Lemon Aid – Girlhood, Natalie Holmes

There are songs you listen to – and there are songs you step into. “Lemon Aid”, the new single from Girlhood, clearly falls into the second category. From the very first seconds, it opens up a space that feels less like a track and more like a state of being: a place where the air is softer, the light warmer, and thoughts lighter. A place that doesn’t shout out, but quietly beckons. Girlhood create an atmosphere here that is positive and uplifting, without ever veering into the realm of kitsch. The nostalgic piano, the subtle acoustic details, the playful, slightly accelerated vocal sample – all these elements act as tiny building blocks of a feeling that cannot be explained, but simply comes over you. It is the sort of lightness that cannot be forced. It arises when music is not merely composed, but felt.

Soul Believer (ft. Jaki Graham) – Johnny Hates Jazz

In just under four minutes, ‘Soul Believer’ brings together everything that British pop and soul history has been building up over decades. Johnny Hates Jazz provide the elegant, melodic clarity that has characterised their songs since the 1980s, whilst Jaki Graham’s warm, powerful voice makes every line shine. Together, they create a feel-good track that doesn’t just shine, but radiates: layered harmonies, a timeless groove and a message of optimism and resilience. ‘Soul Believer’ feels like a reunion of two musical souls — meticulously produced, emotionally grounded and brimming with charisma. A song that shows how timeless voices can blossom anew in the present day.

Somebody Like You (ft. Gummy DJ) – Maddox Jones

Whilst ‘Somebody Like You’ ostensibly adheres to the familiar conventions of a modern dance track – four-on-the-floor drive, arpeggiated synth cascades, warm pads that lay over the soundscape like a cinematic filter – beneath this glittering surface, a subtle melancholic fissure unfolds, elevating the song far beyond its club-ready structure. Maddox Jones’s voice – clear and vulnerable, yet with an underlying urgency that grounds the track before it fully opens up in the euphoric drops – serves as an emotional anchor. At the same time, Gummy DJ layers the production with a precision that pits the bright festival energy against the bittersweet longing for closeness – a tension that makes the song feel bigger, more human and, ultimately, more enduring. The result is an EDM anthem that not only seeks out the big stage, but also captures those quiet moments when you realise that even the loudest beat can make a heart beat.