Best in Pop - Hot New Releases - March 2024
This month’s edition of Best in Pop features; a bewitching song that sounds like it is playing from the dusty halls of a haunted dollhouse; a song that sounds like a mystical 1980s/1990s VR experience; a pop song that tears through the illusion that a serial manipulator weaves; a synth pop song that possesses Kate Bush levels of epicness; a song that sounds like it plays over a sunset highway from a memory and more!
Featuring: Discovery Zone, Hunter Blair Ambrose, ROREY, Your Future Ghost, Bambina, Niki Sabrina, Sophia Veraz & Jamison Boaz.

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Mall of Luv - Discovery Zone
Taken from the album Quantum Web; Mall of Luv sounds exactly as smooth and delicious as the name suggests.
The album itself sounds like a VR dreamscape you dove into in the 1990s via CD-ROM. This song has a slight mallsoft vibe which I love; the pads have a mystical and meditative quality; with heavenly vocals running through them like a crystalline waterfall (I also love the drum machine sounds, which results in a cool DIY pop vibe). This is a fully immersive experience.
Connect with Discovery Zone
Spotify / Instagram / Facebook
ROREY - Standby
A surreal, vaguely eerie tapestry of music that plays through the haunted halls of a dollhouse or abandoned mansion; the shimmering, whispered lalalala’s add to the enchanting quality present throughout. This song was written about the artist’s first steps into recovery, after receiving a diagnosis of bipolar disorder; on this the artist says ““I wrote this song during a manic episode in 2021. It was my ultimate epiphany in understanding that my healing process wasn’t going to happen instantaneously, I couldn’t just “stand by” waiting for it to happen. I had to take action and commit to getting better, no one was going to do that for me. I had two choices to accept the help offered to me or continue lamenting that everybody was living life and I was stuck getting nowhere.”
The feeling of being on standby is captured in the haunting sound choices and processing of the sounds; this is an incredible work of art (it brings to mind the mansion in Shining Vale, and something about it reminds me of Coraline), I haven’t heard a song like this in a long time.
Connect with ROREY
Spotify / Instagram / Twitter
Easy - Bambina
The newest release from artist Bambina proves that she is a genius. Easy features raw lyrics flowing over a lush cloud of pads and dreamy synths (this has a bit of an 80s vibe), the first chorus is:
And I know
That you’ll run from the next one
If she’s pretty
And over thirty
My heart broke
But you’re broken
The second:
And I know that you’ll run to the next one
If she’s pretty
And under 30
My heart broke, but you’re broken
Bambina manages to describe and articulate a very specific kind of person we have all encountered; and in such a devastating manner. The lyrics sear through the illusion created by this person (something that can only be done in hindsight), over an instrumental so good it is almost otherworldly.
Connect with Bambina
Spotify / Instagram / Facebook
Living The Dream - Jamison Boaz
I came across this during my weekly exploration of the pop tag section of Bandcamp; I was in a bit of a brain fog-induced haze when I put this on, but this shook me out of it pretty quickly.
This is an epic fusion of synths, pop and rock, (I am talking Kate Bush levels of euphoria). The vocals and synth-fuelled instrumental are bewitching, drawing you in immediately, before exploding into chorus - this will shake you out of your stupor, and get you back on your feet.
Connect with Jamison Boaz
Spotify / Instagram / Twitter
Highways - Sophia Veraz
This is a masterfully written pop song; from the moment Highways begins playing, it induces a feeling of nostalgia, of memory, of melancholy; in the way that some of the best pop does. Icy textures shimmer behind the vocals and piano chords, building momentum to a heavenly chorus that will transport you to a sunset highway at the edge of your consciousness.
Connect with Sophia Veraz
Spotify / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter
Ruins - Niki Sabrina
The newest song from producer Nika Sabrina has some seriously good 1975 vibes (I love the vocal sampling in the intro). The vocals are luxurious, the pop tapestry behind them dark and additive, becoming more and more lush as time goes on. This will stick in your head, and keep you coming back for more.
Connect with Niki Sabrina
Spotify / Instagram
Next to Me - Hunter Blair Ambrose
The opening of this has Into You vibes (the 2016 Max Martin-produced pop classic), which should automatically make you love this song. The vocal melody is dark and addictive, in the way that the best dark pop is; the instrumental is haunting, the lush bass in the chorus being nothing short of delicious. This has a mid-2000s pop vibe that I love - you need to listen to this.
Connect with Hunter Blair Ambrose
Spotify / Instagram / Twitter
PRITTY - Your Future Ghost
The newest release from Your Future Ghost (consisting of Kate Voegele and Michael Grubbs) is a glorious fusion of rock, indie dance, and a bit of electro pop; and it is honestly so refreshing. On the song Kate confides , "PRITTY" is about being a little unhinged but also irresistible. You're self-aware enough to know you're kind of a mess, but you also not sorry about it because you're a god damned blast to have around. It's kind of about just knowing that the weirdest thing about you is probably also the coolest thing about you, and not being afraid to celebrate that even if it makes some people mad or uncomfortable."
We can drive ourselves to near insanity trying to be perfect, this song is an invitation to just ease up on yourself a bit, and just let go. The instrumental and vocals come together to form an epic anthem that will allow you to embrace the mess - this is cathartic and I love it.
Connect with Your Future Ghost
Spotify / Instagram / Website
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About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
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