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’s songs move through pop and electronic music. Joji drifts away from R&B confessionals and into soft-focus dream pop on “Love You Less.” Robyn turns physical desire into dance-floor dialogue on “Talk To Me.” Pop-rock band HEY JUNE! builds momentum based on second chances in “Sabihin Mo Lang.” Rounding things out, New Order’s “True Faith” resurfaces as a reminder of how melancholy and motion have always coexisted in great dance music. Taken together, these tracks span moods and generations, tugging at heartstrings and fine-tuning pop sensibilities.
Sadboi R&B goes sadder dream pop
“Love You Less” finds Australian-Japanese artist Joji stepping into a different genre, and that choice works in his favor. The track leans into soft-focus dream pop, trading the heavy R&B ballads of his earlier work for hazy guitar lines and smeared synths. Where Joji once anchored songs in direct confession, the production of “Love You Less” keeps things deliberately hazy, letting atmosphere do the heavy lifting. That looseness gives the song a fragile quality, whereas tremolo guitars dissolve mid-chorus. As the fourth single tied to his upcoming album Piss in the Wind, this particular single sticks out among his bitcrushed ballads, such as “Pixelated Kisses” and “If It Gets Better,” as of late. So far, Joji’s latest album rollout sounds comfortable as he lets ambiguity sit, trusting listeners to follow him somewhere less defined but still unmistakably his. —Elijah Pareño
Blissed out bloomer mumble rap
“popout” runs under two minutes and wastes none of it. Characterized by its bitcrushed, 8-bit-inflected trap, the track snaps forward with the urgency of a scrolling feed, every second engineered to hold attention. Young up-and-coming Filipino rapper maki! rides the beat with warped autotune melodies and clipped ad-libs, keeping the vocal performance in constant motion. The song’s structure stays lean, skipping the traditional hook-heavy formula in favor of a clean all-verse structure that moves from entry to exit without stalling. That discipline separates “popout” from the usual “rage” influence of internet rap. The energy never slumps, and the bars never linger past their usefulness. —Elijah Pareño
The warmest jazz rock you’ll ever hear
“I Can Do What I Want” captures Japanese-American artist Mei Semones at her most pop-savvy songwriting without sacrificing her technical instincts. The track folds jazz guitar phrasing into a compact pop framework, balancing songwriting precision with lightweight hooks. Semones’ guitar work remains intricate, full of quick turns and unexpected voicings. Every flourish serves the melody while her vocals glide over the arrangement with extra confidence, reinforcing the song’s assertion of autonomy. What makes the track stick lies in its songwriting method: complex ideas arrive, resolve, and move on before they can overwhelm the listener. Semones understands simple pop songwriting as well as complexity, a rare balance for musicians operating at her skill level. —Elijah Pareño
Horny pop that truly electrifies
Swedish pop powerhouse Robyn is making a strong comeback following 2018’s Honey. After releasing “Dopamine” in November 2025, Robyn follows up the single with “Talk To Me” and “Sexistential,” the latter sharing the title of her upcoming album, and both being unabashedly horny.
In “Talk To Me,” Robyn asks to be talked through sex, but the lines “Sometimes I get so lonely / So, baby, won’t you talk to me ‘til I’ve arrived?” also reveal a desire for connection. Here, she strips physically and emotionally over a dance beat and synths, imbuing her signature party-ready sound with a sensuality that might take some aback and entertain others. —Pie Gonzaga
Comeback in a head-out-the-window rock cut
Leading up to the release of its sophomore album, Filipino rock band HEY JUNE! has released “Sabihin Mo Lang.” The three-piece band’s new song is a nostalgic pop-rock cut that possesses the breeziness of their 2025 viral hit “LASIK” but picks up the pace, which makes it perfect for car rides with the windows down. In this track, Aci Fodra’s drums stand out, driving the song’s chorus with a four-on-the-floor beat that reflects the urgency of the lyrics: “Sabihin mo lang / kung meron ka pang nararamdaman.” With the song, HEY JUNE! ushers in a new era following the success of their 2023 debut, Curiosity Killed the Cat, and one wonders where the band takes itself next. —Pie Gonzaga
Synth-laden bliss, one of the best of English new wave
One of my favorite things about HBO Max’s Industry is its excellent use of new wave. Previous seasons of the show needle-dropped Pet Shop Boys’ “Always On My Mind” and “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money),” and this season opens with New Order’s exhilarating “True Faith,” off the 1987 album Substance.
Unlike the album’s more popular song, “Blue Monday,” “True Faith” possesses a bit of melancholy in its minor-oriented chord progression and lyrics, complicating and deepening what otherwise would have been a straightforward dance pop track. “And I don’t care if I’m here tomorrow / again and again, I’ve taken too much / of the things that cost you too much,” Bernard Sumner sings in the verse before the song launches into its blissful chorus. —Pie Gonzaga
