I thought there was a mistake when I heard “Oops” at the end of Momo Boyd’s generally haunting, slow moving Americana debut EP, Miss Michigan. No mistake here. Boyd switches things up on the last track for a sexy piece of G-Funk R&B that is as smooth as Boyd’s silky alto. I smell a hit. — Tobias Hess

Cameron Picton’s crazy vocals on his first solo album sound like a Disney villain preparing to cast a spell on you. That dark whimsy penetrates every layer of this project from the songs’ unyielding structures to its pummeling drums. —Steffanee Wang

Cece Natalie is tiding us over as we await her hotly anticipated sophomore album with the slinky banger “DOMINO.” Natalie’s latest ear worm is catchy but dark, a 154-second glimpse of her “crazy psycho” childhood. She sounds like just what pop music has been missing. — VM

On May 8, Montreal punk-ish project Cola are releasing Cost of Living Adjustment or C.O.L.A — a guitar-driven, head banging album about, among other things, the drab doldrums of late stage capitalism. Their latest single, “Skywriter’s Sigh” sounds like a madman’s ramble in the best way and has a line, “I took out a loan to watch the night sky,” that is hitting especially hard today. Happy tax day, folks. — TH

“On the deen I’m getting clean once my new album Z come out,” Skrilla raps on “Free 40,” the latest offering from his oft-delayed major label debut. Maybe he’s been getting advice on sobriety and celebrity from YoungBoy Never Broke Again, whose locked-in guest verse openly bites Skrilla’s flow over a violin-laden Philly drill beat. It’s not an homage, it’s a cosign. —VM

A disgraced, pioneering boy bander goes solo and releases his scathing industry critique on idol culture, legacy, and the hypocrisies of conservative gate-keepers. If your orbit ever overlapped with Big Bang’s T.O.P, even minusculely, you need to listen to this. If your orbit hasn’t, listen to it anyway ‘cause the beat is sick. —SW

Real rap fans know the DMV has been producing SoundCloud stars for a minute, and on “None of It,” Maryland rappers Xanman and Rico Nasty play off each other perfectly, going verse for verse and bar for bar. “I’m tryna blow a bitch up like a pufferfish!” Xanman exclaims, but he’s happy to let Rico shine hardest. “Say I’m a bitch, better put ‘rich’ in front of it,” she simpers. “Program strict, I ain’t havin’ none of it.” —Vivian Medithi

You might be familiar with Lone’s signature sound from Azealia Banks’s “Count Contessa.” Resonant and iridescent, his production is a rare breed, there aren't many artists who can make music that feels equally reflective and danceable. — SW

Animator and musician Sean Solomon makes sweet, heartfelt indie rock that expresses feelings of both flailing and becoming. On his latest, “Finish Line,” Solomon sings a chorus that is equal parts fatalistic and devotional, “I want the best for you / but the world is not good enough.” That line and the original cartoon paired with the song make me misty eyed. — TH