Welcome to the August edition of Beats Per Minute’s monthly playlist BPM Curates.
The season’s changing and with it comes a need for new music (when is there ever not a need for new music?). Luckily, we’re here to offer you bucket load of new flavours to try. See what tickles your fancy from our selection this month, below.
Below is the track list and some notes from our team about why they’ve selected them for this month’s playlist.
Cass McCombs – “Lola Montez Danced The Spider Dance”
Simple repetition can yield sublime results. The longest of 16 tracks on his new album Interior Live Oak, “Lola Montez Danced the Spider Dance” finds Cass McCombs repeating the same chords and melody throughout its seven minutes, but the effect never weakens. Instead, beauty is mined in the cyclical strumming and singing as McCombs’ lyrics reveal more and more about the scene at hand. We find Lola Montez “stretching the night like dough / staving off tomorrow”, as the music itself stretches into a blissfully endless night. A simple acoustic guitar solo caps off this superb entry in McCombs’ outstanding catalog of songs. – Ethan Reis
Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo – “Demon Time”
On the surface, the teamup of scuzz rockers Chat Pile and guitar instrumentalist Hayden Pedigo seems incongruous. Not only do the LOUD vs beauty elements seem in opposition, the Oklahomans are from the industrial heartlands and the Texan guitarist is from a smalltown on the plains. Yet, there’s something distinctly American about both of their musical approaches – and they both love satisfying guitar tones. “Demon Time” is one of the softer cuts from their upcoming collab record; a beautiful flicker that allows Raygun to lurk in the shadows of the quietly seething guitar tones, whispering threateningly and compellingly. – Rob Hakimian
Courtney Farren – “Mathematical”
There’s songcraft brilliance and vocal finesse in every Courtney Farren song. You can hear her play “Mathematical” on her North American tour that kicks off soon. – Larry McClain
Crimewave – “White Label”
Glitchy, beat-driven, dance-y, Crimewave’s new single (from their upcoming album Scenes) encourages that rave-y plunge into adrenalized nothingness, that feeling that you’re transcending the self, your preoccupations, the world and its crises. Escapism and yet: Crimewave’s sound carries all the urgency, menace, and maximalism that we associate with the current day. Music to move to, forget to, remember to, and, well, use as a soundtrack when you’re reading the disheartening news. – John Amen
Dry Cleaning – “Hit My Head All Day”
With “Hit My Head All Day” (from the upcoming Secret Love), Dry Cleaning shift from a more avant-postpunk sound to embracing futuristic or sci-fi vibes. Florence Welch’s voice lands as a cross between AI and Laurie Anderson. Lyrics are less fragmented than on previous work, as Welch explores how the world impacts a human life (“The objects outside the head control the mind”). When she declares, “I simply must have experiences”, she seems to question whether those adventures are self-generated or the product of some matrix-type setup, stimuli designed to prompt specific reactions. The song’s end is a throbby, synthy sprawl, engaging yet also notably repetitive: a commentary that the world’s apparent multiplicity is actually a looping stream that we never quite recognize for what it is. – John Amen
emerson – “Counting Sheep”
This New Zealand artist feels like Sabrina Carpenter and Maggie Rogers all rolled into one. “Counting Sheep” is another beautifully crafted song that will wow listeners in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. – Larry McClain
The Head and the Heart – “Cop Car” (feat. Hurray For The Riff Raff)
A deep cut on The Head And The Heart’s album Aperture from this past spring, “Cop Car” sounded like a brief, anti-social moment of defiance from one of Stomp Clap Hey’s charter members. Singer Jonathan Russell had reportedly been seeking ways to work with Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra, and they liked the song’s spirit enough to agree to this re-recording. The contribution is subtle but definitely an upgrade. Replacing the communal approach to the “This Little Light Of Mine” outro with Segarra’s heavy breath, the track feels derived more from the mischief of Pete Seeger than just some drunk in a midnight choir who got carried away. – Steve Forstneger
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore – “Perpetual Adoration”
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore have collaborated with just about everyone under the sun and seem to always know how to fit someone else into their work or apply their own style to someone else’s. However, they have found true soul-mate-like inspiration in each other and have taken that on the road to great plaudits. “Perpetual Adoration” is the latest fruit of their mind meld and finds Lattimore’s harp leading a delicate tip-toe into somewhere divine, which is royally coloured by Barwick’s voice and cavernous synthesizers. The result is something trluly breathtaking and enveloping. We can only hope this is the first taste of a full collaborative project. – Rob Hakimian
Lael Neale – “Bright New Morning”
With her new single, “Bright New Morning”, Lael Neale starts off with an upbeat mantra (“I’m gonna get it right”), soon shifting into a reflection on the elusive nature of love (“Love has never been so close / And yet so remote”). A wending guitar part emerges midway, wrapping itself around Neale’s voice and conjuring a sense of foreboding. Built around a folksy/bluesy riff, the track is mostly upbeat but also conveys a muted gloom, as Neale implicitly recognizes that suffering is occurring all around us, even if many of us do our best to avoid it. – John Amen
Lawn – “Lonely River Blues”
With a bass that’s consistently revving up throughout, “Lonely River Blues” from New Orleans band Lawn sounds always on the edge of steering wildly off track. Waves of itchy and feverish guitars come and go, co-lead singers and songwriters Mac Folger and Rui De Magalhaes list off all the types of boy you need to acquire, and the whole thing lets off steam like if it didn’t it would explode like a pressure cooker. Halfway through when it looks ready to go off, it drops away moment, like the heat is taken off – but only for it to come back angrier and more volatile than before. – Ray Finlayson
Photo Ops – “You’re Still The One”
Sometimes a pleasant cover just ticks the right boxes, hit the right spots, and is exactly what you need. Taken from their new covers album Opening Up To Strangers, Photo Ops take on the Shania Twain classic and turn it into a autumnal Sunday afternoon walk soundtrack. Sweet acoustic guitars, airy vocal harmonies, brushed drums bringing just the right amount of pep; it’s a cover that evokes the charm of the original but draw back some of drama, making it much easier to indulge in over and over. It won’t be the version you go for at the karaoke bar, but cozied up under a blanket, it’s the perfect companion. – Ray Finlayson
Prewn – “My Side”
Teetering and seesawing throughout, “My Side” from Los Angeles-based musician Izzy Hagerup (aka Prewn) smoulders and simmers throughout. Her voice sways somewhere between Fiona Apple and Joanna Newsom while musically the coarse synths and chattering drum tracks tip over into scuzzy guitar and angsty live drums. There’s a fascinating agitation here, a kind of loose live wire energy as Hagerup moves like a sparking cable across the ground. – Ray Finlayson
Rauw Alejandro – “GuabanSexxx”
Given its subject of a tempestuous, irresistible, and insatiable Latina, “GuabanSexxx” could be filed away among hundreds of other like-minded tracks. (Maybe notable for its softcore details.) Yet the timing… Named after Guabancex – who was the goddess of storms for the pre-colonial Taíno people in parts of the Caribbean and Puerto Rico – and being debuted at a Bad Bunny concert suggests that Rauw Alejandro, too, is going to start embracing Puerto Rican nationalism in part. Neither he nor Bad Bunny might have anticipated the backlash when the latter was announced as the coming Super Bowl headliner, so it’s not a response to Trump’s supporters. Rather, a warning is being sent to the ongoing gentrification of the home island by supposedly more simpatico Americans. They know about the hurricanes, but other headwinds are imminent. – Steve Forstneger
Skylet Gunner – “rip the bandaid”
LA/Nashville artist Skylet Gunner’s previous work has an uptempo retro vibe worthy of a Quentin Tarantino movie. Her latest single “rip the bandaid” is more vulnerable and emotional – proving that she has exceptional range. – Larry McClain
Stella Donnelly – “Feel It Change”
Nothing lasts forever, even a relationship you envisioned going the distance. On “Feel it Change”, Stella Donnelly sits on her guitar and gently but ruggedly plucks her way through her feelings with a satisfying chord progression that grows in tempestuousness as she mulls her feelings. You can hear her picking away at the scab in real time, but there is still beauty and a devilishly catchy melody in amidst the grit. – Rob Hakimian
Young Thug – “Invest Into You” (feat. Mariah The Scientist)
From his album UY SCUTI, “Invest into You” strips back Young Thug’s usual bravado for something more loose, framing love as both a vow and a commitment. The title flips the language of money into devotion, with Thug promising to pour into his relationship as he would a business venture, steady, intentional, all-in. It’s a rare moment where his focus isn’t on the streets or success, but on showing up for someone who’s stood by him.
Mariah the Scientist matches that energy with striking sincerity. “I want you for life, got me wishing, yeah / I love you like I never loved before / You’ll never find someone who loves you more,” she sings, turning the duet into a genuine exchange rather than a guest spot. Given her public support throughout Thug’s trial, the song feels less like a studio pairing and more like a glimpse into their bond, a love letter carved out of chaos, built to last. – Mary Chiney
Listen to our BPM Curates: September 2025 playlist here.
