It’s been said that having an inner monologue can help regulate your emotions, nurture self-awareness and build a healthy appreciation of the world and your place in it—all the signs of good living. But the question remains: are you really living if there’s no soundtrack to back things up?
Can you imagine what The Lord of the Rings film trilogy would be like without the expert touch of composer Howard Shore? Perish the thought.
The genre hardly matters. After all, music is art, and art is subjective. What does matter is how it makes you feel—how it inspires your daily living and pushes you to embrace creative self-expression in all the ways that are quintessentially you. That being said, there are quite a few genres out there that are floating across the technological ether. We wouldn’t blame you for not being able to keep up.
Avant-garde pop and progressive heavy metal. ‘90s hip-hop and 00’s pop-punk. Ambient, instrumental, classical and everything in between. Even more niche subgenres like shoegaze and midwest emo.
Each suite of monthly music sees new and returning artists delving into these disparate genres, and January is no exception. It might be a new year, but this month feels like a welcome return home to sonic textures and territories that are comfortingly familiar, but with a bit of a twist in the mix.
Hip-hop heavyweight A$AP Rocky released his first album in eight years, reminding the world of the fact that the ASAP Mob is still alive and kicking. The best of Brit rock is back in ‘Opening Night’, Arctic Monkeys’s first song since their 2022 record The Car. And Charlie XCX is taking her self-assured pop formula for a melodramatic spin with single ‘Wall of Sound’, off the upcoming soundtrack for the hotly anticipated period film, Wuthering Heights.
Read about all of this and more below, in the January edition of Vogue Singapore’s monthly music roundup.
1 / 5
Don't Be Dumb by A$AP Rocky
It’s been too long. Between Rocky’s prolific career outside of music and raising three children with Rihanna, it’s been nearly a decade since the release of his last album. The wait was worth it though. The production hits hard, and Rocky’s flow hits even harder. Thankfully, his characteristic wit and charisma never left. It just grew up.
Listen to Don’t Be Dumb here.
2 / 5
DJ set by Yousuke Yukimatsu
Your favourite DJ’s favourite DJ. Yukimatsu has no presence on streaming platforms, choosing only to give in fully to the vibrant energy of his far-ranging DJ sets, from eclectic venues in Berlin to the storied Boiler Room itself. Wherever the former construction worker and brain cancer survivor pops up, he utterly dominates whatever room he finds himself in—in this case, at a Define Everything Future party.
Watch the DJ set here.
3 / 5
'Opening Night' by Arctic Monkeys
The boys are back. If the Sheffield lads’ stylistic turn in their recent records weren’t your cup of tea, this single might serve as a welcome return to form. It’s a lush soundscape they’re creating here, oozing style that harks back to AM and even Humbug (their most underrated album to-date), with a haunting swagger that can only mean good things in the Arctic Monkeys world.
Listen to ‘Opening Night’ here.
4 / 5
Tether by greedi
Shoegaze in the year of 2026? Take us with you. This EP is everything you could ever want from a shoegaze set, all the more impressive given the fact that the Nashville native is a solo bedroom artist. The production is uncompromising in its scope, distortion lovingly tearing at the edge of every decibel. All of this makes for a sonic high that’s well worth your time.
Listen to Tether here.
5 / 5
'Wall of Sound' by Charlie XCX
What a stage being set by the pop powerhouse. Charlie xcx has pivoted away from the hyper-pop and towards something truly epic with her soundtrack album for next month’s period drama, Wuthering Heights. This soundtrack is shaping up to be a lesson in building glorious tension—signalling a confident maturity only a master of her craft could embody.
Listen to ‘Wall of Sound’ here.
