Burger is the kind of song that you buries itself deep in your brain without you realising it. Then one day, you're tucking into a delicious plant-based mushroom burger, and "you're my tasty burger," and it's all you can think about for the next five days.
Advanced warming - the music of Jaeho Hwang is NOT for the faint-hearted. Betweenness hits hard with deplorably fun bass. It's juxtaposed with some meditative chanting and bird-like singing. A peculiar and challenging song.
Another rookie on our list, sanrog's 2022 alternative-folk EP 2, Apr (which came out end of July), shows a songwriter with incredible potential. Superb vocal melodies add to the depth of his songs.
For us, Rainbow99 can do no wrong. The ambient synthster consistently puts glorious soundscapes that reflect his love of the outside world. While usually writing about nature, Cheongnyang-ri is a song about gentrification and urban development.
A two-piece made up of singer Cocophony and guitarist Gunwoo (of Doma), who create emotional and ethereal folk music. Lead by one of Cocophany's best vocal performances, I'm here, Still there is a tender and touching lullaby.
While many of you may not Lucy Liyou, she is actually a big name in the ambient/sound art scene. With her 2022 hit How to build an automation, it is easy to see why - both meditative and haunting with a subtly unsettling vibe.
On this whispy track, Josee, not only sings about daydreaming but also perfectly captures what it actually feels like to be washed away in your own thoughts.
Everything that comes from Ohelen is so unique and interesting, from her experimental approach to folk music to her powerful voice. The under-water sounding Swimming pool is no exception.
Look, I don't know much about Darley and I have 100 of these to write, so... All I know is he puts out an insane amount of music and, for some reason, never sticks to the same genre. Just trust me, Look at the Sky is one of the funkiest songs you'll hear this year.
I love this band. In both 2021 and 2022, Take the Floor have released grossly overlooked wall of sound-inspired indie songs, ala Future Islands. I hope that in 2023, people wake up to them.
On theme park, chilly takes the bedroom-pop style he is well-known for and mixes it with a kind of sinister carnival sound. Like The Magic Roundabout theme, if the composers got messy with Mac DeMarco.
The last we heard of Saram12Saram was her incredible 2018 EP And The Sun. Now, she's back with the same intensely emotional song structure but a bigger and brighter sound.
Change is a track by Iseul Kim-led jazz ensemble Liberosis. It's an obtuse and challenging listen, jarring in its schizophrenic composition. Yet it's incredibly impressive for its deft, ever-shifting style.
2022 was a big year for Korean noise-driven bands making shoegaze, emo and post-rock. One of the standouts was solo-performer Brokenteeth, who laid the groundwork in February with his powerful track Paradox.
Comeback, indeed. At this stage, Big Phony is something of a borderline folk music veteran. Despite debuting in 2005, he is still clearly full of juicy, heartfelt songs that pack an emotional punch.
In 2022, newcomer About Paul laid the groundwork for what we think will be an incredible career. I think you're cool is a great example of this - melancholic indie pop with just a sprinkling of jazz sensibilities.
Joonie's 2022 EP Mother Nature might be one of the most underappreciated releases of the year. Standout track Fractal Forest is an intense, brooding song with undercurrents of tropical trance.
This city pop-inspired three-piece released their first EP in 2021, but it was their 2022 singles that really caught our attention. What I think of you is a sombre-tinged slice of funky indie pop.
The incredibly sweet retro-pop of verycoybunny should be too much to work. Yet, she always manages to pull it off with pop-rock hit after hit. Don't get me wrong is, relatively speaking, one of her darker songs and is our pick for this list.
This smooth and dreamy track by bassist Conut is influenced by jazz and old-school hip-hop. It's about staying calm and getting back to a certain kind of nature.