Smerz

Before Norwegian duo Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg debuted as Smerz in 2016 they were high school friends, and this closeness still roots their existentialist, postmodern pop - even when they're throwing their songwriting muscle behind K-pop girl group New Jeans. This year, they released their long-awaited sophomore album 'Big city life', stepping past the clubwise wonkiness of their early EPs and refining the Arthur Russell-adjacent dancefloor classical moan of 2021's 'Believer'. Notching up a "best new music" from Pitchfork, it's a sure-fire contender for album of the year, packed with oddball raps and strangulated breaks, mutant dub, TR-909 laced electro moments and Autotuned trance hallucinations. If you're into Astrid Sonne, Erika De Casier and ML Buch, Smerz are the missing link.