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Music

The Best Music Released Around the World in October 2015

The information superhighway that we call the internet is a vast yet busy entity, so we've traversed it and rounded up all the best stuff for you.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

The information superhighway that we call the internet is a vast yet busy entity. As more and more pieces of #content fight for our attention, sometimes all the good shit gets lost. We know you're busy, so instead of covering everything, this is our attempt to round-up the best music released in the United Kingdom and Around the World in October (and the tail-end of September) 2015.

Continues below

Tobi Lou - “New Bish”

Autumn is confirmed cuffing season so it’s pretty apt that Tobi Lou (who you might recognise as the Wonda featuring on Tunji Ige’s sublime 2014 debut ‘Day2Day’) has dropped the sweetest little rumination on the moment when you realise there’s only one person you wanna Whatsapp on your lunchbreak. “New Bish” is a giant bag of Pick N Mix that you both dip into at the same time and end up holding hands for the rest of the night. Who knew rap could instil the same emotion in you as Carly Rae Jepsen? Tobi’s already had nods from FADER and is racking up Soundcloud views so you’d do well to keep all your beady little internet peepers trained firmly on his future output. Moya Lothian-McLean

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dvsn - “With Me”

Perhaps the most underappreciated component of Drake’s uber-smash hit “Hotline Bling” is the track’s producer, Nineteen85 - who is something of a production wunderkind, having also had a hand in “Hold On, We’re Going Home”. His latest project isn’t with Drake, though. It’s with Toronto native dvsn, who released a pair of debut tracks earlier this month in “The Line” and “With Me”. Both are excellent - but it’s “With Me” that stands out the most. Think about the most heartfelt R&B, tracks where the vocal guides you and leans out of the track like a sentient reimagining of those 3D cards you can buy in the expensive section of Clintons, and you have an idea of where “With Me” sits. At once instant, yet stripped back, it’s the next step in R&B’s journey into world wide domination come 2016. Ryan Bassil

Lao Ra - “Jesus Made Me Bad”

Lao Ra’s introduction to music is, as she describes it, an interesting one. Born in Columbia, she grew up during the point in the 90s when the country was torn apart by the war on drugs, meaning that staying indoors and watching MTV was pretty much the safest option. Inspired by the likes of Diplo, SOPHIE, Gwen Stefani - and with more than a hint of MIA in the production of the track’s verses - Lao Ra’s debut track “Jesus Made Me Bad” is, at first glance, a transatlantic banger. But there’s more to it than a pop hook. In one part a fairly tongue-in-cheek call to arms "for not wanting to give explanations for your acts, because we were made this way", in another, it’s a dig at South America's deeply Catholic, often conservative culture - which is perhaps why Lao Ro’s mum dislikes the track. Listen above. Ryan Bassil

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Hero - “Vacation”

The track “Vacation”, from Calgary based artist Hero, is prefaced with a short statement - “sometimes, people break your heart Ryan Bassil

Nicole Dollanganger - “Mean”

Nicole Dollanganger’s music is so affecting that Grimes launched her own artist co-operative called Eerie Organization with the sole intention of putting out her latest album, Natural Born Losers, stating “it's a crime against humanity for this music not to be heard” as her reason. Landing somewhere between Jewel and Scaring (a noise-pop band featuring Jessicka Addams of Jack off Jill), Dollanganger’s bruised blend of innocence, violence, sexuality, and sorrow exists only on the furthest ends of the spectrum of angelic to sinful and not at all in the middle. It’s equal parts desire and disgust from a woman who keeps her doll collection on one side of her bedroom and her gun collection on the other. Emma Garland

Demo Taped - “Game On”

Demo Taped has been on our radar for a minute now. His track “Not Enough” featured in our Tracks of the Month piece earlier this year. This though, his latest release titled “Game On”, is an unadulterated banger, recalling to mind the influential work of Jai Paul, Flying Lotus, and those low-key R&B tracks that grab you by the heart and pull you right into their warm embrace in the very best way. “Baby, game on” indeed. Ryan Bassil

Cisum the Painter - “20”

Cisum the Painter has quietly been releasing tracks on his Soundcloud for the past couple years. And true to his name, Cisum - based out in Atlanta’s Dekalb County - blends genres like a painter, with flecks of dancehall, Young Thug, and ambient soundscapes mixing together on his palette. This track, “20”, was recorded on Cisum’s 20th birthday and released via new label Bound Recordings. Ryan Bassil

Follow Ryan, Moya, and Emma on Twitter: @RyanBassil @Moya_LM @EmmaGGarland