “Complex” above.
