The Undertow
Week of April 4, 2026
▶ Open in SpotifyFive threads this week. All fresh artists, sequenced for flow.
EBM and darkwave for the dance floor you didn't know you needed
Twin Tribes — "Shadows"
Darkwave groove opener. If Depeche Mode grew up in the Texas-Mexico borderlands
TR/ST — "Sulk"
EBM pulse that builds and doesn't let go. Dark synth with real hooks
She Past Away — "Ritüel"
Turkish post-punk/darkwave. Hypnotic, ritualistic, massive in goth clubs worldwide
Where shoegaze meets tonnage
Narrow Head — "Moments of Clarity"
Texas grunge-shoegaze. Think Hum meets Deftones with a fuzz pedal addiction
Nothing — "Say Less"
Wall-of-sound shoegaze from Philly. Blissful and crushing simultaneously
Hum — "Cloud City"
The godfathers of heavy shoegaze. This track from Inlet (2020 comeback after 22 years) is slow, enormous, and gorgeous
Smooth surfaces hiding strange depths
Mild High Club — "Homage"
Psychedelic lounge jazz. Steely Dan if they dropped acid and forgot to come back
Drugdealer — "Suddenly" (ft. Weyes Blood)
Hazy dream-yacht from LA. Like a California sunset that feels slightly haunted
Destroyer — "Tintoretto, It's for You"
Dan Bejar's art-pop sophisti-noir. Yacht rock for people who read Borges
Abstract hip-hop orbits for the Kendrick listener who wants weirder
Shabazz Palaces — "Fast Learner"
Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets) went cosmic. Seattle space-rap with actual hooks
Open Mike Eagle — "Dave said these are the liner notes"
Meta, witty, cerebral. Rap for overthinkers
Injury Reserve — "Knees"
Experimental, glitchy, emotionally devastating. Made after losing their member Groggs
Wildcards, no genre loyalty
BadBadNotGood — "Timewave Zero"
Jazz-hip-hop instrumentalists. Like if your favorite jazz trio grew up on Madlib
Yard Act — "The Overload"
British post-punk spoken word. Witty, energetic, addictive
Daughters — "The Reason They Hate Me"
90 seconds of noise rock fury. Gut punch
Rina Sawayama — "XS"
Maximalist J-pop meets nu-metal theater. The Ghost energy applied to pop. Closer for a reason