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!
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!
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.
Nippa’s EP Homegrown is set to be released September 25th. With the project, he is ready to show the UK and, let’s be honest, the rest of the world why he deserves to become a household name in R&B. He grew up around the grime and rap culture of Tottenham, with artists like Skepta, JME and Headie One influencing his sound throughout his career. Initially, he wanted to become a rapper before realising his buttery, smooth voice was made for singing. The second single promoting his upcoming EP is the Jordan Ward collaboration ‘Kacey’. This one is special. Yes, it’s first and foremost R&B, as expected. But on this track, he playfully blends in the music he grew up hearing at home. His mum and grandmother played a lot of lovers’ rock, and we love how that influence shines through on this romantic offering. This collaboration is a pitch-perfect moment that has us longing for the full project.
Music doesn’t always have to be innovative or groundbreaking. It’s perfectly fine to get addicted to a song that feels like you’ve heard it a hundred times before, even though it’s brand new to you. Pedro Santos’ latest single ‘Should Have Known Better’ gives us exactly that. The former Here At Last band member is experiencing great success with his solo adventure. Born in Portugal and raised in England from the age of five, he is still deeply connected to his Portuguese roots. ‘I Don’t Know Me’ became his biggest breakthrough moment, reaching No. 1 in Portugal. Now, with his latest release ‘Should Have Known Better’, he is ready to take over your radio once again. Don’t expect something fresh or never heard before. Instead, get hooked on a catchy track that simply breathes the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Before starting his journey in the music industry, Owen Saward performed in London’s West End, including as part of the cast of & Juliet. The experience helped him gain confidence as a live performer and shaped his use of layered harmonies and vocal stacks. He has cited old-school R&B, particularly the music his mother played at home, as a major influence. All the perfect ingredients to build a steady foundation as an R&B recording artist. Owen has been releasing music since 2024. In just two years, he has received praise for his emotional delivery and distinctive vocal sound, making every song recognisably his. The internet has gone crazy for ‘Without You’ and ‘I Know’, both perfect examples of his good taste in timeless R&B. His latest single ‘Not Mine’ is another traditional production within the genre, with that effortless UK stamp all over it. To give the song a push towards a wider audience, the singer has gathered Angel and boyband WSTRN in the studio to jump on the official remix.
US-based Greek artist greek knows exactly who he is and is not holding back when it comes to showing the world his talent. With two albums under his belt, EXTC and ACCELERATOR, we now arrive at the excellent EP DANCE BREAK. The body of work might only be four tracks long, but it’s the exact right amount to confirm why he might just be your next favourite artist. The fully self-taught singer, songwriter and producer has built his sound entirely through DIY production. On this EP, he manages to keep that sound intact while showing how he is evolving as a recording artist. It won’t come as a surprise that greek is behind every production and lyric on the project. His distinctive sound sees alternative R&B and experimental pop become best friends, all wrapped up in an indie sound. Opening track ‘MAGIC’ is bold and explosive. The production is hectic and dramatic in the best way possible. Electric synths are thrown all over the place while the bass keeps pumping. As if that doesn’t sound chaotic enough, we hear a distant scream throughout the background of the production. greek himself takes on the role of tying it all together with his beautiful, soulful voice. A production this crowded with different sounds can easily go wrong, which is exactly why it makes sense to open the EP with it. It shows exactly what’s going on inside his mind and how he manages to make it all work together in harmony. The absolute highlight of the project is the instantly timeless ‘HOLD ME’. From the very first listen, it’s crystal clear this is one of the best songs to be released in 2026. The way the funky production invites the sample to open up the song is simply magical. As soon as greek takes the lead, he turns the otherwise funky song into a soulful and romantic call to action to win over his love interest. He sings, “Hold me like you need me. Tell me if you need me. Tonight I'm on the east side, baby, walkin' and breathin'. Life could be so easy if you'd hold me in your arms and keep me warm.” We love a hopeless romantic. Next up, we have the previously reviewed ‘PATIENCE’. The track effortlessly blends R&B with indie rock, driven by warm guitar textures that give it a raw, emotional pull. It feels like a true product of curiosity and a love for music, the kind of song that comes from experimenting without boundaries. To this day, we haven’t gotten bored of this song. Closing track ‘NKL’ goes right back to the place where ‘HOLD ME’ left off, almost having us wish it was actually positioned right behind it in the tracklist. It’s another love song in a Motown jacket. ‘NKL’ stands for ‘new kind of love’, and it’s on this one where greek gets to show his songwriting talent at its very best. “I need you as my only heart. Oh, and my feet won't stay on solid ground. I'm entitled to somе fitting shoes. I'm just beyond your side of town. Without you my wholе world is blue.” All of it is delivered in what is his best vocal moment on the project. Short or not, this is one of the best projects we’ve heard this year. Each word, each production choice and each part of his vocal range make sense and come together in the most beautiful way. greek is gearing up for a bright future in music.
The rollout for Tinashe’s upcoming album Popstar has been nothing short of iconic. In true popstar form, we’ve been treated to plenty of singles before the actual album drop. With ‘Pillow Fight’ arriving, we’ve reached single number four. And once again, it’s another banger showcasing Tinashe’s multi-talented, genre-bending artistry. On ‘Pillow Fight’, we take things a little sweeter and softer. We’re still very much in the true popstar momentum, with the track bringing a flirty pop sound while not shying away from its R&B influences. For this era, it’s not only the music that has been amazing. The videos keep blowing us away time after time. For ‘Pillow Fight’, a group of movers bring beds into a huge empty room, which Tinashe takes turns dancing on throughout the video. As usual, she delivers some great unique choreography. We can’t wait for the album’s release on September 25th.
It’s no secret that Sweden brings forward some of the biggest pop stars. There must be something in the air, because just ‘being from Sweden’ in itself seems to be a secret ingredient to the perfect pop formula. The country has brought forward ABBA, Zara Larsson, Robyn, Ace of Base, Agnes, just to name a few. Next up in line to claim her spot in this legendary line-up is DJ Suzy. Her journey started as a teenager when her boyfriend introduced her to FL Studio when she was just 13, which opened up the world of electronic production for her. Growing up in Sweden during the explosion of internet culture became a big influence on her artistic identity. The producer, vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has released several EPs and is now gearing up for her debut album. Kira Krash drops on October 23rd. Lead single ‘sw33t’ just got the perfect makeover to expand her music to a wider audience. Nourished by Time jumped on the remix version of the song, turning something good into something great.
They’ve been friends for over 20 years. Both of them are massive in their own lane. One is famous for his charming voice poured over smooth R&B, while the other is known for producing massive hits for some of the biggest musicians, while never shying away from the spotlight himself with his bands N.E.R.D. and The Neptunes. The project was recorded in January 2025 at Pharrell’s studio inside Louis Vuitton’s headquarters, after he reached out to Legend with the idea of making a whole project around his compelling voice. This is a collaboration that feels long overdue. John Legend and Pharrell Williams have announced their joint album Muse. Produced entirely by Pharrell, the album is set to be released on October 23rd. Luckily, we don’t have to wait that long to get a glimpse of what these musicians have cooked up together. Lead single ‘Daylight’ has been shared with the world and sets the tone perfectly. They’re describing the album as a cinematic record built around a “Black James Bond aesthetic”, with influences pulled from gospel, doo-wop, R&B and hip-hop. This collaboration project seems to have been worth the wait.
Anyone that knows us knows that here in the Clean office, we are massive fans of FLO. It might come as a surprise that we waited this long to review their sophomore album THERAPY AT THE CLUB. Truth is, it took us a while to get into it. Stella, Jorja and Renée are talented women in their own right, but these three together make for absolute magic. We weren’t just going to give up on them simply because, at first listen, we weren’t blown away. FLO’s debut album Access All Areas is one of our favourite bodies of work that has been released in recent years. The run-up to album number two has been nothing less than perfect. From their outstanding Tiny Desk performance to the pop-perfect lead single ‘Leak It’, there have been no misses when it comes to the album promo (let’s forget the album got pushed back for a month, shall we?). The expectations for our current favourite girlband were high, to say the least. The album counts a whopping sixteen songs in total. Back in the day, this would’ve been normal, but in today’s music industry, it’s quite unusual. This is, right away, our main issue with the album. Some songs could’ve easily been cut, and it would’ve made the album as a whole feel much more cohesive and, honestly, much better. For us, the album starts, after skipping the first two songs, at track number three with the excellent ‘Cry Ugly’. FLO delivers the ultimate heartbreak song to belt out in the shower. They deliver lyrics that’ll have you deep in your feelings. “Got me all dressed up for nothing. Did my makeup just to watch it all running. Boy, you got me looking in the mirror like ‘Fuck me’. Baby, you know how to make a pretty girl cry ugly!” Placing ‘I Can’t Be High Around You Anymore’ and ‘Sober’ right behind each other in the tracklist is, of course, no coincidence. They go from singing “I can’t be high around you anymore. Makes me think you want me the way I want you. My mind is sayin’ that I could be yours but I should ignore it, ‘cause that just ain’t true.” over a glossy, finger-snapping production to delivering one of the album’s slower tracks, singing “Why can’t you say you love me when you’re sober? Why does your heart only open up when you’re high as fuck?” These two back to back are a masterpiece almost begging for a short movie music video. We remember the first time hearing that ‘Pump Up The Jam’ by Technotronic sample coming through our speakers. At first, we didn’t hear the vision. It took us seeing Stella jokingly speaking about the song during an interview to get it. She wrote the song with Sevyn Streeter feeling silly and just playing around, not thinking the song would ever see the light of day. Listening to the song knowing they don’t take themselves too seriously has made us fall in love with the sassy and fun club banger. Title track ‘Therapy At The Club’, single ‘Remedied’ and ‘Haterbooth’ on closing duties all sound like an audition for a potential future Dreamgirls reboot. They have that Motown girl group feeling written all over them. FLO is cementing themselves as modern-day The Supremes and The Marvelettes with each of these respective songs. The three tracks could’ve almost served as a little side EP on their own, taking inspiration from the OG all-female groups that came before them. The standout songs are really those that saw the light of day before the album drop. ‘Don’t Break Her Heart’ is a strong competitor for one of the best songs released this year. It’s on songs like this where FLO strives at their full potential. A strong theme about sisterhood, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, a fantastic R&B production and heavenly harmonies. And we haven’t even started talking about the video yet. The same goes for ‘Leak It’, the song that had everyone shook upon its first listen. The step away from their usual sound to go full Brit-pop opened the era with an unforgettable statement. Does THERAPY AT THE CLUB reach the same heights as their debut album? No. Does it feel messy and overcrowded, with too many songs taking away from the overall cohesiveness? Oh yes. But does that mean FLO have lost their magic? Absolutely not. In fact, when the songs work, they really work. ‘Cry Ugly’, ‘Don’t Break Her Heart’, ‘Leak It’, ‘Therapy At The Club’ and the other standout moments show exactly why we are such massive fans of these three women in the first place. FLO are still delivering killer tracks and proving once again that they are the most exciting girlband out there right now.
Kenyan-American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Christian Kuria has been releasing music for years. Despite not being one of the biggest mainstream pop artists out there, he has built a pretty substantial streaming audience. Spotify currently lists him at around 1.4 million monthly listeners. Impressive considering he hasn’t had a commercial hit… yet. This simply means one thing: the music speaks for itself. Christian is mainly known for his blend of alternative R&B, neo-soul, guitar arrangements and jazz. For his upcoming album EAST, he seems to be stepping away from his usual sound. Set for release in November later this year, the album sees him experimenting with an indie-pop sound. The lead single is the upbeat ‘Dead Internet’. He might be moving further away from the straightforward R&B sound of his earlier work, but with the experimental songwriting on this one, he feels more personal and up-close than ever.
The big dream started out on the South Korean competition series Dream Academy and its Netflix counterpart Pop Star Academy. The latter is where the successful girl group KATSEYE was born. Your next favorite popstar might’ve not made the ultimate cut to join the group, but for all the right reasons. Both the judges of the series and fans of the show pointed out that she is simply too big of a personality and star to be in a group format. The outcome? The world is one damn good popstar richer and ADÉLA gets to have the spotlight all to herself. The Slovakian-trained ballerina turned popstar is destined for success. Everyone who watched the show saw her solo breakthrough coming from a mile away. Amongst her fans she counts stars such as JADE and Demi Lovato. With the latter, she went on tour to open for her, which increased her reach to a whole new set of fans. And both ADÉLA and JADE have mentioned their interest in working together. This is a collaboration bound to happen. But before we start dreaming about the future, let’s start things off right and dive into her debut album PRIMA. Bringing out your debut album is a huge deal. It comes as no surprise that it’s titled after the best ballerina of the bunch, referencing where it all started for the singer. She makes one thing clear: with this body of work, she is aspiring to become one of the best popstars as well. To do so, she has been studying pop music ever since she first fell in love with music. On a recent episode of ‘Playlist Of My Life’ with Teen Vogue, she created the ultimate pop music playlist. It’s in appearances like these that we gain full trust in her music. With excellent taste like this, citing ‘Feedback’ by Janet Jackson and ‘Adore You’ by Miley Cyrus as inspiration, you simply can’t go wrong. We clearly get to hear one of her main influences on ‘Boys’. Not only does it share a song title with the one and only living legend Britney Spears, it also sounds reminiscent of her hit ‘Me Against The Music’. It’s a high-energy pop track that explores the female experience of both wanted and unwanted attention while clubbing. ADÉLA acknowledges that this behavior is undoubtedly common in men, so she plays around with it, subtly poking fun at how easily she has these boys in the palm of her hand. As if the track itself isn’t big enough as is, she asked KATSEYE member and former reality TV show colleague Lara Raj to appear in the small skits to simulate “girl talk” in the ladies’ restroom. The track ADÉLA herself was most excited for her fans to hear is ‘Nicole Kidman’. Here she plays around with hip-hop sounds. Throughout the trap-pop song, she experiments with a vintage-sounding hip-hop production while she sings lyrics admiring Nicole Kidman. She is a massive fan of the actress. “To me, she is the embodiment of beauty, glamour and everything that’s good.” On the song, she gets the most fun, flirty and sexy we have heard her so far. This song is a masterpiece. Another highlight on the album goes to ‘Fantasize’. ADÉLA explores the theme of an unfulfilling relationship where she finds herself fantasizing about others. Over a fun, upbeat, almost funky production, she opens up about almost reaching that point of turning fantasy into reality. Leaving no traces of almost cheating. The song is once again proving she is a master in studying pop music before executing it herself to perfection with the help of smash hit writer Julia Michaels. On PRIMA, the ‘KGB’ hitmaker proves what everyone already knew. A talent like this should not be sharing the spotlight with five other girls. With all the ongoing drama around KATSEYE, no shade, ADÉLA is really having the last laugh for not making it into the band. A debut body of work like this makes one thing crystal clear: she is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Girlbands are back! Bands like FLO and KATSEYE are at the top of their game. They serve vocals, personalities and choreography while staying true to their own style. Girlband MISSU are here to respectfully claim their spot in the music industry as well. The brand new four-member British girl group consists of members Halle, Sophia, Ines and ilselena. Well, not really brand new though. They’ve been doing a rollout that feels close to a K-pop-style approach to brand building. Before releasing any music, the foursome has been building a huge online following thanks to their dance rehearsal and choreography videos. With a massive following in their pocket, they’ve finally reached the point in their career where it’s time to release music. Debut single ‘OUTTASIGHT’ is an upbeat pop song that is built for the ladies to perform a killer choreography to. As their existing fans already know, they love Brazilian Funk, which we hear coming through in their very first release. They left everybody waiting and now that the time is here, they’ve delivered with a bang!
Today marks the start of a new era for Miley. Yes, that’s right. No more need for the surname, we all know who she is just by calling her by her first name. After signing a new record deal with Atlantic Records, she is ready to take the world by storm once again. The superstar announced her tenth studio album Bass Persuades will be released in two weeks, on September 18th. The lead single, sharing the same title, sees the light of day today. It’s a massive pop song, somewhat sounding like what we imagine would be the result of Miley in her Can’t Be Tamed era listening non-stop to Dua Lipa. The video, on the other hand, is putting her right in the lane of the greats Britney and Michael Jackson. With the song, she dreams about the better days music has seen, when stars like them were taking over MTV. These days, ‘the kids don’t want to dance!’. She goes on to reflect on today’s youth: “Glued your eyes to the telephone screen. But you missed the hit without MTV. Go analog, like a cinema. Just look out the window and what do you see?”. Pop music criticised by today’s biggest popstar? Yes please.