Essential Listening: The best new music releases in July 2023

Music, music, music - the love of our lives! 

At least it is to the Skiddle staff. And that’s exactly why we run Essential Listening - to help us all find our new favourite tracks and artists.  

With all the new music dropping this month including albums from Post Malone, Blur, Rita Ora, etc, we think the one everyone seems most excited about is, of course, the Barbie soundtrack. Don’t lie to yourself, we’re all buzzing for it! 

But back to the present… 

Below we’ve got some of the best new music releases in July 2023. Have a listen, secure tickets to see these artists live, and follow the playlists to ensure you never miss out on incredible tunes. 

Essential Listening: House and Techno

Fluffy - Shanti Celeste 

While just about everyone out there is releasing songs with vocals to leave listeners with an earworm, it’s refreshing to hear Celeste’s pretty and intricately decorated instrumental.

Immediately coming in with unusual sounds, we feel like we’re swimming in a pool full of the cleanest, purest water up in space during a very relaxed, slow-motion pool party. As the track develops, so do the sounds, layering up for a chunkier sound and stronger attack before more strange sounds float in to trip you out even more.

This spacey magenta soundscape is relaxing if occasionally odd. We love it. 

Get tickets to see Shanti Celeste live here:

FLY Open Air - Princes Street Gardens (w. Shanti Celeste, Chris Stussy, LF System & more) | Sat16th - Sun17th September 2023 | Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh

Essential Listening: Indie and Alternative

Slugs - Slow Pulp

This is the kind of band, or even just the kind of track, you feel really cool for listening to. 

Hungover, fuzzy, and with vocals tinged with apathy (but in the cool way), Slugs is definitely a song many preteens will come across soon and feel superior to others their age who don’t know it. No judgement there though, we all did it. 

At its core Slugs is quite the romantic song, although, with the instrumental dragging its backpack on the floor as you tell it to hurry up, it’s fair if you didn’t catch that the first time around. 

Taken from the band’s upcoming album Yard, which should be with us by the end of September, Slugs has got us super giddy to check out this album.

Slow Pulp | Monday 4th December 2023 | YES Basement in Manchester

Essential Listening: Drum & Bass and Jungle

Good Morning - Shy FX x Kojey Radical x Nile Rodgers

Legendary producer Shy FX partnered up with a modern hip-hop hero and an icon whose work and influence transcend every imaginable barrier. 

It's incr4edible how many sounds this track manages to marry. There's reggae, jungle, drum and bass, 80s pop, and funk, to name a few. Now, that many influences in one track that isn’t even three minutes long might sound overwhelming, but with these three talents overseeing the project, each influence is balanced and injected in the perfect amounts, only complimenting the track further. 

Good Morning, with its energy, sunny outlook, and infectious melody, is sure to be a track we won't be able to escape during the scorching festival season. But you know what? We won't even be mad about it.

Get tickets to see Shy FX live here:

Let It Roll (w/ Shy FX, Andy C, Chase & Status & more) | Thur3rd - Sat5th August 2023 | Airfield Milovice in Czech Republic

Essential Listening: Hip-Hop and Jazz

Smoke Break-Dance - Mick Jenkins ft J.I.D

Mick Jenkins raps smoothly over a jazzy, poetic instrumental, with J.I.D. coming in to effortlessly compliment his flow and style. 

Now that it has happened, it’s wild to think there was a time before this collaboration. The two work incredibly well together. We need a collab album next. But, for now, back to the track. Its backbone is the loose, classy bassline beautifully paired with the perfect drums. 

Released just off the back of Killer Mike’s Michael, both with somewhat similar sounds, we can’t help but wonder if this is the direction hip-hop may swing in for the next few years. If so, we won’t mind at all. 

Also special shout out to those involved in making the music video. It’s such a stunning piece of art; it’s basically a movie.  

Love hip-hop and R&B? You might like... 

T-Live Festival (w. Jeremih, Fabolous, Jacquees, Trey Songz, & more) | Sun6th August 2023 | Copthall Playing Fields in London

Follow our Essential Listening playlists featured above to discover the best new tracks released each week, as curated by the Skiddle team.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.

Header image credit: Sota / Facebook.com