In the latest iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs to listen to right now, ranging from psychedelic folk-rock and Grammy-nominated hip-hop to avant-garde instrumental music. Check back each month for new top tracks, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city.

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“A Prism In Reverse” by Arbouretum

Over the course of the last nearly two decades, Arbouretum has garnered a local and national cult following for its experimental folk-rock, and this first single off the band’s new album, Let It All In, due out late March, is a perfect example of that magnetic, mystical sound. Harking back to classic song structures in a fusion of English folk and 1970s psychedelia, it’s a slow, steady march, always trudging forward, leading the listener through a vivid dream world from times gone by. A delicate but persistent melody,frontman Dave Heumann’s prosaic lyrics ride on undulating waves of reverberating guitar and resolute drums with the occasional windswept woodwind. In the end, he follows a mysterious maiden into the woods, perhaps a metaphor for finding solace in the natural world.

“Fanfare for Effective Freedom” by Horse Lords

It’s been four years since the last full-length release from Horse Lords, and with The Common Task, also due out in March, the avant-garde quartet returns with a potent first single that bottles all the unbridled energy that inspired their loyal fanbase over the last decade. Not shy about their self-described radical politics, the record points to a “utopian, modernist ideal,” with this first single tipping its hat to an early 20th-century progressive philosophy on individual freedom. Across seven minutes, both singular sounds and stratified polyrhythms oscillate between tight, insistent melodies and wide, unwieldly soundscapes. Whatever your leanings, it’s an intricate groove filled with inertia and possibility, continuing the band’s quest of making music for “the liberation of mind and body.”

“Sway Me, Sway Me Into the Arms of the Lord” by Infinity Knives

Infinity Knives is a project that welcomes us into the mind and myriad inspirations of Tariq Ravelomanana. Each of the artist’s eclectic tracks are a singular sound collage, mingling moods, from light and airy to murky and otherworldly, as well as musical genres like hip-hop, electronic, and classical. On his second album, Dear, Sudan—a full-length part-two to his spring 2019 debut—his production excels at both minimalist and complex. In the midst arrives this gorgeous seventh song. A raw, sparse, poignant piano melody builds up and fans out with digital flourishes and the layered vibrato vocals of local musician and Mind On Fire member Allison Clendaniel. Together, they float, then soar, like a bird in flight.

“You Can’t Put My Fire Out” by Letitia VanSant

Make this second single off Letitia VanSant’s new album an anthem for 2020. Circadian, out late next month, reflects on our natural rhythms, and this holy roller single is a waking moment, and one of reckoning. Known for fusing personal and political, the singer embraces both on this fiery, fearless new track, penned during the Supreme Court hearings of Brett Kavanaugh. “This song came out of reclaiming my narrative and sense of self-worth,” wrote VanSant, a survivor of sexual abuse herself, and the aftermath is the songwriter at her strongest yet. Building on the growth of her 2018 debut, Gut It to the Studs, her robust melody-making is on full display, and her rich vocal command roars to new heights. Letitia arrives ready to take on the world, and show it what she’s made of.

“Bad Idea” by YBN Cordae

One big takeaway from this year’s Grammy Awards? YBN Cordae. Nominated for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song, the 22-year-old rapper and Prince George’s County native has emerged as a rising star for his playful yet reflective approach to hip-hop. On his debut, The Lost Boy, the former Towson University student has recorded with such big names as Anderson .Paak, Pusha T, Meek Mill, and Chance the Rapper, as on this nominated single. Combining nimble verses with a bright, bouncy sample of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s “Be Real Black For Me,” Cordae tells his come-up story, speaking on humble beginnings, big dreams, and found success. Be on the lookout for more to come from this promising artist.

In the latest iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs, ranging from roots-fueled funk and electronic instrumentals to country western ballads, for you to listen to right now. Check back each month for new top songs of the moment, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city.

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“Painted Roads” by Cris Jacobs

The King of Baltimore rock-and-roll is back and he’s bringing the funk. Where 2016’s Dust To Gold was full of Southern trimmings—roadhouse blues, twangy ballads, thunderous stomps—this new tune off of Jacobs’ upcoming Color Where You Are is a downright groove, fueled by a flurry of piano, undulating bass, and spunky drums, speaking to the strange chase of stardom, and finding success on your own terms, wherever you are. The soulful sound is tried-and-true Jacobs to the core, but it’s also fresh territory for the veteran musician. It adds an instant pep to your step, and leaves you hungry, in these heavy times, for the lightness that the rest of the record could bring.

“Dis Ting” by Funsho

By now, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen or heard of Funsho. Be it on your television set—where the Nigeria-born, Maryland-raised musician first garnered national attention last year on NBC’s The Voice—or around the Baltimore region, where he’s been performing seemingly nonstop ever since. As the second single of his upcoming NUMB3RZ EP, this track is an early song of summer, featuring a swaggering Afrobeat melody, Funsho’s silky smooth vocals, and guest flows by fellow DMV artist King Kanja. Combining pop, soul, hip-hop, and R&B, he creates instant feel-good vibes. See for yourself when he performs before Harbor East’s FashionEASTa fashion show in late April.

“Ecola” by The Honey Dewdrops

The first day of spring is officially upon us and few songs feel more fitting than those off of the new album, Anyone Can See, by local folk duo The Honey Dewdrops. This light-as-air instrumental features hearty acoustic strings and a lilting melody. But don’t let its simplicity fool you; it’s a deeply intimate tune propelled forward by the authentic chemistry of bandmates Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish. With each plink of banjo and strum of guitar, it builds and beams outward, rising like the sun at dawn.

“Requiem for Yaya” by Infinity Knives

It’s hard to pick a favorite track off the new full-length debut from DIY artist and Station North stalwart Infinity Knives. On In the Mouth of Sadness (Ugly Nigga from Heaven), each experimental number is a short snippet into another world—one you’ll want to explore for hours, be it a twinkling cosmos, a chaotic underworld, or a glitchy technicolor other dimension. Wavering between minimalistic melodies and complex compositions, this collection is a masterful collage of sound, some six years in the making, featuring special guests such as local rappers DYYO, Josh Stokes, and Giddeon Gallows. We found this heart-tugging fourth track especially transformative.

“Long Gone” by Jesse Hanlon

Out of obscurity, we stumbled upon this new two-song EP from Towson High grad, fledgling musician, and apparent old soul Jesse Hanlon. He makes the sort of hypnotic outlaw country music that’s making a comeback on the national stage, thanks in part to other young backwoods musicians like Tyler Childers and Colter Wall. If these two debut tracks are any indication, Hanlon should keep it up; they’re tall tales of hard luck and heart break—the sort of jangly, guitar-busting blues of a dusty spaghetti western (or the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)—and they’re persuasive. This title track, featuring a hint of psychedelic and surf inspiration, sounds as if it was written from another lifetime.