Half of Tony Seltzer’s beat is Tangerine Dream sci-fi synth gasps, all chopped up and corroded until they become a malfunctioning CCTV hallucination of digital hell. The other half is a drum pattern that erupts through the speaker and gives you a flying elbow to the sternum. How do you react to a beat like that? Well, if you’re the knowingly mysterious and anonymous London rapper Jawnino, you mumble things that American ears weren’t meant to understand, with your voice pitched up to chipmunk levels. Then you run it back and say the same thing, several times, in your regular natural baritone. Against all the laws of god and man, you sound cool as fuck. Glitched-out brainrot internet rap really only works if it’s got someone who sounds cool as fuck. This one works. —Tom

For years, Jenny Hollingworth has been making charming, slightly askew indie-pop as one half of Let’s Eat Grandma. On her first solo single as Jenny On Holiday, she proves she can be just as compelling when playing it straight. “Every Ounce Of Me” is the sort of pure ’80s nostalgia that will never die, partially because it hits so hard when executed this well. The synth-powered sing-along was designed for karaoke, and Hollingworth has given potential singers a very fun blueprint to work with, throwing her whole self into lyrics about her failure to resist an all-consuming crush. Good luck keeping your defenses up. —Chris

Agriculture are best known for making blistering, grimy black metal, so it was a mild surprise when they namechecked offbeat acoustic guitar-wielders like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Alex G as some of the influences on their new album The Spiritual Sound. But the Angeleno quartet have always appreciated eccentricity and eclecticism, and their approach to metal is just as expansive as their views on humanity — at least, that’s what I gather from their latest single “Dan’s Love Song.” Over nearly five drumless minutes, Agriculture swap out the screams and shredding for a gentler noise, opting for steady, layered chords enveloped in static that wouldn’t feel out of place on Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill. Frontman Dan Meyer says Dan’s Love Song” is written for his future child, and the song captures the peculiar comfort of knowing that matter — even that which makes up human beings — can neither be created nor destroyed. —Abby

Last year, Sassy 009 — the project of Oslo’s Sunniva Lindgård — made a bootleg version of “Girl, so confusing,” pumping the track with skittish effects and heightening its party atmosphere. The influence of Charli XCX can be heard on “Butterflies,” but, like Lindgård’s version of the Lorde-featuring Brat track, it has an ethereal edge to it. She says the song is “an ode to the real ones,” but instead of naming friends she sings of butterflies and heaven over a shoegazy ruckus. It’s as much of a celebration as it is a dream. —Danielle

Time is an inevitable bastard. Whether we’re supercharged by the future’s excitement or bogged down by the past’s melancholia, it’s the thing we’re constantly trying to make peace with. The latest single from garage-punks Radioactivity reminds us not to overthink something that’s increasingly hard to understand. The grunginess of “Time Won’t Bring Me Down” matches the chronic frustration of time’s passage, but the pummeling drums and relentless gritty guitars insist a tenacity that comes with pursuing life in spite.

After this week’s shitstorm of headlines, the song’s affection feels even more powerful as the title track for band’s recently announced album, their first in 10 years. It’s the kind of full-hearted, calloused-hands rock that reminds you to keep doing what you love and keep being you: “For what is learned through these eyes and these ears will only lead to a better way.” Radioactivity prove you can have a punchy, saw-toothed ripper with a doozy of universal sentiment. Typing out this next lyric feels as good as an enlightening therapy session: “What I lose with the next change/ Will give me strength and cherish what remains.” —Margaret