Freshly Squeezed, Vol. 59: DAANI, Loren Cole, Kai Exos, LIZ & more

Welcome to Freshly Squeezed, a weekly new music playlist: spanning country, pop, EDM and urban, mainstream and other.

Blog favorite and volatile Nashville shaker DAANI loses track of time with her new song “Easy Feeling,” a chilled follow-up to a juicy EP and string of singles this year. Her voice is as gliding and soft as the production permits, tossed up in the air like a fistful of glitter onto the dance floor. It sparkles but remains smooth to the touch, flecked and puffy-eyed.

Lucie Silvas makes a big return with a new record called E.G.O., the long-long-long awaited return off 2015’s excellent Letters to Ghosts. But now, in 2018, her voice commands even more attention, and standout “People Can Change” is not only an apt exploration of her personal journey but a timely message-song we could all take to heart right now. Hurt might be waiting for us just outside the door, but Silvas urges us to show compassion and understanding. “It’s a lot that we’re here talking / But you know we shouldn’t stay too long,” she sings, bitter but sweet. She’s as tender as she is towering, piercing as she is unhurried, crystal as she is moody.

Bad Business sees their yacht-rock anthem “Day Job Guys” get an update at the hands of Midnight Magic. It’s dazzling and euphoric, and its hooks claw in between the eardrums. Then, folk newcomer Loren Cole magnetizes with her debut album, For the Sake of Being Honest. Opening track “God Only Knows Why” illustrates such maturity few ever learn in their lifetime, much less someone not even out of their teens. It’s pleading but flutters as easy as a crisp fall breeze, leaves cascading down the icy blacktop. Her voice is delicate, too, allowing the song to never cross into “too preachy” territory.

XPLOR dances it out with “Should Have Known,” a flashy burst of confetti, and Exnations zip up for “Wore All Black,” an entry on their debut EP, Tiny Sound in the Dark (stay tuned to our full EP review…soon). Kai Exos‘ “Stereotype” ignites with a cinematic snapshot before dripping into a funky, alt-pop banger ripe for a sweaty and steamy midnight rave that lasts until long after early morning haze has completely worn off.

Our new playlist also includes cuts from: Jonathan Something, Talk Time, Vöödöö, Madilyn Paige, David Archuleta, Glassio, Haley Vassar, The Last Bison, DeModa, Emily Kinney, Alex Adair, LIZ, TELYKast and many others.

In all, we’ve got 30 new songs spin and spin and spin some more.

Each playlist will be refreshed every Friday morning/afternoon. We reserve the right to update anytime during the week, so make sure you bookmark this page.

Take a spin:

Photo Credit: Sam Frawley

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