What a time to be an introvert. With all the loneliness and the distancing, socially awkward people really have it made, and lo-fi hip hop - the most introverted music genre of all - is thriving. All jokes aside, I think we could all use a chill pill or two during those weird times. Speaking of which, lo-fi hip hop has your back, helping you explore the nostalgia for simpler times, spreading its fuzzy warmth in all areas of your life. Here are some of my favorite new tracks of the genre. Save those on your Spotify app and go take a lonely walk, or simply follow our playlist.

Tundra Beats - Date Night

Ahhh, remember dating? That was a primitive mating ritual humans used to accomplish before the pandemic brought IRL human interactions to a stand still. Tundra Beats - a young producer from Germany - has you covered, though. With his latest single Date Night, he’ll put a skip in your step the next time you walk to your computer for a Zoom hookup.

T.Sage - moss

The SP-404 wizard T.Sage just dropped 2 new singles via Chill Select. Moss is a boom bap allegory charged with vibey pianos and reflective bells.

Red Licorice - Distant Lights

Bordering on chillwave, Distant Lights is the most uplifting track I’ve heard in a while. This is the track I want to hear when the ships goes down, which should be any minute now. Red Licorice is the instrumental project of Jared Logan, also part of the pop group UTAH.

The Hidden / rocomoco / $outh$ide - I Feel So Much Better

I first discovered this track through its instrumental iteration, but I’m including the OG version featuring spanish bars by $outh$ide here. This is a little summer jam that just makes me want to strip down and run naked to the nearest body of water to go skinny dipping.

Brenky - Sweev

Brenky has many albums of delightful, delicate lo-fi beats that are the equivalent of lying down on a thick carpet and having a few hundred kittens dumped over you. His new single Sweev, with it’s percolating keys and laid back beat, is no different

Quist - Birds

Upon hearing Quist’s new single Birds, you might think : “So he got a good guitar sample and laid some drums underneath. Big deal.” First of all, why the attitude bro? Second of all, you’re wrong. The L.A.-based producer is actually a double black belt in the dark arts of playing the guitar, which makes the heartwarming Birds that much more impressive.

NOGYMX - Echoes

Soulful hip hop meets future R&B in this cinematic track by Ireland’s NOGYMX (pronounced No Gimmicks). All the beats on his new album Ancient Forests are as tasty as this one. Definitely one of the best albums of the year so far.

D’larm / Epifania - Daybreak

D’larm is from the UK, Epifania is from Brazil. Together, they made a couple of charming tracks collected on the EP Silent Night / Daybreak. Smooth as they come, this would soundtrack my after-after parties if we were still allowed to have parties in the first place.

PETITE FESSE - Can I Torrent a Feeling?

Am I going to plug one of my own tracks? You bet your sweet ass. This is an instrumental I released earlier this year under my moniker PETITE FESSE (né lil buttcheek). As always, please direct your accusations of conflict of interest to my complaint defartment (which is what I call my butt). Please stream this a couple million times so I can have enough money to realize my dream of moving out of my mother’s basement.

That’s it for today. If you’re like : “What the hell, how come my track isn’t in there.” Just send it to us and we’ll - at the very least - listen to it. That’s our guarantee.