Photo by Daniel Reche via Pexels
Introducing the PLAYYLIST series – a selection of roundups spotlighting the most thrilling new releases across the underground and beyond. As 2025 tips into its second half, the sonic landscape is getting darker, weirder, and more magnetic. May was a masterclass in future-facing experimentation, from sweat-soaked warehouse anthems to emotionally surreal transmissions. These are the tracks that cut through the noise and lit up our radar at PLAYY. Magazine.
Tracklist:
Nxdia – Boy Clothes
PinkPantheress – Tonight
Yeule – Evangelic Girl Is A Gun
Alison Goldfrapp – Reverberotic
Mareux – Laugh Now Cry Later
M83 – A Necessary Escape (Part 1)
Barry Can’t Swim – Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts
Anyma – The End of Genesys
that bb & Yetsuby – ‘I Wish I Had Something to Say but I Don’t’
Mau P – Like I Like It
Fragmentor – Tokyo Techno City
33 Below – Mashup
Nxdia – ‘Boy Clothes’
The explosive peak of Nxdia’s More! trilogy, ‘Boy Clothes’ is a swaggering, bass-laced refusal to be categorized. Their smokey delivery unravels into feral yells over a beat that slinks and stomps in equal measure. A glitch-ridden bridge veers into fever dream territory, distorting both sonic and gender norms with giddy abandon. Paired with a video full of ’70s suits, guitars, and unbothered stares, this is rebellion rendered as ritual.
PinkPantheress – ‘Tonight’
‘Tonight’ opens with Panic! At The Disco strings before sliding into a slick house groove, perfectly balancing a coy, serotonin-soaked come-on that never overplays its hand. The track marks PinkPantheress’ bold evolution, blending orchestral flair with bouncy synths and flirtatious lyrics. The Regency-inspired video, directed by Charlotte Rutherford, adds a stylish visual to this standout lead single from her mixtape Fancy That – read our review HERE.
Yeule – ‘Evangelic Girl Is A Gun’
On the titular single off Yeule’s staggering new album Evangelic Girl Is A Gun, they fire off a volatile, shape-shifting single that fuses emotional rawness with glitch-smeared aggression. Vocals cut through like static-laced confessions, warped and defiant. Metallic guitars snarl beneath fractured beats, giving way to kaleidoscopic ravey synths, creating a soundscape that’s equal parts digital carnage and emotional release. It’s a war cry disguised as a breakdown – gloriously chaotic, painfully human, and unmistakably Yeule.
Alison Goldfrapp – ‘Reverberotic’
A pulsating, hallucinogenic fever dream, the track distills the euphoric synth-pop core of the album into something tactile and transportive. Shifting between sweeping, cinematic strings and sledgehammer synths, it builds a world charged with tension before melting into a sensual, immersive soundscape. Her voice cuts through the haze with the hypnotic refrain: “Reverberotic / Wanna hear you again / Vibrating light / a supernatural ascent.” Equal parts visceral and futuristic, it’s a hyper-stylized fusion of emotion and cybernetic fantasy – Goldfrapp at her most evocative and otherworldly.
Mareux – ‘Laugh Now Cry Later’
With ‘Laugh Now Cry Later’, Mareux leans deeper into his signature brand of romantic darkwave – a sound soaked in longing, sleek with synths, and draped in late-night melancholy. Fueled by coldwave textures and post-punk restraint, the track pulses like a slow strobe in a forgotten nightclub. His baritone vocals glide across icy pads and shadowy basslines, offering both seduction and sorrow in equal measure. Equal parts Depeche Mode and Boy Harsher, this is music for neon-drenched heartbreak and backroom rituals. Stylish, brooding, and effortlessly cinematic—Mareux is right at home in PLAYY’s glitch-slick, underground future.
M83 – ‘A Necessary Escape (Part 1)’
M83 returns with the first chapter of a new sonic journey, A Necessary Escape is the new M83 soundtrack album to the film Dakar: Race Against The Desert. ‘A Necessary Escape (Part 1)’ leans into ambient nostalgia and sci-fi melancholy. With synth swells that feel lifted from a forgotten ’80s space opera and dreamy vocal textures, this track gently detaches from reality. It’s a slow-burn re-entry into the shimmering dreamworld that only M83 can conjure.
Barry Can’t Swim – ‘Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts’
Part of a dual single drop teasing his upcoming album Loner (out July 11th via Ninja Tune), Barry Can’t Swim trades the club for the comedown on ‘Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts’. Where its counterpart ‘About To Begin’ pulses with peak-time energy, this track drifts gently through beatless textures and warm, ambient nostalgia. It’s a twilight lullaby – made for headphone moments, blurry city lights, and everything unspoken after the night ends.
that bb & Yetsuby – ‘I Wish I Had Something to Say but I Don’t’
In their collaborative track, that bb and Yetsuby craft a sonic landscape that blurs the lines between ambient introspection and experimental electronic textures. The piece unfolds with a gentle, glitch-infused rhythm, layered with ethereal synths and fragmented vocal samples, creating an atmosphere that is both haunting and meditative. Drawing from influences like ambient pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura and the surreal soundscapes of Studio Ghibli films, the track evokes a sense of nostalgia and longing, encapsulating the feeling of unspoken words and unresolved emotions.
Anyma – ‘The End of Genesys’
The final chapter of Anyma’s Genesys trilogy feels monumental. The End of Genesys merges high-concept narrative with sleek melodic techno, featuring collaborations with Grimes and Ellie Goulding that add spectral texture to the cinematic pulse. The album explores humanity’s merger with machine, using sharp synth design and immersive visuals to build a world both beautiful and quietly terrifying. The titular track perfectly encapsulates the LP’s disorienting, futuristic spirit.
Fragmentor – ‘Tokyo Techno City’
Fragmentor’s ‘Tokyo Techno City’ is a headlong dive into cybernetic intensity. Built on metallic percussion, thick low-end pressure, and stuttering vocal fragments, the track evokes neon-soaked nights and simulated environments. It feels like a soundtrack to a club in a city that doesn’t sleep—Tokyo, Berlin, or somewhere in the cloud. Industrial, hypnotic, and rigorously forward-thinking. Listen to the full EP HERE.
Mau P – ‘Like I Like It’
‘Like I Like It’ sees Mau P return with another club-ready weapon, blending gritty groove with hypnotic vocal chops and a rolling bassline that won’t quit. True to form, he keeps the energy high and the production tight, serving up a track that feels equal parts underground and irresistible. With its slick transitions and infectious attitude, ‘Like I Like It’ is built for dark rooms, late nights, and dance floors that don’t want to slow down.
33 Below – ‘Mashup’
After nearly a year of silence, 33 Below crashes back onto the scene with ‘Mash Up’, a blistering, three-minute jolt of genre-smashing energy featuring Scrufizzer’s rapid-fire grime vocals. The track detonates, tearing through bass-heavy chaos with surgical precision. If you’re looking for absolute filth, this is it.
