In the summer of 2020, local Garifuna musician Ifeanyi Elswith released the album All Festyle, which Gossip Wolf hailed as a “star turn” that feels like “an intimate conversation with the coolest girl on the block.” Needless to say, this wolf has since been on the lookout for new tracks from this velvet-voiced singer! Last month, Elswith released what she calls a “island genre flip” from Summer Walker’s R&B hit “You Don’t Know Me” (produced by Jeremiah Fristoe). As good as that cover is, it was apparently just a warm-up for the lavish new single “Hold You,” which was released on Valentine’s Day and features a poignant verse from rapper Wren. Elswith uses melodic invention and boldly asserted emotional truth to illuminate the difficulties of a tumultuous affair, crafting a song so powerful it will thaw the air between estranged lovers for years to come.

Local producer Kurt Vise creates complex jams whose sound oscillates between early DIY electronic industrial music and mid-90s IDM. On Saturday February 12, Swiss label Sol VII released two new releases from Vise, Collect the elements of the earth and escape the gray, which strike a balance between its headphone-oriented styling and its dancefloor moves. The thunderous and dystopian “Biohazard” is a highlight, and both versions are available through Sol VII’s Bandcamp page.

^{“Biohazard” by Kurt Vise, Collect the elements of the earthfeatures guest vocals by Frank Rouch.}

Gossip Wolf fell in love with Chicago hip-hop duo Stranded Civilians when they released the dizzyingly upbeat 2019 single “SOS!”, complete with its smooth-as-hell flute sample and guest verse from WemmyMo. The Northside band included him in their tremendous debut mixtape of the 2020s Nirvanaand last friday they released their second album, Obsidian. The album seems designed to lift your mood: rappers Tony Santana and Aubry slice the air with verses as cleanly as throwing frisbees, adding sparkle to the rich music with the joy they take work together.