Kevin Bronson on February 23rd, 2024

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Here’s Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 279), and we invite you not only to press play but to peruse the notes on the tracks — especially since there are links to fantastic videos with some of the songs.

Meanwhile, hear the latest from Low Hum, Winnetka Bowling League, Pluto Saffon, How???, Kate Clover, Geographer, Young Jesus, Talker, DWLLRS, Cuffed Up, the Free Nationals, Sam Morrow, Towa Bird, Jazzie Young, Cole Bleu, Career Woman and more.

Deep-divers can find our previous playlists on Spotify.

■ How???, “How???” — Before you blurt “WTF?” about the band name “How???,” listen up. The duo of Alex Tebeleff and Matthew Dowling, D.C. expats who were involved with the project Paperhaus, will release their self-titled album on April 26. “‘How???’ is a song about the meaning of home and change,” Tebeloff says. “Starting its life in my old house in D.C., but finished in my new studio in L.A., it kick-started the whole process behind the How??? album. We used the studio as an instrument to transform a Townes Van Zandt-influenced raw song on acoustic guitar into something different from anything we had done before. Filtered through lots of other influences including Bjork, ’90s Warp Records and Roxy Music, it set the groundwork for the Americana Electronica sound that defines the project.” Album-release show is April 27.

■ Kate Clover, “Damage Control” — Garage-rock queen Kate Clover has unveiled “Damage Control” (and its Paige Stark-directed video), the first single from Clover’s sophomore album, “The Apocalypse Dream” (out April 5).

■ Pluto Saffron, “Glowing at 2am” — Songwriter-producer Rob Banks’ third single as Pluto Saffron channels bad-boy rockers from both sides of the Atlantic, and you can almost hear him repenting. If I can only remember where I put my black leather jacket.

■ Cuffed Up, “Mock Dance” — The follow-up to “Finer Things,” “Mock Dance” is the latest single from L.A. trio Cuffed Up’s debut album, “All You Got,” out April 5. Live May 2 at the Moroccan Lounge.

■ Towa Bird, “B.I.L.L.S.” — Filipino-British singer-songwriter Towa Bird channels some Gen Z economic frustration on her new single, which she calls “a cheeky little banger.” Bird debuted last year with a handful of singles, and “B.I.L.L.S.” could also be heard on December’s EP, “Live From Terminal 5.”

■ Low Hum, “Only If You Say So” — The second single from Collin Desha’s third Low Hum album, “Terra Incognita” (out May 24 via Last Gang Records), “Only If You Say So” is “a love letter to my home,” the songwriter says. “This song personifies Hawaii. I’m always thinking about going back to Hawaii someday, but I continue to feel like it will only be if she says so and gives me a sign. So much of how I approach life comes from my connection to Hawaiian culture and there’s just nothing quite like being there, experiencing the energy of the land and ocean.”

■ Brainstory, “Listen” — Known for their groove-alicious psych-soul, Brainstory this week released two singles from their forthcoming album, “Sounds Good” (out April 19). The first, “Listen,” doesn’t stray far from previous singles like “Hanging On.” We’ve included the outlier here; “Too Yung” is a sweet, stipped-back soul ballad. Live April 18 at the Lodge Room.

■ Talker, “Easygoing” — On the heels of last year’s singles “Twentysomething” and “Drag Your Feet” (an the collaborative EP she made with Fiona Grey under the name Desperate Hauswives), Celeste Tauchar is back with a power-balladish new single about self-acceptance, “Easygoing.”

■ Winnetka Bowling League, “Sha La La” — The trio led by songwriter Matthew Koma returns with the follow-up to 2023’s “Breakfast for Dinner” with a characteristic airy, propulsive slice of pop. “Sha La La” (see Zack Sekuler’s video), Koma says, “is a song about getting older, romanticizing the past and forgetting all the imperfections that accompanied the highlights. … It’s funny how you can create this false memory of how things were, almost only for the purpose of making you feel terrible about the here and now.” Live, opening for Waterparks, on April 6 at the Palladium.

■ The Free Nationals, “Gangsta” (feat. A$AP Rocky & Anderson .Paak) — “Gangsta” is the first new music from Anderson .Paak’s lvie band since their Grammy-nominated album in 2020. François Rousselet’s video for the track ought to win some kind of award.

■ Rival Cavves, “Rich Girl Curious” — Wonder what it’s like to be wealthy? So do Marissa Longstreet (of SLUGS) and Matthew Lieberman (of Magic Bronson) in the latest single from their synth-pop side project.

■ Young Jesus, “Brenda & Diane” — The new single from John Rossiter’s post-rock/experimental project is fierce, inviting you into the narrative of the new Young Jesus album “The Fool,” out May 24. Its release was accompanied by a non-album track, the string-adorned “Hollywood Ending.” Of the new single, Lassier says: “Brenda and Diane are on the run. The main character thinks he’s better than them. But sits down to talk to them, to humor them. Sees that they have a whole, complex life. Humbling for the main character and his sense of superiority and judgment. Brenda and Diane invite him into life.” Watch the video, really.

■ Geographer, “The Light in the Dark” — Synth-pop aerialist Mike Deni’s fifth LP as Geographer, “A Mirror Brightly,” arrived today. Largely self-produced, the album received some studio flourishes from a number of producers, including, on lead track “The Light in the Dark,” Taylor Locke. Live March 9 at the Lodge Room.

■ Zach Tabori, “Last Time” — The prolific guitarist, who’s covered an immense amount of creative ground since his first solo releases in 2018, reins himself in on his new EP, “Kill Me, Sadboi,” released this week. His albums “Hard Boiled” and “Soft Boiled,” both released in 2022, were virtually prog-rock fireworks displays, only to be followed by last year’s avant-classical album, “Rotten.” So “Sadboi” offers four songs of bedroom pop, go figure. Or, go have fun exploring Zabori’s growing discography.

■ Jazzie Young, “The Observer” — Jazzie Young’s dulcet new, John Velasquez-produced single is a cry for connection. It’s just her second release since 2022’s rapturous “27 Club” EP.

■ DWLLRS, “You Woke Me Up at Last” — San Clemente-bred duo Bren Eisman and Joey Spurgeon released a half-dozen DWLLRS singles last year, and they’re back with a breezy, heartfelt paean to “the person that brought you out of the darkness.”

■ Cole Bleu, “Any Way” — Washington, D.C.-reared Cole Bleu is recent arrival to L.A. from the U.K., where she was studying at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Her edgy, confessional pop is on display on “Any Way,” a self-described “girly anthem.”

■ Superfan, “Sewn Up and Handsome” — Here’s Kali Flanagan’s second release (see “For You”) since adopting the new moniker Superfan. “Sewn Up and Handsome” was written as Flanagan recovered from top surgery — he calls the song “my attempt at unraveling pressure points of insecurity in the context of perceived identity through the language of blown-out long-form pop-rock.”

■ Sam Morrow, “Medicine Man” — Sam Morrow continues to dispense tonic for roots-rock fans — “Medicine Man” is the latest single from his new album “On The Ride Here,” out March 22.

■ Career Woman, “Nemo” — Nineteen-year-old Melody Caudill’s new Career Woman single features vocals from Hannah Telle, who voiced Max Caulfield iin the video game “Life Is Strange.” It’s three shades mellower than Career Woman’s 2023 single “Passing.”

■ Magenta Moon, “Move Me” — Formed in Boston and moved to L.A. in 2022, Magenta Moon (the duo of Elaina Whitesell and Joseph Petrarca) have released two full-lengths of cinematic electro-rock with a wry sensibility. (The mere title of the 2021 album, “I Brushed My Teeth, Let’s Make Love,” makes one curious.) New single “Move Me” is an apt introduction.

■ Jen Fodor, “Are You Okay?” — Podcaster/talent manager/director-turned-songwriter Jen Fodor has released half a dozen or so songs since debuting in 2021. The latest is a question we’re hearing a lot often (and always appreciate), “Are You Okay?”

■ Feyde, “Aliens in the Park” — From the lively mind of Syracuse, N.Y. ex-pat John Hanover, the opening track from Feyde’s latest EP, “Trumeter, Don’t Let Us Down,” which was released on Valentine’s Day.

■ Vulfmon & Evangeline, “Letting Things Go” — Vulmon (Vulpeck’s Jack Stratton) and Evangeline (fka Eva B. Ross, born Evangeline Barrosse) and team up over some warm keyboards for “Letting Things Go,” a song that will appear on the new Vulfmon album, “Dot.” Stay tuned for a new Evangeline release; she’ll release a new EP, “When Demigods Go,” in May.