TOP CHILL MUSIC - WEEK 4

From the Tide Pod challenge, to the government shutdown, to everything Kardashian, it's safe to say that there's been a whole lot of trash filling up our news feeds over the last seven days. Sometimes I can reach the point where I've mindlessly scrolled through so much BS, it's as if my brain has been reduced to a pulp. If you can relate and are looking to restore some semblance of sanity to your life ahead of the weekend, then the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Chill Music is here to help. Just switch your phone to airplane mode (trust me, it's HEAVEN!), and let go of all of the junk taking over your headspace with the following tracks from Troye Sivan, Youngr, Robotaki, and more.

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TROYE SIVAN – THE GOOD SIDE

I'm not crying. YOU'RE CRYING! Joking aside – Troye Sivan has got me feeling all of the feels with the latest single to be unveiled from his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled second album. “The Good Side” – which was co-written and produced alongside Bram Inscore, who's signed to We Are: The Guard's sister publishing company Brill Building – is a heart-rending breakup ballad that showcases a completely different side to Troye, with the Australian troubadour channeling some serious Sufjan Stevens vibes over a sweeping backdrop of harps and acoustics.

CASHMERE CAT, MAJOR LAZER, & TORY LANEZ – MISS YOU

Okay, so – you'd think that if you had Cashmere Cat, Major Lazer, Tory Lanez, Benny Blanco, and Ed Sheeran all working together on the same song, that they'd be able to come up with something original, right?! Right?! WRONG! Compare “Miss You” to Palmistry's “Lifted” (which was recently covered by We Are: The Guard's very own Butter) and you'll see what I mean... Rumor has it that Cashmere Cat has given the indie artist a writing credit, though, so fair play!

KISNOU (FEAT. BLURE) – FALLING DEEPER

Introducing Kisnou, the Italian producer who makes his debut on We Are: The Guard with the soothing reverie “Falling Deeper.” Collaborating with Venezuela's Blure, Kisnou has succeeded in creating a piece of ambient music that pulls the listener under with its waves of sub-bass and vocal samples, with the whole thing helping me to reach a place of inner peace that I never even thought or realized existed!

YOUNGR – OOH LORDY

There's no doubt about it – the man in this video is LIVING HIS BEST LIFE! But, then again, what did you expect when a song like “Ooh Lordy” by British rising pop star Youngr is soundtracking his commute into the office?! No, really – if this clip doesn't have you up and dancing (or, at the very least, smiling!) come the end, then ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!

ROBOTAKI (FEAT. NEVVE) – TOGETHER WE'RE SCREWED

Strap in, because Canadian producer Robotaki is taking us on an emotional roller coaster on his dizzying latest single, the Nevve-featuring “Together We're Screwed.” The first song to be unveiled from his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled debut EP is a vibrant joyride that comes packed full of kinetic energy, with Robotaki revealing that he intended the childlike highs and lows of the music to “reflect the complexities of love, the tribulations of lust, and everything that falls in between.”

AUDIO DOPE – FLOATING

Ahead of the release of his self-titled debut album next month, Swiss producer Audio Dope has shared “Floating.” Opening with levitating acoustic arpeggios, before arriving at a dexterously crafted beatscape that resembles that of a meditative chant, “Floating” is a gravity-defying masterpiece that really leaves you feeling like you could reach the altered state of consciousness as suggested by the song title.

EMERSON LEIF & GOLDEN VESSEL – HESITATE

Having enlisted the vocal talents of Emerson Leif for “Tell The-Girl,” Golden Vessel returns the favor this 2018 by lending his production skills to “Hesitate.” Billed as Emerson's debut single, it's very much the sound of a slow-burning existential crisis, with Leif revealing that he wrote the haunting drift – which Golden Vessel arranges to perfection – while dealing with a crushing bout of nihilism: “I found myself feeling very alone and without purpose. I could not accept that we just exist: eat, sleep, work, repeat. We are sold a kind of 'happiness' like it's something we can work towards but what's on offer is fleeting, if at all.”

BONSAI MAMMAL – FOR YOU

Bonsai Mammal – San Diego songwriter-and-producer-to-the-stars Jimmy Harry's side project – is bringing a much-needed dose of summer vibes to our lives with his latest single. “For You” is a tropical-flavored slice of electronic pop that's fit to bursting with vitamin D, with the Auto-Tuned vocals of an uncredited singer meeting a spread of deep house-indebted acoustics, before giving way to a drop that's nothing short of festival-ready.

LOLO ZOUAÏ – BLUE

“Days like this make me feel like shit/I get stressed when my room's a mess/I dyed my hair blue/To fit my mood/It feels like déjà vu/Quand j'ai les blues.” Erm, relatable, much?! Collaborating with producer Stelios Phili, Lolo Zouaï is delivering an absolute mood on her latest single “Blue,” a late-night electronic R&B vibe that hears the French chanteuse – who previously wrote for We Are: The Guard favorite H.E.R. – singing in both English and her mother tongue over a bed of trap-like beats.

D.J. GOT THE JUICE – LATE NIGHT (FEAT. JAH & BLXDE)

It's no secret that SoundCloud has been going through some rough times over recent months, but if it wasn't for the Swedish streaming platform, then it's almost certain that we wouldn't be able to discover songs like “Late Night” by bedroom rapper D.J. Got the Juice. This, right here, is the future of hip hop. Kids getting together to make music for all of the right reasons, and upstaging every other mainstream artist out there in the process.

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Peace, love, and good vibes. x

Photo by Rich Brown on Unsplash

Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.