Despite the ease of access that streaming has brought to the distribution of music, the volume that's released can make it a daunting task to find unique new stuff every week. In this recurring weekly feature we put together a short list of new songs from the past week that stand out amongst all the noise and deserve a spot in your rotation.
All songs featured in this recurring series can be found in our scrmbl selection 2026 playlist on Apple Music or Spotify.
Aooo — “Question”
Ryo: Aooo bring spiky indie-rock familiar to vocalist Riko Ishino and her former band Akai Koen, and the four piece have been doubling down on their pop edge this past year through a string of singles. “Question,” though, reveals a pang of melancholy underneath the music’s upbeat veneer. “Question, someone, please / don’t say goodbye,” Ishino pleads as she tries her best throughout to decode her lover’s true feelings that’s as wound to their chest as the band’s coiled guitars. The experience must be infuriating yet the song’s groovy beat gives the impression of it being an exhilarating puzzle to crack.
gl1tch.bby — “Aoi Haru”
Patrick: Sakura season tends to inspire bright-eyed or overly sentimental music commenting on the passing of time. Duo gl1tch.bby remind that sometimes these departures aren't worthy of a ballad or pop song, but contain the kind of regret perfect for a rock chug. “Aoi Haru” sees the cherry blossoms as a reminder of mistakes made and chances lost, with the feedback over top less joyful and more suffocating. A welcome alternative take on this time of year.
HIYADAM — “Laminate your world”
Ryo: HIYADAM has been relatively quiet since 2024’s Capture Land yet his house-inspired beats from main producer Yohji Igarashi have been anything but. Igarashi’s ominous electro for this new one since last fall sounds bleary and red-eyed; a little tinkering, like in last year’s Capture Land remixes, and it could be a deafening phonk tune. As the bass pounds, the rapper waxes poetic about changing the world from an underground club past peak time — he must be on a good one.
Kianna — “i can see (feat. Daichi Yamamoto)”
Ryo: Every idea passes through the chaotic filter of rage in Kianna’s new album, Kiannacore4. Unassuming materials like jazz piano samples and bedroom-pop acoustic guitars gain a super lo-fi crunch from the obliterating bass. Mangled but not completely defaced, the production for “i can see” leaves behind just enough of the familiar, a touch of bouncy hip-house, for those uninitiated to rage while channeling the style’s punk energy to allow the two rappers to go buck wild. Guest rapper Daichi Yamamoto certainly makes use of a type of beat that’s outside of his usual, opening his verse with a tongue-twisting quadruple-time flow to start ripping things up.
okudakun — “hyper<->hypo”
Patrick: Spotify recently unveiled its new “hyperpop japan” playlist, which is the kind of creation bound to raise eyebrows. That's largely owing to the nebulous definition of the style in the title, and how Vocaloid music or VTubers fit into that. There's certainly nits to pick from the title, but I find the actual selection of artists to be quite unified as “post-2010s internet music” or even “netlabel indebted,” capturing very amorphous sounds heavily shaped by the online. What timing then that okudakun — also featured on “hyperpop japan” — released a new set of songs, capturing the continued mutation of this corner. Owing a touch to its name, “hyper<->hypo” stands out in the way it bubbles and plays with space, sometimes folding in on itself but burbles ahead. That's new for okudakun, and a reminder of continued sonic curiosity.
SWEET STEADY — “Heart No Maho”
Patrick: Idol music should be heart-racing. SWEET STEADY end its latest EP with a perfect example of how far tempo can go to adding to the bubbly nature of the style. “Heart No Maho” practically fizzes at the start before picking up the pace into a jog that only intensifies as the group charges ahead. It's all shiny and ecstatic singing come the hook, which refuses to let its foot off the base and instead lets the nerves take over.
