By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
The songs on this week’s Tunesday are a little bit further off the beaten track than the usual pop hits featured in this column. Give these rising artists a chance, and you might just find your new favorite song to add to your playlist.
“Little House” by Rachel Chinouriri (Nov. 28)
This release from English indie-pop singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri is the kind of song you might make up as you sit fireside in a cozy forest cottage with a cup of hot chocolate in reach. Chinouriri’s vocals are soft, almost whispery, to match the calm but wistful mood of this gently strummed song.
“Little House” comes from Chinouriri’s recent EP of the same name. It’s a short little tune with simple but meaningful lyrics — the reminiscence of a life that once was, or the promise of a life that could be. She not only visualizes an aesthetically pleasing cottagecore lifestyle, but also a healthy, loving relationship with family, warmth and comfort she admits once seemed unattainable.
“I am happy to share my journey as someone who used to be quite closed from all the betrayal from previous relationships or situationships and I am glad that I am the way I am in love because I truly didn’t think I’d be able to feel this way about someone,” Chinouriri said in an interview with music blog “Indie is not a genre.”
“skittles” by Devon Again (Nov. 28)
If you haven’t yet stumbled across this blue-haired alt-pop girlie with a style of her own, you’re missing out. Devon was recently shouted out by Chappell Roan, alongside other rising alt-pop artists such as hemlocke springs and Sarah Kinsley, saying they “deserve more love” for the waves they’re making in the modern music world.
This first song in her new EP, “In Order,” has a catchy, harmonious chorus that is easy to learn and even easier to belt out in the car. It successfully captures what it feels like to love someone so much it practically hurts, and yet somehow, they still have absolutely no clue.
Devon Again’s music is exciting, promising and genuine; she’s doing her own thing without trying to stay on-brand with the regular pop scene, and it seems to be working for her so far.
“Blood Run Warm” by South Arcade (Nov. 28)
South Arcade, an English rock band from Oxford, has been captivating metalheads and elder emos alike with its signature grit and electricity since 2021. However, the band initially gained traction with viral behind-the-scenes videos of the members’ jam sessions posted to TikTok in October 2024.
The band’s discography sounds like the kind of music a teenager from 2007 might have downloaded to their iPod shuffle, the kind that would be blaring from wired earbuds on the bus ride home from school. For South Arcade, this is intentional, since they draw much inspiration from Y2K rock bands.
This new song is from their five-song Friday EP, “PLAY!” Harmony, a fitting name for this lead vocalist with quite a set of pipes, belts out the lyrics to “Blood Run Warm” through slamming guitars and clashing drums — a tender modern-day waltz, just rough enough around the edges to be considered “rock.”
