This week's fresh crop of new music includes three powerful songs with messages from Amythyst Kiah, CHVRCHES and Jose Gonzalez. We also get the latest from Lucy Dacus, and we meet emerging artists from Boston and from Minneapolis.

Anjimile, "In Your Eyes (Reflections)" (feat. Jay Som)

"In Your Eyes (Reflections)" is full of fluttering strings and a gorgeous tradeoff of vocals from Anjimile and Jay Som. The Reunion EP will be coming out May 7, and if this song is anything to go off of, it will be much more cinematic and consuming than their previous music.

Amythyst Kiah, "Black Myself"

With a little help from Wendy Melvoin (Prince and the Revolution) on bass, Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes) on guitar, and Kane Ritchotte (Portugal. The Man) on drums, Amythyst Kiah's "Black Myself" is a rocking song with a message. It's a song for this moment; as Amythyst says, "The reception of the song so far has given me hope that there are people out there who are ready to confront the shared trauma of racism, to look within ourselves and see how we might be perpetuating racist beliefs, and to do what is needed to create equality for all people."

Lucy Dacus, "Hot and Heavy"

The sophomore album from Lucy Dacus comes out this summer, and she's already released her murder ballad (and fan favorite) "Thumbs." Now we have "Hot and Heavy," a song Dacus explains "was just about me outgrowing past versions of myself."

CHVRCHES, "He Said She Said"

The bedroom-pop band from Glasgow continue to expand their sound. The first song that they wrote during quarantine (via Zoom) delves into the way men have treated lead singer Lauren Mayberry. Mayberry says, "All the verse lines are tongue-in cheek or paraphrased versions of things that have actually been said to me by men in my life. Being a woman is f****** exhausting, and it felt better to scream it into a pop song than scream it into the void. After the past year, I think we can all relate to feeling like we're losing our minds."

Jose Gonzalez, "Visions"

Jose Gonzalez always has a delicate and soft-spoken intensity in his music. With a new album arriving in September, Gonzalez's focus is on the environment and on the world he's leaving for his children. "Visions" is about disaster management and people coming together to create a world that is better than the one that currently exists.

Rebel Queens, "Ride On Thru"

Meet Rebel Queens, a band of self-described "vintage rock and rollers" out of Minneapolis. Their new single started as a guitar riff and morphed into a song about taking care of yourself without anyone else's intervention.

Playlist