Every week, 88Nine music director Erin Wolf shares a sonic gem she found using her nearly 20 years of new-music exploration experience. You can hear all her discoveries live on 88Nine at 10 p.m. every Monday on What’s All This: Adventures in New Music.
If you’ve been feeling the winter blahs already, a little dose of spring can be found in the latest from Stockholm-based artist Waterbaby.
“Beck n Call” follows the release of another new single earlier this year, “Amiss,” — both of which mark her first fresh music since acclaimed 2023 debut EP, Foam. That record is what first earned Kendra Egerbladh’s bedroom-pop project acclaim, including two 2024 Swedish Grammy Nominations for Newcomer of the Year and Composer of the Year (which show that the best may be yet to come).
“Beck n Call” features guest rapper ttoh, who adds extra punch and underlines that smitten springtime feel. “An angel asked who I wanna be / I said, "The me with you version of me" / Heart on lock and she got the key.” The light-as-a-breeze instrumentation and tempo are coaxed along by Waterbaby‘s regular collaborator Marcus White, who also produced and mixed the song. It’s a playfully percussive, piano-laden, soulful indie-pop gem.
Best new indie music this week
- Waterbaby, “Beck n Call”
- The Nunnery, “Peaches”
- Dina Ögon, “Margaretas sang,”
- Khruangbin, “White Gloves ii”
- Stella Donnelly, “Laying Low”
- Juana Molina, “siestas ahí”
- José González, “Pajarito”
- Elanor Moss, “Again, My Love”
- Constant Smiles, “Everything Is Personal”
- Tristen, “Skin of Our Teeth”
- Gorillaz, “The God of Lying (ft. IDLES)”
- SPELLING, “Destiny Arrives (ft. Weyes Blood)”
