Welcome to the April edition of Beats Per Minute’s monthly playlist BPM Curates.
We’re running the gamut from folk beauty to hip-hop grittiness to art-pop elegance to digicore catharsis on this month’s playlist, hitting several other bases besides. So no matter what mood you’re in, what time of day you’re listening, or any other variables at play, you’re almost guaranteed to find things to love here.
Below is the track list and some notes from our team about why they’ve selected them for this month’s playlist.
Adrianne Lenker – “i do love you (live)”
Adrianne Lenker’s new live album is a treat for multiple reasons, but one of them is that – amidst the absolutely stacked setlist – are some songs we haven’t heard recorded before. “i do love you” is one of them and is testament to the Big Thief singer’s ability to turn the simplest and most common phrases into something that sounds wholly new and deeply moving. Of course, there are plenty of uniquely personal moments captured in the verses, which only adds power to when it comes to the simply sung “I do love you”, where it feels like we’re hovering breathlessly in a moment of perfect intimacy. – Rob Hakimian
caroline – “Tell me I never knew that” (feat. Caroline Polachek)
What with her being something of a pop star these days, it’s easy to forget that Caroline Polachek has quite a diverse and experimental catalogue. Nevertheless, when London post-folk octet caroline joked about having her sing on their stunning “Tell me I never knew that”, they probably never really thought it would happen. Well it did – and they didn’t get a phoned-in Polachek performance, they got a multi-tracked, pitch-stretching, recording-into-the-wee-hours Polachek performance. caroline deliver one of their most yearning and organically curious tracks to date, and she slots right in, weaving her way into the mellifluous and unstructured beauty. – Rob Hakimian
child3 – “Give It To Me Now”
With their single, “Give It to Me Now”, the London-based child3 tap into a volatile, moody, overwrought vibe explored recently by such bands as Model/Actriz and Gilla Band. Aggressive guitars and trashy beats frame a hyper-urgent vocal, the band navigating a confluence of uncertainty, raw sexuality, and rage. – John Amen
Darcy Nelson – “River Wash Me”
This song was penned with Earth Day in mind, and it features Nelson’s gentle optimism and vocal skills. – Larry McClain
Fly Anakin – “Say Thank You” (feat. Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy)
Fly Anakin’s excellent new album (The) Forever Dream closes with “Say Thank You”. Over a phenomenally chopped gospel sample, the dynamic duo of Pink Siifu and Anakin spit biographical bars and occasionally let the beat speak for them. Then, a surprise MVP verse comes from the lesser known Turich Benjy, whose wide-eyed energy abounds in raps engulfing prayer, pissing in a cup, “the Middle East and the Pentagon”. While this beat feels like floating, the raps are tied to Earth in their myriad expression of the human experience. “That’s just a sample tho…” raps Siifu. – Ethan Reis
foamboy – “on my mind” (feat. Bendrethegiant)
An effortless piano rhythm that glides between jazzy and funky, and somehow manages to feel like it’s switching time signature with each chord. On top of that we get treated to a couple of noodling synth solos that enhance the mood. Enter guest vocalist Bendrethegiant alongside Katy Ohsiek and the scene is set. There’s a retro feel, like it’s incidental music from an 90s video game, but it also has some impressive technical chops and if you heard it at a jazz club you wouldn’t be very content. This is prime foamboy, managing to be fun and musical, but also tender and a little coy – until the final few seconds that is. Intent on leaving an impression, everything is dialed up to max, and it sounds like producer Wil Bakula loses control of his theremin. If it sounds like a lot to pack into 2 minutes 23 seconds, you’re not wrong, but equally it feels like a hearty slice of cheesecake: sweet and fleeting, but filling and leaving you wanting that bit more. – Ray Finlayson
Folk Bitch Trio – “The Actor”
Suckers for three-part harmonies need not read past this first sentence. (Y’all go enjoy yourselves.) The Australian, recent-Jagjaguwar-signees Folk Bitch Trio set the backdrop of a failed romance among the hustlers and egomaniacs at fifth-tier parties for creatives and influencers. Gracie Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington and Heide Peverelle side-eye the titular sociopath, alarmed as much by the cliché as by their own attraction to it. The harmonies sway like willows, often with the effect of a warped LP or sound fighting through water. – Steve Forstneger
Hieroglyphic Being – “I’m in a Strange Loop”
Cicada chirps, retro-futuristic synths, and a swirling drum pattern are the backbone of this wacky and wonderful club banger. The single is featured on Hieroglyphic Being’s new album Dance Music 4 Bad People, and it wastes no time perfectly describing the track’s title. Halfway through, the track dives headfirst into its paludal aura and resurfaces sounding like a cottonmouth out of hell, slithering its way to dance floor ecstasy. – Nathan Skinner
Jane Remover – “Dark night castle”
Lemme be honest: I dunno fuckin’ shit about Jane Remover. Apparently people are very taken with them? I guess the gecs and Charli influence is apparent? To me, at its best at least, this album reminds me of how it felt jamming to Lil’ Peep during his all too brief prime, just before he exploded, not all too long before he died, a period in which his music made me feel I should down far more shots than advisable and feel younger than I had any right to. “Dark night castle” gives me that mournful, “what the fuck am I doing here? How the fuck am I still breathing?” vibe, all desperate, pained asides (“I dream of quitting my jobbbbb! / Just to get lucky all the timeeeee!”). “Dark night castle”, indeed: music that feels beamed in from some bizarre early 2000’s PC fantasy game, like one of the glitched out Oblivion NPCs dissociating and suddenly shrieking disfigured lyrics at you, rather than simply saying, “Oh, it’s you.” Auditory escapism that is somehow also pure misery. Yanking you into that fantasy, and then right back out of it. It’s dripping from the sagging ceiling, right towards you. It’s inevitable. Oh, it’s you. Come on in, I guess. Let’s fester together. – Chase McMullen
JENNIE – “like JENNIE” (Peggy Gou remix)
JENNIE and Peggy Gou’s linking is both a welcome surprise and a perfectly sensible match: both Korean queens that (typically sexist) terminally online wierdos feel the need to despise, the “but do you even know me?” energy of “Like JENNIE” no doubt speaks to Gou as much as its author: “Haters, they don’t really like… / ’cause they could never, ever be…” could be a missile fired from either artist.
The original was already so frantic and in-your-face that Gou opts to fragment it into jagged, intoxicating pieces, with only Jennie’s chest-thumping rap remaining more or less intact. The producer/DJ employs all the rapper/singer’s whispers, vocal tics, scathing barbs, and one liners into a swirling, delirious maze of danceable sound. – Chase McMullen
Lorde – “What Was That”
Lorde has been around for so long now that it’s easy to forget that she’s still pretty damn young and vulnerable. “What Was That” makes that all abundantly clear in a three-and-a-half synth-pop blast that harks back to the highs of Melodrama. The song focuses on a euphoric relationship where we hear about doing MDMA in the back garden, kissing for hours, smoking “the best cigarette of my life” – only for it all to come screeching to a sudden halt, causing Lorde to demand “what was that?!” This is Lorde bobbing and weaving her way through a minefield of memories and confused emotions, and it’s thrilling to hear. – Rob Hakimian
Lloyd Banks – “Endangered Innocence” (feat. Ghostface Killah)
At this point, a Lloyd Banks feels like an omen. A sign of grim things to come? A salve to remind of us Hip hop gone by? Shit, with the orange idiot in the White House throwing our future away yet again, why not both? While last year’s blunt, fiery Halloween Havoc V steered largely steered away from the weary insights of the trilogy that returned him to the spotlight, The Course of The Inevitable, he returns to the well of a classic mixtape series here to split the difference. This is decidedly a slice of “that feeling” with a soulful vocal loop and that feels pulled from classic Kanye’s playbook (as tiring as it is to invoke him in 2025, we do mean the good Kanye) as Banks trades thoughtful, nostalgic bars on music’s impact on their lives with none other than Ghostface Killah. As he ages, Banks’ voice somehow grows even more jagged, but there’s more depth and passion to it than ever. A fine wine, Dare I say? A flawless piece of wistful sentimentality and reminiscence. – Chase McMullen
MISS MACHINA – “Babygirl”
This L.A. artist has a wicked sense of humor and a musical theater background, and “Babygirl” is hooky and energetic. It’s good to have MM back in action. – Larry McClain
MSPAINT – “Angel”
Consider the following: what if our privilege of free speech has been impedimented for years? The West has always looked down upon other nations and cultures, bemoaned their lack of freedom, but what if our familiar status quo of liberty isn’t only endangered but gone? What when we aren’t allowed to call a genocide just that? What when critique becomes a reason for arrest? What if thought crimes are implemented?
On “Angel”, innovators MSPAINT find incredibly vibrant metaphors to describe a world where personal freedom has disappeared. It characterizes an inner depression in a world of violence, where innocence is brutally ripped from us. “I saw an angel last night / Doused in gasoline / Flowers grew from their skin / And withered in the fumes”. Tapping into the guitar-less, synthetic nu-metal vibe that made their debut such a standout, MSPAINT express their frustration and pain as rousing anthem. When all hope is gone, sometimes, the most important thing is to get through the day: “I feel like the problem / I feel in the way / But I’m staying present / This is just today!” – John Wohlmacher
Nerves – “Dirty Fingers”
The bourgeoning Futurismus movement – the brazen and inherently political cocktail of post-punk, industrial and techno with a monochromatic finish – continues to spread its caustic tentacles! Like genre-figureheads Gilla Band, Naked Lungs and Chalk, Nerves are from Ireland – a place rife with political tension. Last year’s haunting EP Glórach showcased their immense talent, at times transforming into the soundtrack to an imaginary horror film. With the help of Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox as producer, they’ve now returned with the chilling and apocalyptic “Dirty Fingers”.
With its mechanical guitars and harrowing tone, the song seems to constantly move upwards, a frightening machine that obliterates anything in its way. Accompanied by an ominous, occult music video, the impression manifests that this is music designed for the end times – all while on their social media, depictions of their live shows give Nerves the aura of a satanic variant of My Bloody Valentine. I doubt this band can be stopped, and I can’t wait to see where they’re heading! – John Wohlmacher
NxxxxxS – “Pressure”
Years ago, the Independent Film Channel (IFC) would run promotional ads that featured assorted indie players. On one of them, a since-forgotten auteur asked, “Instead of remaking classic movies, why don’t people find old films that were terrible and make them better?” The idea seems to have become a subplot in the recorded exploits of Parisian DJ/producer NxxxxxS. On his latest rewrite, he strips layers of useless verses off Young Nudy’s routine trap single “Cancer Stick No Pressure” and turns it into a mirror monologue. Focusing on the consonant “ish” peppered throughout the lyrics, the track becomes haunted and disoriented. Bookending it with dialog samples from Lost Highway and Boyz In The Hood, NxxxxxS isn’t afraid to do some adapting from other peoples’ screenplays. – Steve Forstneger
Samantha Margret – “hot enough”
This song is a rallying cry for women who are sick and tired of calibrating their “hotness”. It’s one of this year’s most memorable releases. – Larry McClain
Volena – “Dog Wedding”
An outlier of Volena’s recent self-titled debut EP, “Dog Wedding” is a gentle piano ballad supplemented by a baroque string arrangement. The chord progression is familiar, but Maddie Grandusky-Howe’s vocals bring a softness that draws you in. “Who cares if we’re gonna die soon? / I wouldn’t worry at all,” they exhale, like they are accepting their fate. The strings enter like, lights coming up on the rest of a darkened stage, before they eventually dim again as they usher the track out out an instrumental coda. A final note on an EP that explores past trauma and documenting queer, gender-fluid coming of age, “Dog Wedding” invites you in as much as it leaves you in the darkness to contemplate. – Ray Finlayson
Listen to our BPM Curates: April 2025 playlist here.
