I was half-ignoring my own playlist, doing something else entirely, when Back To You came on and I reached over to check who it was, which does not happen often these days. Ghost Jr lands somewhere between indie-electronic and the more song-shaped end of dance music, all yearning vocal over a groove that pulls at you gently instead of shoving. It came out on Dim Mak, which I mention only because the label made its name on maximal party music, and this is a reminder they can do restraint when the mood calls for it. The hook has that specific quality of sounding like something you already half-know, familiar on the first listen in a way that is either lazy or inspired, and here it lands on the right side of that line. There is a guitar figure threaded through the back half that gives the whole thing a dusk-coloured warmth, the sound of a day winding down rather than a night kicking off. It works just as well as background as it does when it is the only thing in your ears, which is rarer than it sounds. Mostly it is just a really good song with a pulse underneath, and some days that is the entire reason to keep the playlist running.
January
Chrome Daydream
Chrome stars, jelly hearts and holographic colour. A nod to the glossy, optimistic graphics of the early web.