One of TIDAL’s founding principles is that we do not rank creativity. To each their own, in terms of what constitutes a great song or makes one song “better” than another. However, each week there are a few tunes that really test our belief system, and we can’t help but elevate them above the thousand-plus tracks we’re pitched across genres. So keep checking this space on Fridays for a list of new songs that are sitting atop our own personal playlists. Maybe yours are different. That’s cool. After all, if you are part of the TIDAL family, your opinion matters and, also, you clearly have better taste in music than your friends. That’s one ranking we can make with certainty. - Tony Gervino
3Quency
“Top Down”
Fresh off their win on Netflix’s hit show Building the Band, 3Quency is hitting all of the right notes with their debut single, “Top Down.” This R&B-pop trio is giving us everything we want in a girl group — flawless harmonies, iconic choreo (I’m currently learning the dance to this!) and an infectious hook. Whatever frequency they’re on, I’m locked in and on it too. - Sarah Janiszewski
Chicago Underground Duo
“Hemiunu”
Chicago Underground Duo, the long-running collaboration between trumpeter Rob Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor, lays down a hypnotic 6/8 vamp on “Hemiunu.” Mazurek adds keyboard layers as well, below his delayed brass calls. Near the end, the riff disappears, and we get to hear just trumpet and percussion — two highly individual minds on the same quest. This track, named after the prince who designed the Great Pyramid of Giza, is off Hyperglyph, their first album since 2014. - Brad Farberman
Cold Steel
“No Escape”
Tampa’s new thrash-meets-hardcore heroes Cold Steel just released the second smashing single from their upcoming debut album, DISCIPLINE & PUNISH. “No Escape” kicks off like it’s the most epic song in the world, with a guitar intro Dave Murray would be proud of. But we soon move into more familiar, sludgy, old-school hardcore territory, picking up the pace at just the perfect time. Jose Menendez’s snarls are desperate and angry as hell, almost sounding like the return of Gallows-era Frank Carter. The song speaks about not escaping, and confronting your inner turmoils, and fittingly there is no escaping Cold Steel’s greatness either. - Christer Alexander Hansen
Dwayne Fyah
“Set Apart”
Dwayne Fyah is bringing a whole new energy to Caribbean gospel music. The Guyana-born artist fuses uplifting reggae rhythms with faith-filled lyrics on his single “Set Apart,” and the result is nothing short of infectious. Who says gospel can’t make you dance? This track carries a powerful reminder about living set apart from God’s kingdom, but it’s wrapped in a vibe that feels perfect for a reggae playlist. Recently featured in our Upload Spotlight, Dwayne Fyah is definitely one to keep on your radar. I’m excited to see what he drops next. - Tonya Nelson
MJ Lenderman
“Just Be Simple”
Jason Molina was the greatest songwriter of the 2000s — a key reason I went into music journalism — and his untimely death 12 years ago, at only 39, still casts long shadows on my walls. His brilliance remains unmatched, and his legacy keeps growing as a new wave of artists looks to him for lyrical and musical inspiration. MJ Lenderman might be his sharpest student, an emerging star in his own right, and it feels only natural that he’s kicking off I Will Swim to You: A Tribute to Jason Molina, out now on Run For Cover. It’s not the first Molina tribute project of its kind, but it’s a powerful one, with current acts like Horse Jumper of Love, Hand Habits, Runnner and others paying their respect.
Jason Molina grew up a Rust Belt kid in a trailer park outside Lorain, Ohio. As he told me back in 2005: “Steel mills, shipyards, factories, a really beat-up, beat-down town.” By the mid-’90s, he had moved first to Cleveland, then Chicago, to start a lifelong career in music. Whether it was sparse, lo-fi ghost folk as Songs: Ohia or diesel-fueled rock and americana with Magnolia Electric Co., his background and signature always cut through.
He dug into the darkest corners of the human mind. He wrote 21st-century blues about roads and crossroads, ghosts and death, the prairie and the horizon, the moon above and hell below. He wrote of the solitude within and the loneliness around us. He wrote with a heart that bled straight through his shirt, until it didn’t beat anymore.
So please listen to his songs through MJ Lenderman and all these other mighty fine artists, and then dive into Molina’s own vast, haunted universe if you haven’t already. I can’t promise you much, except maybe a new address on the same old loneliness. Check out our Jason Molina Essentials and our tribute playlist, Tracks & Traces. - Bjørn Hammershaug
Miguel
“New Martyrs (Ride 4 U)”
Miguel has been one of the most exciting new voices and songwriters of the post-blog-era 2010s, but hasn’t released a full-length since his gold-selling 2017 album War & Leisure. We now witness the return of his trademark rock-infused R&B that influenced a generation. “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U)” is the first single from CAOS, coming next month, and has everything die-hard fans have been craving: the aesthetics, the production and the incomparable greatness of Miguel’s voice. - Philipp Senkpiel
Rakim, 38 Spesh and Skyzoo
“God’s Playground”
I really enjoyed “God’s Playground,” from Rakim’s new album. The whole LP is great, but my favorite is this one, which also stars 38 Spesh and Skyzoo. The original also features DMX and Fred the Godson. You won’t be able to stop nodding your head to the incredible beat by Big Ghost LTD, who makes it feel like a brand new track. And it felt like I was hearing the rhymes for the first time. - Joe Dodd
Sech
“Novio No”
On the Rimas label, Sech returns to his comfort zone — a slow-to-midtempo reggaeton. “Novio No” is a pro-single-women track — think his labelmate Bad Bunny’s “Yo Perreo Sola” — that reminds men to take a chill pill. Women do not need to be saved by a relationship, nor do they need a man to justify their existence. Perhaps the Panamanian artist will have “otro trago” by himself. - Jesús Triviño Alarcón
