pINPOINTED: nEW mUSIC fRIDAY fINDS

By Bailey Tolentino

I started off the latter half of my third year at university with a new goal: to do “New Music Friday” every single week. That means I listened to at least 5 new releases — usually 3-4 new songs and one new album — (pretty much) every Friday from January 2025 until May 2026, and it has been one of the most nourishing musical experiences of my life. Sometimes the singles led me to albums I now love, and sometimes the albums gave me a couple new favourites to add to my library. The routine helped keep me out of “music slumps,” introduced me to some smaller (and now favourite) artists, and forced me to listen to different genres.  The best part is getting to participate in conversations about the releases online, or watching your favourite music critics/podcasters review them (my favourites are The Lizard Review on Substack and New York Times’ Popcast). I recommend all music lovers take part in this routine! Also, to my fellow multitaskers: listening to a new album in order is a great way to boost your energy in the middle of a study session. So, without further ado — for my final Pinpointed article ever — here are my Top 10 New Music Friday finds of my last year at university. (Yes, these are in order. And side note: Though NMF did make me listen to new genres, these are my favourites, after all; so don’t be shocked that there is a sonic throughline in this list).

10 - ‘BEAT UP CHANEL$’ by Slayyyter

I’m not usually a fan of titles being in all caps, but this song has to be that way. This is the perfect track to blast while you’re tipsy, getting ready for a night out with your girls. I love how unapologetic Slayyyter is about being ambitious in a feminine way. Like, yes! I also want vintage Celine and money and a cigarette, and get tempted to steal Supreme from a man’s closet when he’s annoying me. It’s just so fun and captures the exact feeling of being on the dancefloor and thinking you are invincible. 

9 - ‘ANYTHING BUT LOVE’ by Tate McRae

This is another track that surprised me. I did not go into Tate McRae’s deluxe version of So Close To What expecting to leave with any new songs for my playlist. I find her music generally unexciting. This one is awesome, though; and you can tell she probably wrote this in one studio session when she was mad as hell at The Kid LAROI (her ex). It’s hilarious.

8 - ‘Say Something Kind To Me Again’ by Sydney Ross Mitchell

Okay, huge pivot here. Sydney Ross Mitchell is one of those “Instagram Indie” artists (amongst the likes of Esha Tewari and Sarah Kinsley), but she is my personal favourite. Though this chord progression and lyrical content is heartbreaking, the beat is just fast enough to keep you hooked. The storytelling is the star, here, though. Mitchell doesn’t feel the need to use verbose language to tell the story; and she utilises internal/slant rhymes a lot, which is brilliant. You can feel the pain in her voice when she sings, “you’re so mean to me sometimes.” 

7 - ‘Nobody New’ by The Marías

This was a huge song last year, so I don’t feel the need to elaborate much. But this is, in my opinion, The Marías’ best song. The production is simply stunning, bringing a little more rhythm than their biggest hit ‘No One Noticed,’ and established to me that they know their sound — 100 percent. Furthermore, the lyrics are so honest about missing an ex in a way that’s so pathetic that I just have to respect it.

6 - ‘My Lover’ by Claire Rosinkranz

The lead single ‘The City’ is what brought me to this album, since it was trending on Instagram reels. However, I find ‘My Lover’ (which is also the title of the album) to be a much stronger track. It starts off like a pop piano ballad, but picks up quickly at the first chorus. What I love about this song is how Rosinkranz adds several harmonies and instrumental layers to every verse and chorus as it progresses. It is so satisfying, and the perfect way to start a good day. The melody is so catchy that I haven’t even paid attention to the lyrics — which is saying a lot, coming from me, being the lyric-obsessed-English-major I am.

5 - ‘Wish Upon a Scar’ by Babyteeth

Is this a rip-off of ‘Myth’ by Beach House? Perhaps. Do I care? Not one bit. I love that it’s basically a female-vocal version of that song. I found this one over winter break of third year, a couple months after it was released, and it just took over every single one of my subway rides for a month. It feels exactly how that liminal space in between Christmas and New Year’s feels. The production is soothing, dreamy, and inspiring — even though it sounds like it was made on GarageBand (which I think might be the point). The lyrics are also shockingly touching for those in their coming-of-age era: “I want everything / I want to numb the pain / I’m so filled with rage / Stuck in this pretty cage…” Yeah. I love it.

4 - ‘Coming Up Roses’ by Harry Styles

I personally think this is Styles’ strongest ballad ever. Everyone who thinks it’s ‘Sign of the Times’ — *cough, cough* Rolling Stone —  just liked him more before he found his own individual sound. I love how Styles committed to the bit of having a string quartet play throughout the song, to make it feel like a date night or confession of love. Well, it’s actually more a confession of the fact that he is a fuckboy with commitment issues, if you listen to the lyrics. And I love that. In this song, Styles doesn’t lie about who he is— lyrically nor sonically. The strings blend with the dragged out digital sounds of Kid Harpoon (a producer Styles frequently works with), and this all pairs perfectly with the irony in Styles’ voice when he sings, “everything seems to be coming up roses.” Lastly, the way he sings, “It’s only me and you” made me swoon like a parasocial 12-year-old fan all over again. The album might have been mediocre, but it was worth it just to get this track.

3 - ‘Beat A B!tch Up’ by Alemeda & Doechii

This whole EP (But What The Hell Do I Know) is skipless, but this is my favourite track by far. It’s just sassy enough without being emotionally immature or removed, and just pop-rock enough without being grating. There’s a common trend of unapologetic femininity in this list, and maybe that’s just because of the point of my life that I am currently in… But I never get tired of it! Like, yeah: “I really would fight bitches for you!” This attitude feels very 2020s, and gives me hope that pop music is not just constantly recycling what has been done before. Adding Doechii to this track works so well; the blend of pop-rock and melodic rap is so fun, the harmonies are fantastic, and I love how the beat builds to be more intense as the song continues. Lastly, I love how the lyrics use modern slang but not to the point where it risks making the song age terribly. 

2 - ‘St Anthony’ by TESI

TESI might be my best friend from high school but this is not biased. I feel so lucky to have been introduced to her as a new artist, regardless of our friendship. I love how the first and second verses have completely different melodies, and the lyric switch in the final verse (“excuse my profanity, but fuck, I’m exhausted”) made me shed a tear when she first sent me the demo. The metaphor of praying to St Anthony (the Saint of lost items) after losing effective communication with a lover is literally genius, and the lyric flip of “I think I’ve lost him / losing my sanity” is so clever. The production is also very soothing; the chord progression familiar, yet new. I would liken her to Amy Winehouse or Norah Jones (or maybe even Olivia Dean) if I didn’t think her sound is genuinely more unique than a direct comparison. Sure, you can hear the inspirations, but there is something else in there that is just so sonically satisfying and — I believe — representative of our generation’s sound. Also, she can siiiiing. Okay, now I am just hyping my girl up, but seriously — give it a listen.

1 - ‘Indigo’ by Rachel Chinouriri

This is another instance of me going crazy over storytelling, but this time, it’s not just the lyrics that do it for me. While I do love that Chinouriri doesn’t feel the need to rhyme to tell the story, what really struck me with this song is the timbre of her voice. The choice to go for a single vocal track (no harmonies) is brave, but it was a risk worth taking. I cried the first time I heard her sing, “I know it sounds dramatic, but I need you in my life.” Her voice is an instrument in its own right; so raw in this track that she doesn’t even need to fill the chorus with any lyrics in order to communicate the emotion. She simply introduces the chorus with the words, “You make love feel like:” which is followed by chilling, nostalgic, whimsical, stripped-down strums of two chords on the acoustic guitar. This entire EP (Little House) is incredible, and it led me to listen to her entire discography — all of which I loved. Definitely my favourite find from all my New Music Fridays.

I hope you enjoyed this list and all my articles in the last couple years! I thought a pure celebration of music that has moved me in the past year-or-so would be the perfect way to round things off. Thanks so much for reading <3