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, Rochelle Jordan’s “Close 2 Me” solidifies the R&B artist’s take on music for the dancefloor. Thaiboy Digital, Bladee, Ecco2k, and Yung Lean trade verses in the dreamlike production of “Legendary Member.” Lory’s “Without You” is shoegaze with touches of grunge and nu-metal. Magdalena Bay go full prog rock in “Second Sleep.” No Vacation’s “Mind Fields” opens the door for 2010s dream pop nostalgia, while Maude rambles about painful love over soft pop-rock in “Habol.” Each one sounds different, but they know how to get under your skin.
Nocturnal and ready to party
Rochelle Jordan has spent years building her own corner of futuristic R&B, and “Close 2 Me” solidifies her own makeshift dancefloor. The British-Canadian singer has always leaned into sleek production, and here she rides deep house textures and breakbeat flourishes without ever losing her soulful core.
On paper, her album Through the Wall, released on September 25, looks overwhelming: a monochrome cover, 17 tracks, and a dark aesthetic. In practice, it’s her most confident statement yet, with “Close 2 Me” standing as the track that bridges club culture with polished songwriting. The bassline pulls the song into late-night territory, while Jordan’s vocals glide above the production, delivering something that feels equal parts vulnerable and commanding. —Elijah Pareño
The synth pop duo goes full prog rock
After releasing Imaginal Disk in August last year, American electronic pop duo Magdalena Bay is back with two new songs, both sonic successors to the critically acclaimed 2024 album. In “Second Sleep,” released on September 26, Mica Tenenbaum sings about wanting to escape from the drudgery of life.
As their last album saw Tenenbaum and Matt Lewin veer away from their usual glitchy synth pop, they now lean further into their progressive rock urges in “Second Sleep,” deploying electric pianos, guitars, drums, and strings with the same fantastical panache that they closed Imaginal Disk with in “The Ballad of Matt & Mica.” This release is really exciting, and where Magdalena Bay will take their music next might just make me explode. —Pie Gonzaga
Growth in the guise of nu-metal
Terno Recordings has long been known for its clean, eclectic pop signings, but Lory’s “Without You” adds a heavier streak to the roster. The Manila-based solo project shifts toward nu-metal and grunge textures without abandoning its shoegaze instincts, creating a track that feels sonically restless.
Over layers of distorted guitar and gauzy effects, Lory’s autotuned vocals bend grief into something noticeably metallic. The production is steeped in 2000s heaviness, yet there’s a dreamlike haze to the riffs that sets it apart from straight revivalism. The lyrics lean into heartbreak and resentment, but they’re delivered with a detachment that feels more numbed than furious.
For a label better associated with groove and polish, “Without You” is a curveball — and a striking new direction for Lory. —Elijah Pareño
Swedish cloud rap posse masterclass
Few collectives embody their own mythology like Drain Gang and Sadboys, and “Legendary Member” is the closest they’ve come to distilling it into one song.
Thaiboy Digital, Bladee, Ecco2k, and Yung Lean trade verses over Whitearmor’s slippery, dreamlike production, creating a track that feels untouchable and strangely intimate. Each rapper brings his own texture — Lean’s detached cool, Bladee’s auto-tuned haze, Ecco2k’s crystalline falsetto — but no single voice dominates. And that’s the point. The track toys with the question of who the true “legendary member” is, but the answer dissolves in the ether: it’s the collective that makes the myth. The beat shimmers like a fogged mirror, giving the verses space to drift and collide.
What emerges isn’t competition, but solidarity — a reminder that in their world, individuality and collective identity collapse into one. —Elijah Pareño
Twangy, almost trippy, and very nostalgic
The day I discovered American dream pop band No Vacation, I was listening to a local radio station on my phone (Remember when phones let you listen to FM radio?) on the way to school when their 2017 song “Mind Fields” came on.
With reverberating and twangy guitars and breathy vocals, it has the ingredients of a 2010s dream pop track, layered with a wordless bridge that’s on the verge of trippy. While the Asian-American-led four-piece hasn’t put out new music on streaming in a couple of years, “Mind Fields” and the rest of No Vacation’s discography are worth the listen. —Pie Gonzaga
Soft rock hugot track with a surprise
11 years after Filipino pop-rock band Maude released their first album Pelota Court, the track “Habol” is still an essential listen for people who like to second-guess their love lives. At first, its gentle guitar lines and hushed vocals feel like a soft-rock confessional; but after the halfway mark, when you think the track has concluded, it erupts. Drums crash harder, guitars bristle, and the chorus gains urgency, even if it’s still sung the same soft-spoken way, fatigued from the chase.
Since 2014, the Manila-based trio has seen releases with more acclaim, like 2018’s Aurora. But “Habol” is still where it’s at if you want a classic hugot track to wallow to. —Pie Gonzaga
