“2am” is one of those tracks that keeps changing shape as it goes. Gianna spends its quieter moments floating over little more than piano, before Latham suddenly pushes the song somewhere completely different with bursts of oversized breakbeats. Across its five and a half minutes, “2am” moves freely between balladry, trip hop and hazy club music. At one point, it feels like it might explode into something anthemic, but instead it goes in the opposite direction, settling into something more intimate and levitating. It also comes with a visualizer, which you can watch below.

Now “sw33t” gets a second life as “so sw33t”, featuring one of our favourite artists, the very in-demand Nourished By Time. Marcus Brown slips into the track with a brand new verse about the lingering pull of love, his smooth, slightly bruised delivery fitting surprisingly naturally into DJ Suzy’s sparkling pop production. “I absolutely love what Marcus added to this song. His melodies are incredible, and he’s such an amazing artist. He brought something really special to it,” Suzy says. Brown was equally taken with the original: “Sweet is really deceptive complex pop song that really struck me melodically and harmonically. I’m excited for people to hear much more DJ Suzy.” And so are we.

For now, this new version isn’t featured on the Kira Krash tracklist, although who knows, maybe a deluxe or expanded edition is somewhere down the line.

Listen/support to “so sw33t” below, and you can also stream the song in our Forecast Tape playlist on Spotify, alongside the most notable releases from the past few days.

Executive produced by 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady and made between Los Angeles and Lebanon, the nine track project brings together the different sides of Thoom’s music without trying to separate them. “I would be lying to my listeners if I tried to separate what seems the most natural to me,” she says. “The contradiction is the point.” She describes the mixtape as “part diary, part mythology” and as “messy, pop, Arabic, experimental, and unapologetic.”

The project closes with “I’m Going Back To Lebanon”, one of its strongest tracks and a song that made it into our Best Songs of 2026 playlist. Produced by Dylan Brady, Frost Children, Spencer Light and Count Baldor, it looks at the idea of going home when home itself can feel uncertain. “Did the summer end? / Is it war again? / Am I going back to Lebanon?” she asks in the chorus, mixing questions about a relationship with her own experience of living between Lebanon and the US. This is clearly a bop, and good news, it now comes with a video directed by Neve Abcari.

Our favourite song on the record is “Wasp In the Fig,” a gorgeous track that now has a suitably surreal video. Directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, the visual follows Eartheater across the earth and through the sky on horseback. Eventually, rider and animal merge and she becomes a centaur. The opening and closing scenes were filmed above Drewchin’s country property in Pennsylvania, which gives the cosmic imagery a connection to the landscape around her home.

For Huang, the idea began with the song’s title and the unusual reproductive life cycle it evokes. “When I first heard ‘Wasp in the Fig’ I was so moved by the urgency of the song and was inspired by the title alluding to the mother wasp’s journey to die inside a fig to give birth to new life. The song’s running beat made me think of hooves, so for this video I envisioned Eartheater as a centauress galloping toward a distant star beckoning her home.”

We already knew Eartheater was a polymath, but apparently dressage is another talent to add to her palette. In fact, the concept developed further when Drewchin brought those skills into the project. Huang describes the final image as a “mythical sci-fi centaur mother goddess,” and we’d expect nothing less from her.

The latest offering comes with “Sparkle Dub/I’ll Dream Instead,” a woozy track that turns insomnia and loneliness into something strangely tender. “I want to kiss you / I’ll dream instead,” Runciman sings before waking up alone after just three hours of sleep and reaching for her phone. The track arrives with a glittery video, shot, directed and edited by Monika Kraska and Phil Osborne, which adds a playful shimmer to that mix of exhaustion, consuming desire and late night solitude.

Her new double single “Not Likely” offers two versions of the same song. The first is warm, electronic and almost giddy, built around a synth part Sean Mackillop sent her over iMessage while Markel was struggling with writer’s block. She ended up finding the first verse while walking through Chinatown, quietly recording it into her phone. “I didn’t realize how clearly and easily I had revealed my own psyche to myself.” “Not Likely 2” strips everything back to upright piano and voice, recorded between a friend’s apartment and a back porch in Charleston. Together, the two versions show exactly what Markel does best: turning the same feeling over until you can hear both the glow and the ache inside it.

Watch the “Not Likely” video, and catch the song on our Forecast Tape playlist on Spotify, alongside some of our favorite recent releases.

Alana Markel will perform at NYC’s Knockdown Center’s Ruins on September 17, opening for Acopia and Carla dal Forno.

Made once again in close collaboration with her TOPS bandmate David Carriere, the album moves freely between pop, glam rock, country and early-2000s nostalgia, while holding onto the mix of humour and emotional sincerity that made her debut so charming. Across twelve tracks, Cikojevic turns bad nights, old memories, heartbreak and Hollywood mythology into a world populated by chaotic princesses, angels, demons, telepathic lovers, Baywatch Barbies and, of course, the mysterious woman who gave the album its name. She is also celebrating the release with a deliciously decadent new video for “Chaotic Princess,” one of the record’s most gloriously over-the-top moments.

The title of the album comes from a real encounter Cikojevic had after moving from Montreal to Los Angeles in 2024. But as she explains below, Mask Lady and Late Night Girl eventually became about something much broader: the different versions of ourselves we show to the world, the ones we keep hidden, and all the contradictions in between.

A few days before the album’s release, we caught up with Marci to talk about its strange Hollywood origin story, flexing her vocal muscles, cheesy lyrics, cinema, dive bars, dream collaborations and the perfect soundtrack for a chaotic night out.

“The masks give us super powers but also give us something to hide behind.”

HighClouds: Your new album title comes from this woman you used to see around your neighborhood in LA, who you called “Mask Lady,” while she apparently knew you as “Late Night Girl.” Can you tell us a bit more about that encounter?

Marci: After I moved to Hollywood/Franklin Village at the beginning of 2024, I would see this sassy and sexy dressed iconic woman walking around with her mini purse and pin-up girl Halloween mask. I was dying to talk to her.

Finally, one night I was coming home from a party and worked up the courage to stop her and chat. I said, “Omg you’re Mask Lady! I think you’re so iconic, I love your look,” and she responded, “Oh hey, you’re Late Night Girl.”

To my surprise, I was also a character of the neighbourhood to her. I felt honoured.

Marci by Alex Joukouv

The title comes from that very specific encounter, but it also seems to sum up the whole mood of the record. How would you explain the concept of Mask Lady and Late Night Girl and what connects these songs together for you?

To me, these songs touch on duality: the past and the present, who I was and who I want to be, darkness and light.

The cover shows two people, wearing something that is covering their face, driving on. The masks give us superpowers but also give us something to hide behind.

On the cover and on the record, Late Night Girl is in the passenger seat, looking through the window and watching life go by, with the help of Mask Lady weaving through the traffic and getting us where we need to go.

There are so many larger-than-life images across the record: princesses, angels and demons, sci-fi, astrology, Baywatch, Miami Vice, Babylon. Do you naturally process your own experiences by turning them into something more theatrical or cinematic?

I love this question because it combines all the most epic words on the album haha.

I love drama and grandeur in art and storytelling. I think I enjoy making things a little more fantastical. I don’t think I process my experiences like that, but I probably make them sound way cooler than they are later lol.

Since you mention that love of drama and grandeur, who are some of your favourite directors?

I’m going to pick some new ones I’m excited about: Matt Johnson, Julia Ducournau, John Early, Joachim Trier, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve.

Some all-time favs: Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese, M. Night Shyamalan, Kubrick, The Wachowskis because The Matrix is literally the best. Steven Spielberg is so nostalgic for me. Wong Kar Wai was a first love.

What are your favourite lyrics on the album, and what makes them special to you?

I love the lyrics of “Lady with the Mask” because it felt like I was really there when I wrote them. Like I could feel the fear and sweat and danger and had imagined a whole scene.

But I also really love the lyrics of “Chaotic Princess” because they were so funny to write and immerse myself in, bratty style.

Marci by Allison Goldfarb

“She’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit rock and roll.”

You’ve said you wanted to try things on this album that you didn’t get to explore on Marci, what did you consciously want to push further this time around?

I wanted to try using my voice differently and push myself vocally. I also wanted to add more distorted guitars and write in other genres because she’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit rock and roll.

Which song on Mask Lady and Late Night Girl was the most challenging to make?

The ones that didn’t make the album 😂 Maybe they will make the next one 😉

You haven’t had a duet or featured guest on a Marci song yet. If you could pick anyone for a dream collaboration, who would it be?

I think it would be really cool to make a song with Nourished by Time.

Okay, also Spielberg was mentioned earlier and now I have so many John Williams themes running through my head. Wouldn’t that be the coolest, to make something huge and epic with John Williams?! Haha woooah.

When you’re making music, do you trust spontaneity or perfection more?

A balance of both!!

“Really cheesy lyrics are the best bad decision.”

What is your favourite bad decision in a pop song?

Literally when I say “where my heart used to be” in my own song “Butterfly Sticker”… It took me a minute to move forward with that line 😂.

So I guess really cheesy lyrics are the best bad decision.

When you and David are making a Marci song, how often are you actually talking about references? Are you saying “this should feel like Janet Jackson” or “this needs to sound like 2002,” or is that musical vocabulary more instinctive between you by now?

We do reference stuff, but we pick production aspects of certain songs that we like, and not the whole aesthetic. We like to mix different styles.

You’re both members of TOPS and you also work very closely with David on the Marci records. When you’re writing together, how do you know whether an idea belongs to TOPS or to Marci?

It’s usually pretty straightforward. If we’re working on Marci stuff, it’s Marci time, and if we’re jamming TOPS stuff, it’s with TOPS.

How do you manage those different creative processes in practice? Do you consciously switch into “Marci mode” when you start working on your solo music, or is the separation between the projects more fluid than that?

Definitely pretty fluid. I just love playing music and being creative as much as possible.

The main switch, I suppose, is when it’s Marci time I get to sing and work on flexing those muscles. So fun.

Marci by Justin Aranha

You moved from Montreal to Los Angeles between the two Marci albums. What feels most different about living and making music in those two cities? Do you think LA has changed the way you write or the kind of music you want to make?

LA is a workhorse in the way that there are constantly people working on music, and it rubs off on you in a good and bad way. It’s motivating but can make you feel overwhelmed.

Montreal feels a little more relaxed, but if you just chill out, LA can also be relaxed. I just got my own little studio space finally, so I’m chillin.

What does your ideal night out actually look like? Are you more into house parties, hanging out at a bar, dancing in a club, or something completely different?

Honestly, wherever the night takes me. But I do love a dive bar.

If you had to make the ultimate Marci party playlist, what are the first five songs going on it and why? And what would be the one song for the ride home at the end of the night?

Okay, we’re going to go in order of the night and you can make your own interpretations based on the song and title:

“Chaotic Princess” – Marci
“Lets Fucking Go Tonight” – Fireball Kid
“Lose Control” – Missy Elliott ft. Ciara
“It Feels So Good” – Sonique
“Memories” – David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi

And we’re saying goodbye with “Say Hello” by April Wine… cuz jk we coming back.

What are you obsessed with at the moment, outside of music?

Croatian cooking and my dog Pepa, always.

With Mask Lady and Late Night Girl, Marci takes everything that made her debut so easy to love and lets it get a little weirder. The synth-pop sparkle remains, but distorted guitars, pedal steel and glam-rock excess now sit comfortably alongside it, while songs like “Butterfly Sticker,” “Chaotic Princess,” “99 Dimensional” and “Lady with the Mask” reveal just how much room there is inside her pop universe.

More importantly, the album never forces its contradictions to resolve. Late Night Girl can keep the party going while Mask Lady quietly takes the wheel. A lyric can be ridiculously cheesy and completely sincere. A chaotic night can become funny in retrospect and still leave a bruise. Somewhere between those extremes, Marci has made a second record that feels unmistakably hers.

Mask Lady and Late Night Girl is out now.

Today, we are happy to debut his crepuscular new single “sun7”, before it officially goes live tomorrow. Led once again by e.v.a, a fictional avatar he introduced on previous releases, the track begins with scattered vocal chops and glowing synths, then slowly blooms into something brighter and more physical. There is a strong Y2K feeling in the way the voices flicker and bend, but “sun7” also carries house warmth, lo fi vibes, and a subtle touch of French House nostalgia. As Charly puts it, the track was imagined as a summer soundtrack: “warm, nostalgic and melancholic, like the end of a day at the beach or the last track of a rave at sunrise.” Listen and support below.