5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Week

Sampha—the hip-hop producer behind some of the industry’s biggest stars—is finally getting his own moment front and center on debut album Process. There’s a languid, looping rhythm to “Reverse Faults” that revels in the circular heartbreak of the lyrics. “I shot the blame and it scattered / Now there’s bullet holes spread across the walls,” he sings, finding a flow in the chaos.

Another release, another showstopper of an anthem from Imagine Dragons. “Believer” is bound to blow up, if only because it’s the soundtrack to Nintendo’s Super Bowl ad for the Switch—and with its stadium-sized drumbeats and rapid-fire lyrics, it’s hard not to see this one gaining plenty of popular traction.

Soulful up-and-coming R&B singer Khalid may be just 18, but his aching voice suggests a world-weariness beyond his years. “Shot Down,” off of upcoming debut album American Teen, is a dreamy, layered song of love and heartbreak.

Back after a nearly seven year break in releases, popular early-aughts singer-songwriter Michelle Branch of “Everywhere” fame takes a shot at a subtly rock-tinged style with “Hopeless Romantic.” The new sound is more evolved than her earlier hits, and her new grown-up register is worth the listen.

If you’ve never heard of grime, the hip-hop-flecked-garage genre popular in the U.K., prepare for its entrance into the stateside mainstream in a big way. Stormzy’s British-accented raps have an insatiable energy that plays deftly against the beat on loop, which stands out thanks to a hypnotic choral component.