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 roam through different corners of pop and alternative music, from hemlocke springs’ surreal synth-pop confessionals “be the girl!” to ena mori stepping into the red-lit drama of “19 Underground,” and MATOKI drifting through slow waves of shoegaze distortion in “Patiently.” Elsewhere, Perfume Genius strips things down to a solitary piano in “It’s Fine (No Front Teeth) and Turnstile closes the door on an era with a slow-burning farewell in “MAGIC MAN.” Whether you’re looking for fuzzy guitars, dreamy indietronica, or a pop song that feels like stepping into the unknown, this week’s selections are a must listen.
Being the most glamorous pop star in the function
ena mori’s best friend is her younger self in “19 Underground,” one of the standout tracks from her latest EP, Ore. In the song, she moves with the sound rumbling beneath her feet. Shuffling between violin strings and a UK garage beat in the song’s music video, ena dances across the red limelight of a function room filled with dancers. Piano keys rise and fall in scattered bursts; everything moving inward and outward aligns in her favor, as if the pop gods themselves had turned their attention toward artists like ena mori. —Elijah Pareño
A fuzzy, slow-paced rock cut
Filipino rock band MATOKI has returned with the single “Patiently,” which follows 2025’s “Under My Skin.” As expected of a shoegaze and dream pop outfit like MATOKI, the new track is drowning in reverb, fuzzy and spacious. The song also takes a surprising turn in the second verse by holding back on the reverb, the singing air-tight even as the band’s vocalist holds long notes, before launching the listener back into the vast space with roaring guitars. MATOKI’s a young band to watch, and with spaced-out single releases, we might be looking forward to its second album after their 2022 release, And Mend All Your Broken Bones. —Pie Gonzaga
Singapore’s top-tier yearning anthem
The drum machine rolls beneath the gliding guitars that shape Shye’s dreamy landscape in “Too Late.” The Singaporean singer-songwriter enters a world of situations where she wishes she had pursued love and everything around it much sooner. Rather than remaining trapped in that circle of yearning, Shye contemplates through melody, choosing musical phrasing over overly ornate lyricism. Sweet and simple in its approach, the indietronica production allows the song to grow naturally, resulting inan earworm that rewards listening from start to finish. —Elijah Pareño
A song full of cool melodies, candy, and surrealism
In hemlocke springs’ “be the girl!,” she gushes over synths and shuffling grooves that give her space to maximize on her emotions. The four-minute runtime suggests a journey, but instead of dragging the moment out, she harmoniously belts through the song, accepting the changes along the way that both calm and unsettle her. hemlocke springs gives an ending that leaves her in an unknown stasis, facing a future filled with competing emotions and multiple directions. The performance alone signals her potential as a breakout artist in 2026. —Elijah Pareño
A roomy piano ballad for existentialists
It’s been almost a year since American singer-songwriter Michael Hadreas, better known as Perfume Genius, released his seventh studio album, Glory, in late March 2025. On February 27, Hadreas returned with the extended version of his critically acclaimed album, with four new tracks.
Among these is “It’s Fine (No Front Teeth),” a reprise of the album’s second track, “No Front Teeth.” The newer version forgoes the original’s guitars, drums, and New Zealand singer Aldous Harding’s vocals for a quiet, lush, and roomy production. While “No Front Teeth” is a rock track through and through, “It’s Fine” is more of a piano ballad that leaves a lot more space for reverie. —Pie Gonzaga
An ethereal and solemn goodbye song
It’s the last time this year I’m adding a song off the Industry soundtrack to this list, I swear. In the show’s season finale — without spoilers — Turnstile’s “MAGIC MAN” comes in during a pivotal moment for one of the show’s many morally gray characters. “Always in the wind, while you’re slipping through the hands that you hold,” sings Brendan Yates, the rock band’s vocalist, amid the scene’s silence.
Released in June 2025, “MAGIC MAN” is the final track on NEVER ENOUGH. Unlike the rest of Turnstile’s fifth album, mercurial and mostly fast-paced, “MAGIC MAN” is stripped back and slow. Yates’ vocals float atop a pool of synthetic pads and bass, ethereal but also solemn. —Pie Gonzaga
