Welcome to Songs You Need to Know, our weekly rundown of the best music right now. The Rolling Stone Philippines team is constantly sharing things to listen to, and each week, we compile a ragtag playlist of songs that we believe every music fan today needs to know. Whether it’s the hottest new single or an old track that captures the state of the present, our hope is that you discover something for your musical canon.
This week, Japanese Breakfast’s leads the Materialists soundtrack with an original single, while Los Angeles R&B singer Steve Lacy strips things down in “Nice Shoes.” Australian DJ and producer Ninajirachi channels digital melancholy in “iPod Touch”; gingerbee’s “Petal Dance” turns a global Discord experiment into an instrumental whirlwind, and High Vis’ “Mind’s a Lie” foreshadows the future of English rock music. From the Philippines, December Avenue balances familiar drama with newfound nuance in “Saksi ang Langit”, while LONER, JAV/, and Junoy Manalo pushes what is possible for local dance music.
Eight different approaches, with each track showcasing the amorphous, boundary-pushing character of music today.
Steve Lacy, Compton’s R&B trailblazer, has always blurred boundaries. Fans might have been surprised to see him waltz across Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out and Friends stage in 2024, but his roots in Compton and his survivalist beginnings with a broken iPhone recorder make the move fitting.
Now, with “Nice Shoes,” released this August, Lacy has shed remnants of his DIY bedroom-pop image. Instead, he embraces sharper production with drum breaks and a sly, jaded vocal delivery.
The track is short and pointed, almost sarcastic, as he croons through the hook of “make it stop” with a nonchalant punch. Less heartbreak confessional and more wry commentary, “Nice Shoes” reflects an artist who refuses to be boxed in. It’s not about proving versatility, to which Lacy already has from the get-go, but rather about reaffirming his ease in crossing genres while keeping his edge intact. —Elijah Pareno
Australian DJ and producer Ninajirachi’s debut album I Love My Computer, released on August 8 (her birthday month), signals a shift in her craft. Once known for larger-than-life electronic dance sounds, she now leans toward more introspective, small-room production. The album’s centerpiece, “iPod Touch,” is proof of that balance; it clings to internet-age sensibilities: addiction to screens, the yearning for connection, and the loneliness of being “always online.”
Beneath bright, melodic choruses lies controlled chaos and a subtle melancholy. When she sings, “I put it on when nobody’s home,” the sentiment hits harder against glitchy, chopped vocals and cathartic electropop drops. It’s both euphoric and painfully aware of its digital fragility, encapsulating Ninajirachi’s growing mastery of controlled emotion within dance music. —Elijah Pareno
LONER is the solo producer project of Lean Ordinario, who released his latest track, “Alone With You,” on August 1.
Unlike his earlier productions, which lean into sharper, syncopated dance music styles, “Alone With You” feels steadier and more pared down, built on glimmery bleeps, crisp hi-hats, and a bouncy yet reverberating bassline that adds just enough edge on top of LONER’s dreamy synths and cool pop melodies. It’s a welcome progression from a versatile Filipino producer who, despite his prolific string of genre-spanning releases over the past five years, has yet to fully get his flowers. —Sai Versailles
The internet band still thrives in 2025, and gingerbee is its most ambitious example. A multinational emo-jazz-screamo collective, the group formed through endless Discord sessions, screensharing ideas until they became fully fleshed-out tracks. Their debut album Apiary, released in July, opens with “Petal Dance,” a frantic yet oddly graceful composition: Flutes from Rio de Janeiro, distorted guitars from Toronto, and violins from Austin collide into a sonic whirl of beauty and chaos.
The track begins with sunny classical textures before careening into emoviolence — raw, abrasive, yet strangely celebratory. It’s a reminder that modern collaboration is borderless, fueled by screens and late-night exchanges rather than studio walls. “Petal Dance” captures what 2025 sounds like: the collision of beauty and suffering, of a sunset that refuses to stay serene. gingerbee has distilled the contradictions of online community and raw human expression into something both fractured and whole. —Elijah Pareno
In July, Manila-based club night and dance music collective Roll The Dice released their first compilation, featuring eight tracks from their wheelhouse of DJs, producers, and residents. Its second track, “Efímero” by JAV/ and Junoy Manalo samples Sak Noel’s “Loca People” — the Spanish DJ-producer’s 2011 hit — as it echoes the line: “When I came to Spain and I saw people party / I told to myself: What the fuck!?”
Yet, unlike Noel’s maximalist touches, “Efímero” is deep and sultry, cut with piano stabs that drive dancers into an unmistakably infectious groove. Both known in the Manila nightlife circuit for their propulsive and rhythmic approach to house music, the pairing of Manalo and JAV/ — the latter of which is set to play at the world-renowned Wonderfruit Festival in Pattaya, Thailand, this December — feels like a collaboration written in the stars. This track isn’t on Spotify, so go listen to it on Bandcamp. —Sai Versailles
Released as a single last June under A24 Music, “My Baby (Got Nothing At All)” by Japanese Breakfast is the Philadelphia indie-pop band’s original contribution to Materialists, this summer’s ultimate rom-com starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans in a post-capitalist love triangle for the ages.
Much like the film, “My Baby (Got Nothing At All)” has New York fairy dust sprinkled all over it: shimmering melodies and soaring strings that flutter like butterflies in the pit of your stomach, with just enough twangy guitar strums to make you want to let it all go and head upstate. With its reflective orchestration and kindred emotional resonance, the entire Materialists soundtrack — crafted by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse composer Daniel Pemberton — feels reminiscent of scores from romance films like Her (2013), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), and Lost in Translation (2003), marking a promising trajectory for A24 since the film production company announced its record division last April. —Sai Versailles
London-based post-punk band High Vis distills the scrappy hope of youthful rebellion in their third album Guided Tour, released in June 2024. Its lead single, “Mind’s a Lie,” is rapturous, with shimmery guitar riffs, a four-to-the-floor beat, and a low-slung bassline that harks back to the trippy Madchester sound of the ‘90s, when the worlds of punk and dance music collided.
My favorite release of last year, “Mind’s a Lie” still feels pointed today, especially as 2025 saw the reunion of Oasis, rekindling predictions of a Britpop revival. Yet High Vis is rawer than that; lyrics like “Do you wanna giz a chance to try? / Cross the line, just to get by. / Exhaust the fuel, / We rinsed it dry. / What is truth, / When your mind’s a lie?” land with both unapologetic bluntness and razor-sharp wit, and it’s got me believing what punk and hardcore music is still capable of in a world where attitude and risk feels held back. —Sai Versailles
December Avenue has long been known for their emotional pop rock anthems, but “Saksi ang Langit” finds them leaning into maturity. Released back in 2022, the track was co-written by vocalist Zel Bautista and drummer Jet Danao, inspired in part by Danao witnessing the birth of his first child. That grounding makes the song’s drama feel less performative and more lived-in. Familiar elements are still present: heartfelt lyrics, soaring vocal lines, and sentimental crescendos.
Yet, alongside the band’s signature “hugot” are subtle refinements: chugging guitars that feel more deliberate, piano melodies that lift rather than drag, and drum patterns that thrum with intensity. Some might call December Avenue “dad rock” for their softer edges, but “Saksi ang Langit” proves their resonance goes deeper than clichés. It balances vulnerability with strength, showing the band’s staying power within OPM’s ever-shifting landscape. —Elijah Pareno
