(via Shutterstock)
It’s a heady mix of the old and the new this time around with three artists I have long loved, admired and listened to, and two relative newbies on the block who are well and truly making their mark on the musical landscape.
It’s a thrill listening to new music from anyone but even more so when the artists have something worthwhile to say and absolutely nail how to say it.
You will dance, you will think, you will feel and you will once realise how wonderful it is that we have music to make our lives so much more special than they might otherwise be.
“RUNWAY” by Lady Gaga, Doechii
(courtesy Soundcloud)
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is one of those rare sequels that actually delivers in spades.
It also has a killer soundtrack packed full of talent artists and cutting-edge music including what I believe to be one of the standout tracks of the year – “Runway” by the legendary Lady Gaga and featuring American rapper-singer-songwriter-actress Doechii.
“Runway” not only perfectly channels the spirit and energy of the high fashion world in which the film takes place but it has sass and fun and a glorious sense of fizzy forward momentum that makes you feel like you could jump up and strut your stuff on the catwalk in Milan.
The music surges and bounces and takes you along with it, and it comes with a clip that is a hypercolour delight, a thousand colours of the costuming rainbows capturing the multi-hued appeal of the song to a tee.
This is song with attitude and if you’re exercising with it, then why god not?
“ELECTRIC CIRCUS” by Nelly Furtado (ft. Boi-1Da, Canada Soccer)
(courtesy Spotify)
My love affair with the effervescently alive music of Nelly Furtado has lasted many long and happy decades.
The Canadian singer-songwriter, who infuses her Portuguese heritage into her music, first made waves on the charts in 2000 with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly! but she really captured my attention and revolutionised my commute with her third album, 2006’s Loose.
It makes me happy beyond words that not only is she creatively and originally on top of her musical game all these years later but that her recent single, “ELECTRIC CIRCUS”, on which she collaborated with award-winning producer Boi-1da and Canada Soccer.
The involvement of Canada Soccer makes perfect sense when you find out that the song is part of What If It All Goes Right?, a compilation album which, says Billboard Canada, “celebrates the country’s passion for music and soccer with artists from across Canada” ahead of this year’s World Cup.
“ELECTRIC CIRCUS” is brilliantly catchy, immensely danceable and feels like the sort of celebration that you’ll want to join again and again whenever you get the chance.
“Freak” by Hyd
(courtesy official Hyd Instagram)
Born Hayden Frances Dunham, the mononymically-inclined HYD is an American performance artist, designer, singer, songwriter and DJ who hails from the creative surrounds of Austin, Texas.
Hyd began performing under their current stage name in 2020, making a splash with their debut single “No Shadow” and now six years later, we are being treated to the infectiously listenable track, “Freak”, which has a duskily ethereal air to it which enraptures you right from the start.
It kicks into a chorus that celebrates someone being a freak in the most affectionately turned-on way and it’s a glorious song of desire and liberative intent.
It comes in the wake of earlier songs, “Watch You Cry” and “Angel”, all drawn from the album Hold Onto Me Infinity which FemMusic describes as “a powerful testament to music’s ability to cross timelines, physical thresholds, and lifespans, while dancing in between this physical world, and the one beyond”.
“Blow My Mind” by Robyn (CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso Version)
(courtesy YouTube)
Robyn is another artist that’s had a place in my heart and on endless playlists of heartfelt, danceable music that makes you feel euphorically alive and melancholically alive, sometimes even in the space of the one song.
The Swedish electronic music legend who is a quadruple threat as a singer-songwriter-DJ-record producer released her ninth album this year, Sexistential, from which the catchy top ten hit “Dopamine” was lifted and which has now gifted us the transportive delights of “Blow My Mind” (originally released on 2010’s Don’t Stop the Music), on which she collaborated with Argentinian Argentine experimental trap, hip-hop, electronic dance music, and pop duo, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso (Catriel Guerreiro and Ulises Guerriero).
The song is a reworked version of a 16-year-old song which came to the attention of the world in November 2025 when Robyn performed in in concert, and it’s sparkling new version is bright, shiny and vivaciously alive.
It’s more of a slow boiler of a moody track but it injects into a particular time and place and state of mind, a rich addition to an artist not short on tracks that capture and keep your attention the moment you hear them.
“Come Out” by Marley Wildthing
(courtesy YouTube)
Hailing from Austria, the singer-songwriter delivers up an impassioned slice of theatrical pop in “Come Out”.
Sporting some mischievous piano work and a creatively whispered lyrics that give the song real personality and verve, “Come Out” is a celebration of embracing who you are, regardless of what wider society thinks.
It has lyrical zest and a real presence which Austrian music site, Volume, describes thus:
‘Come Out’ begins as a birthday song and soon transforms into a song about self-discovery, queer identification, and the confusion that comes with it. It is an ode to coming out and the possibility of growth and change – regardless of societal rules.
Marley’s new pop-rock single is catchy and full of surprises: with memorable melodies , spoken-word vocals , and a voice that effortlessly navigates highs and lows. Humorous critiques of our society alternate with personal monologues that feel like diary entries.
It’s intimacy mixed with passion and a strong sense of self and it makes you feel alive with the very valid idea that who you are is worth celebrating.
SONGS, SONGS AND MORE SONGS EXTRA!
It’s just over a week until we get to see the fifth instalment in the much-beloved Toy Story series. Ahead of its hugely anticipated release comes the Jessie-centric song “I Knew It, I Knew You” by the incomparable Taylor Swift which will absolutely steal your heart as it has mine …