This Week’s Best New Music: JessB, Jerome Farah, 3% & More

It’s been a HUGE week for new indie, hip-hop and EDM releases – not only did we get fresh new tunes from some of Australia’s finest up-and-comers, like 3% (who just dropped Won’t Stop with Jessica Mauboy), Jerome Farah (who blessed us with Can’t Drive Stick) and MALI JO$E (whose new cut GOD CALLS is destined to be a hit), but the international heavyweights were out in full force: JessB came in hot with her wicked new album Feels Like Home, for example, while Gabby Start delivered another instant classic in Boys, and Childish Gambino got his fans going absolutely mental with Lithonia.

With all of that in mind, now seems like as good a time as any to remind you – or clue you in, if you didn’t know already – that we have our very own playlist dedicated to bringing you the best new music from the underground and beyond, fittingly named Purple Sneakers’ Best New Music. We update it every Friday with more than a dozen of the brand new tracks we simply can’t get enough of, giving you the ultimate soundtrack to power your weekend.

You can listen to Purple Sneakers’ Best New Music on Spotify (here) and Apple Music (here) – and make sure to hit us up on Instagram or Facebook to let us know what songs you’ve been loving!

Here are just a few of our personal favourites from this week’s update to the playlist...

JessB – Power (ft. Sister Nancy & Sampa The Great)

WHAT SHE SAYS: “It wasn't ever about what the music sounded like – it wasn't like I was naming it that because of the music. Feels Like Home can mean so many different things. I think it's about feeling at home with where you're at, where you've come from, and where you're going. So it's kind of like a past, present, future thing – where it's constantly moving and changing.

“Feels Like Home is a marker in my journey that has been and is still evolving. Navigating a career in music, whilst also navigating finding identity and self simultaneously. One could not have expanded without the other. For me, the music that has been created over the last four years for this album is a direct reflection of the changing sounds of my life. It has been a process of finding a home in how I see myself and how I choose to show up in the world.”

3% – Won’t Stop (ft. Jessica Mauboy)

WHAT NOOKY SAYS: “For me, the song’s a real positive one. It’s about not stopping and continuing on. I wanted to look into the heart and history that we carry as Blakfellas and acknowledge that there is a lot of pain and trauma that is embedded within our people. But we also wanted to show the strength, perseverance and resilience that lives in the spirit that we all carry. The visuals go to a source of pain and trauma and show the strength of our people and how we can still smile, have fun, and move forward in life with strength and pride, no matter the circumstance.”

Jerome Farah – Can’t Drive Stick

WHAT HE SAYS: “My writing sessions are very lonely. I’m doing everything by myself. When I write stuff like this, I’m genuinely running around the room so hyped! This was a newer one. I have a few songs like this, where there’s no thought behind it. Some of the lyrics that are in there, I’m like, ‘Let me leave this in here until I write something better.’ I just left it in there, it’s kinda sick that it’s stupid.

“There’s some stuff I’m saying in there that I don’t believe at all! My ex now, she could drive stick and there was my dream car, a BMW E30, I ended up buying one, but it was manual. So I couldn’t drive it! She ended up driving it, I’d be a passenger princess on the way home. I couldn’t drive it, but every night I would drive around the suburbs just destroying the transmission of this car. I just couldn’t help but drive it.”

Also featured in this week’s update to Purple Sneakers’ Best New Music:

• Gabby Start – Boys

• Childish Gambino – Lithonia

• thatboykwame – 4THOFJULY

• MALI JO$E – GOD CALLS

• J-MILLA – Boomerang

• BIRDEE 王煒 – Used To (ft. Phi11a)

• Agung Mango – THE MOTH PREFERS THE MOON

• AJ Tracey – Bubble Bath

• Zion Garcia – Film Star Prelude

• Sigala, Trevor Daniel & 24kGoldn – It’s A Feeling

• Quavo & Lana Del Rey – Tough

• Felix Jaehn & Sophie Ellis-Bexter – Ready For Your Love

• Memphis LK & Willaris. K – Say

• 1tbsp – MC1K

• Tseba & Arno Faraji – Struckdown

• ZUKO. – Rich Interior Life

Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below – or head here to save/follow on Spotify, and here to save/follow on Apple Music.