Iconic British girlband Sugababes are finally picking up where they left off in summer 2025. The original lineup got back in the studio and started releasing big pop bangers. Everything seemed to go their way. They were playing a sold-out tour, released the up-tempo pop perfection of ‘Jungle’ and ‘Shook’ and delivered a beautiful ballad with ‘Weeds’. Yet none of this led to an official new album. Now we are finally ready to continue the album campaign. Today, the trio finally announced the release date for their upcoming self-titled album. Along with the announcement, we received the brand new single ‘Ghost’. It’s an instant Sugababes classic. It has their signature sound, but this time around it’s filled with their rich, raspy, grown vocals. They are not here to play around. The opening verse perfectly visualizes the video: “Buried that body a long time ago. Dugged myself a deep dark hole. Put you inside, yeah just to free my soul. It was ritual, had a funeral.” This might go down as the longest album campaign in history before the actual album release, but well, good work takes time. We can’t wait for February 12th 2027.
Jhené Aiko proves why she is one of the biggest names in female R&B right now. Just a few days before its release, the singer announced out of nowhere that she was releasing her fourth studio album. Without a single leading up to the release, we received a whopping twenty never-before-heard tracks on Westside Whimsy. Whoever doubted the singer can put some respect on her name. The bold move led to her first Billboard number one album of her career. On top of that, it’s the first female R&B album to reach the number one spot in 2026. We can’t stop listening to the Kendrick Lamar feature on the project. It marks the first direct collaboration between Aiko and Lamar in over a decade and their third collaboration to date. ‘So Good’ is a midtempo duet exploring mutual devotion and romantic attraction. The track has that warm, late-’90s synthesizer feeling with a relaxed rhythm. Around the 2:30 mark, Kendrick takes the opportunity to turn the production into a more hip-hop-leaning sound as he delivers his funky rap. The two once again prove to be a magical duo.
It’s been four years since the excellence that was Dirt Femme. The time is ripe for a new body of work by Tove Lo. That four-year gap didn’t leave her fully in silence though. Two years ago, she brought out the collaboration EP HEAT with SG Lewis. When she announced her big comeback and revealed the stunning visual for the album cover, we knew we were going to be in for a treat. For her last albums, she’s mainly been recording in LA and Stockholm studios. This time around, she wanted to reconnect with her roots. Tove went back to a small fishing village in Sweden where she spent her childhood summers and recorded part of Estrus there. The location wasn’t just aesthetically Swedish. A lot of the emotional material came from memories associated with that place and her younger self. The perfect fuel to write about growing up, depression, her eating disorder, breakups, family drama and loss. The singer explained the album title as “Estrus is an animal in heat. It's primal, contradicting emotional chaos.” before adding, “my mind and my body wanting different things, wanting everything.” It basically sums up the perfectly curated chaos that shines through on the body of work. Opening track ‘a lot of feelings, no solutions’ perfectly describes the world we are stepping into. Right from the start, she bares all over a glossy dance-pop production, leading us into the euphoric lead single ‘I’m your girl right?’. We’ve made no secret that this is one of our favourite pop songs released in 2026. After the strong start, we can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed moving onto the following tracks. Sure, ‘if I could I would’ is by no means bad, and we do love the Stromae collaboration ‘des fleurs x stromae’. They just feel out of place, or simply not in the right position in the tracklist. ‘DNH’ rebuilds the energy strongly, reminding us of the Tove Lo we fell in love with in the first place. A big, bold and horny dance track expressing desire while being in the club. All of our favourite songs on the album are comfortably hiding in the second half of the album. The up-tempo, almost chanting ‘die for my art with a lonely heart’ is Tove at her very best. In the song, she explores the idea that suffering is necessary for great art. We love the tension she builds throughout the song. She’s reached a point where happiness is taking over her life, but part of her is almost suspicious of that happiness. The song asks whether letting go of the pain that used to inspire her might also mean letting go of an important part of her creativity. The hitmaker painfully sings about the uncertainty of not knowing where you stand in your relationship on ‘are we on a break’. She explores the fear that while you’re trying to understand where it all went wrong, the other person could suddenly meet someone else, fall in love again or simply stop missing you. It does an excellent job of capturing that uniquely painful space between a relationship ending and actually letting go. We are having the most fun on ‘roomie’, especially after finding out what the funky track is actually about. During the recording sessions of the album, her husband Charlie Twaddle became fascinated by a little lizard living around their house. Ultimately, he named the lizard his roommate. Somehow, this inspired her to write a song about reconnecting with Mother Nature in the most sexual and fun way possible. The result is one of the silliest songs ever recorded by the Swedish singer. Craziest part? This might be Clean’s personal favourite. Tove Lo proves once again that she is one of the best songwriters in today’s pop music, delivering a pop record where songs about lizards and fearing happiness because it might affect her creativity as an artist somehow live together under the same roof. The album might have a slightly underwhelming moment in the middle of the tracklist, but when it’s at its high... it’s really high!
There’s something unmistakably Brazilian running through Leo Middea’s music. Born in Rio de Janeiro, the troubadour, guitarist and songwriter has been making music for as long as he can remember, weaving the colors, rhythms, contrasts and energy of his home country into every song. Leo Middea’s latest album Notícias de Puglia was featured in our Seven Albums To Be Your Summer Soundtrack feature. The album is packed with drums and rhythm, that euphoric feeling of carnival and kissing someone for the first time, and that undeniable pulse of home for Leo. It only makes sense that tonight, on the official last summer day of the year, he is bringing these songs to life in Berlin. There’s something almost magical about hearing Leo Middea’s Brazilian rhythms fill the historic ballroom of Heimathafen Neukölln. Originally built in the 1870s as a salon and ballroom in Rixdorf, the ornate venue has spent the past 150 years transforming from a local entertainment hall to a theatre, cinema and cultural space. Tonight, its old walls are given another chapter as congas, guitars and Brazilian rhythms take over the room. It’s crowded tonight on stage at Heimathafen. Leo Middea enters with a band of five members. Each musician is dressed with a big smile, immediately giving the crowd that warm feeling of familiarity. The show opens with a big bang as we dive right into ‘Fio de Bronze’. No support act warming up the crowd, no upfront warning. From the very first minute, each and every visitor is asked to sing along to the song. The Portuguese-speaking fans take the lead, and the other half of the crowd happily join in for the easy parts. The night is off to a great start. The live instrumentation is incredible. The keyboard is going, the trumpets are strong, the bass is electrifying and a traditional drum kit is joined by a set of hand-played congas, bringing an infectious rhythmic energy to the performance. Leo himself takes part in the band with his guitar. It’s his warm and crystal-clear voice, however, that hypnotizes the crowd. It’s easy for him to sweep the audience away. Let’s be honest, a smile like that is stealing the show! His one and only English song on the album has a background story. Leo introduces the song by explaining in detail how it came to life. One of his friends told him he should really record an English song. He is traveling the world with his tour, so he should give his non-Portuguese-speaking fans something to sing along to as well. The singer agreed, but quickly found himself in a writer’s block. Until one evening, when he spent about five hours in a bar back home in Rio de Janeiro. Drinking beer with friends, he noticed three people passionately kissing each other throughout the whole night. This ultimately became the inspiration for ‘More Than Two’. The absolute highlight of the evening is when the opening track to his latest album is brought to life. ‘Atabaque’ has the band jumping around on stage, ensuring everyone in the room is moving along and celebrating the music. To really become one with his fans, Leo and his bass player join the crowd to dance together to the sounds of a Brazilian street festival. If you came to the show feeling worried about whatever you have going on in your life, we’re sure the joy in the room washed it all away during the performance of this song. Leo and his band play for a whopping one hour and 45 minutes, but the night goes by in what feels like five minutes. We are having so much fun. We all dance as one to ‘Verano’ and sing in harmony to ‘Sulamérica’. Whoever said music unites would’ve been proud tonight. Notícias de Puglia was clearly made with the intention of being played live, and we loved every second of it.
At just 13 years old, Josh Levi was ready to show the world his incredible talent. His journey started on the talent show X Factor USA, where he made it all the way to the finals during the 2013 series. Before building his solo career, he joined boyband Citizen Four, which he ultimately left in 2017 to focus on his solo music. Fun fact: he did make a brief comeback to his boyband days for the Pixar movie Turning Red, where he was one of the members of the fictional boyband 4Town. The group’s ‘Nobody Like U’ even earned a Grammy nomination. In October last year, he finally released his debut album HYDRAULIC. The album was praised for its traditional R&B sound. Last week, he released the FUELED UP* edition of the album, featuring brand new versions of the songs. Among the collaborators, we find none other than living legend Brandy. What an honour it must’ve been for Josh to get in the studio with one of his idols to record the remix of ‘SAY IT’. The result? A dreamy duet between fresh and legendary talent.
At the top of our 2026 wishlist has been new Gabriel Jacoby music. Don’t get us wrong, we are far from tired of gutta child, but new music from your new favorite artist is always welcome. Even though there are no signs of new music anywhere to be found, we are getting the closest thing to it: a fresh collaboration. And we have to thank Dominic Fike for it. The campaign for Dominic Fike’s upcoming album How To Quit Smoking is in full force. After the release of the lead single ‘Wallflower’, we are now treated to single number two. Besides Gabriel Jacoby, 'Small Town' also features rising folk artist Emma Ogier. The trio delivers a beautiful song that showcases each of their talents in the best way possible while still blending perfectly together. Our favorite part? This won’t come as a surprise, but as soon as Gabriel comes in to close the track with trumpets backing up his raspy vocals, he takes us straight to church!
All of Berlin’s R&B lovers are collectively united in one building tonight. Huxleys Neue Welt welcomes 31-year-old singer Ella Mai to its stage for this Friday evening. The UK hitmaker is here to perform songs from her latest release Do You Still Love Me? and, of course, her greatest hits throughout her career. The stage is decorated to mimic the album cover of her latest project. One lounge chair, a tiny table with a phone on it and a fence filled with plants are setting the scene. The show opens with one of our favorites from the latest record. ‘There Goes My Heart’ already proved to be a perfect opener on the album, so it only makes sense that it takes on the same role for the tour. The almost haunting production is the kind of interlude that right off the bat has us wanting more and curious about what’s to come. Following up is the perfect love song ‘100’. Ella reminds us that within a relationship, it’s completely fine to not always be on a fifty-fifty. Sometimes your partner might only feel like a twenty, so you step up to an eighty. Together, you make it a hundred. As she is a traditional R&B artist, some of her music naturally tends to have similar vibes. During the show, it feels like she knows exactly who she is. The few up-tempo songs she has are perfectly placed in the setlist to pick up the energy in between her slower songs. One of the standout moments of the night is ‘One Of These’. For the banger, her two backing singers get on stage and together they form some sort of unbelievably talented R&B band. Their energy and chemistry are off the roof. They almost have you wishing they would actually form a band and get in the studio together. It’s time for her debut album to have a little moment. ‘Shot Clock’ in this live setting almost feels like a rock song. The guitar-heavy rendition boosts Ella’s confidence as she sings her heart out. The rockstar energy quickly fades away as she exchanges it for the most intimate moment of the night. It’s time to strip things down and take it all the way back to 2017 for an acoustic version of ‘Naked’. On top of a high chair with the spotlight shining on her, she has the whole crowd singing along to each word of the singer-songwriter’s hit. Surprisingly enough, it’s during this intimate moment that the crowd is at its loudest. Ella’s biggest hits are hidden at the back of the setlist. Her Grammy-winning smash hit ‘Boo’d Up’ sounds fresh as if it was released yesterday. Hearing her sing it live proves how insanely timeless the song is. It was so ahead of its time that it stands the test of time. Eight years later and it still hits hard. It won’t come as a surprise that ‘Trip’, the other hit with the same ingredients, has the same trick up its sleeve. We love seeing the singer in her element. Dressed in a beautiful beige piece and bare makeup, truly looking like a natural beauty. No heavy choreography. Just her incredible voice and good, traditional music is all that’s needed. We can’t believe we finally get to hear one of our favorite songs released in the past few years live. ‘Little Things’ first appeared on her EP 3 and, thanks to its success, made it to the Do You Still Love Me? album as well. It somehow ended up kind of serving as the lead single of it, without any intention. It really is an R&B love song at its very best. It’s simple, relatable and the melody is insane. What a way to close the show.
Is there any male artist who’s actively releasing music that is doing it like Troye Sivan does? Don’t think so. And don’t get us wrong, we love that the girls are dominating pop music at the moment. But thank god we have the Australian hitmaker here to show the male artists how it’s done. His second single from the upcoming She’s The Best album is an absolute banger. Pop perfection should always go hand in hand with an equally impressive music video. In a time when music videos don’t matter as much as they used to, it’s always a win when someone comes out and actually puts care and a big budget into their visuals. We already know Troye loves himself a big, bold music video, but with ‘Party’ he has truly outdone himself. Let’s not give away too much about the video and let you enjoy it with no spoilers. But boy, oh boy, music video of the year! The song samples Madonna’s smash hit ‘Music’. If you’re wondering when the last time was that you heard a Madonna sample somewhere, you probably have to dig deep. The Queen of Pop doesn’t just allow her music to be sampled, so for her to give Troye the approval says everything. As if one legend backing you up isn’t enough, he has his longtime friend Sir Ian McKellen narrating the intro of the video. Legendary.
Rarely have we seen someone run onto a stage with the amount of enthusiasm and energy as tonight. Rachel Chinouriri is playing the last show of her current tour right here with us in Berlin. And what a blessing it is to be in the same building as someone bringing a burst of excitement like this. Tonight is off to a promising start and she hasn’t even started singing yet. We’re in for a night full of her biggest hits, fan favourites and brand new music from her upcoming album I think I spoke too soon. The evening opens with a bang thanks to the lead single of her sophomore album. The live rendition of ‘One song away from crying’ proves what a great song it is. The disco-themed production has Rachel dancing around the stage, persuading everyone in the audience to dance and sing along to the catchy track. To complete the picture, a disco ball shines dozens of moving lights that sweep across the room. With her second studio album set to be released next month, we’re in for a treat. We get exclusive access to be some of the first fans to hear the brand new music before it’s available for streaming. The album is set to be packed with up-tempo bangers. Among them is the incredibly catchy ‘Aah’. The song instantly transports us back in time to the days when VV Brown was dominating our playlists. The Brit indie singer must’ve been an inspiration behind this upbeat indie-pop song. Compliments only, we can’t wait to add this one to our playlist and let it become our new obsession. Time to visit her debut album What A Devastating Turn of Events. On ‘It Is What It Is’, she showcases her talk-singing style throughout the song. We love how conversational the performance feels with the audience. Rachel locks eyes with her fans in the front row as she spits out words of truth. Once again, the song fully comes to life thanks to her energetic rendition. The studio version should almost be ashamed of itself compared to the pitch-perfect live version we’re hearing tonight. Our cheeks are hurting from having such a big smile on our faces. Time to replace that smile with tears in our eyes thanks to the beautiful ‘So My Darling’. Throughout the evening, Rachel has shown how high her voice can go and the unlimited places it can reach. For the acoustic rendition of this one, she showcases a different side of her voice. She keeps it calm and collected, singing the emotional song in her lower register. We love how controlled, yet fragile she sounds. The audience is clearly loving every second as we turn to absolute silence in the room. There is no time to stay in our feelings, we need to get back to the good vibes. ‘Can we talk about Isaac?’ ensures the room lights up and is back to full energy, right in time to gear the audience up for two unreleased songs. First up, we get a disco-inspired song that could easily fool you if Rachel didn’t explain what it was about upfront. The song sounds happy, but underneath it all are some sad lyrics about family trauma. Next up, we get the absolute banger ‘Pretty Girls’. The drum-heavy, up-tempo song explodes from the stage and is yet another one that has us wishing the album was already available online. The night would obviously not be complete without her most-streamed song to date. The perfect indie-pop ‘All I Ever Asked’ sounds even better with the live band performing it. We love how Rachel consistently delivers at 100% from start to finish. There is not a moment where you catch her without the biggest smile on her face, and the same goes for us in the audience. We completely get why artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Sombr and PinkPantheress are raving about her talent. We’re counting the days until October 16th and hoping for another tour to accompany the release of I think I spoke too soon.