Add to playlist: JayaHadADream’s rising confidence and versatility and the best new tracks of the week | music

from Cambridgeshire
Recommended if you like Manga Saint Hilary, Koji Radical, Little Sims
the next Happiness from agony now

“One of the coolest writers but the guy doesn’t say it’s because I have a vagina,” sings JayaHadADream in her latest song Bug, calling out those who underestimate her talent — and revealing her lyrical confidence. In a fertile rap scene, the Jamaican-Irish artist, from Cambridge via Nottingham, has broken through with her control and vulnerability, as well as her keen eye for bullshit. The track “Main Figures” (featuring Big Zuu), also from her recent mixtape “Happiness From Torment,” is a critique of the fake love and empty attitudes that saturate the music industry.

She has a knack for cutting through that kind of noise: in Happiness… she’s equally comfortable confronting veteran Frisco in Hideout or exchanging verses with Keeya Keys in Hypnotic Yoga. Her gracefully curved voice transitions from the urgent tension of the state of the world to the UK garage pulse of punk. It’s a mixtape that refuses to settle, giving Gaia the space to showcase her versatility.

There is also a softer side to it, one that marries the personal and the political. On The Abbey he meditates on memory and identity through a mysterious MF Doom-style riff: “Poverty is relative, the sheets in the UK look dirty / The only thing I gotta pretend is a tough mentality.” Meanwhile, Nothing’s Changed closes the mixtape with unresolved longing: “It’s a shame I don’t really know what I’m looking for / But I still keep searching.” It’s a snapshot of an artist still navigating her ascension—and a fascinating journey to join. Sik Fridas

The best new songs of the week

Kiah/Blue – Rudolph
The darker side of Christmas comes through the South Londoner’s melancholic EDM song, which twists and turns and talks about dancing alone while watching “hot girls at a rave… he used to call me a bunny”. L.S

Kali Uchis – Movilo
After his uptempo dembow dancefloor demo went viral, Uchis went and made a full version: sure to bring a jolt of tropical heat to any rowdy and rowdy birthday party you find yourself at. BPT

More Izzy – Bad Friend
The first taste of Mary Rubio’s upcoming LP is about alienation and inappropriate crushing—but the joyful warpiness of her pedal steel guitar and effervescent milky bells provide a welcome embrace. L.S

Nyuntai – Mark William Lewis Flew
The American underground rapper unexpectedly name-checks the British singer-songwriter for dream pop on this track from his new mixtape Soulja Hate Repellant: the relentless bass is offset by delicate Lewis-style guitar. BPT

Sleaford Mods – No Touch ft. Sue Tompkins
“do you miss me?” The Lady of Life Without Buildings sings in an extremely rare musical outing. Yes! Kudos to Mods for tempting her with this sweet, sweet number, with subtle nods to the Ones’ Flawless. L.S

DJ Sabrina Teen DJ – Oh, what a feeling
Thank goodness the holidays are right around the corner: The London producer has casually released a new 40-song album, driven by a distinctly pulsing rush of rave that seems to come to end all that comes. L.S

ALICE COSTELLO – ELSEWHERE
Over strong, stubborn organ strings, and with soulful melodies played on a tape recorder, Costello reflects on her estranged father’s addictions in a poignant ballad reminiscent of Cate Le Bon. BPT

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