Atwood Magazine is excited to share our Editor’s Picks column, written and curated by Editor-in-Chief Mitch Mosk. Every week, Mitch will share a collection of songs, albums, and artists who have caught his ears, eyes, and heart. There is so much incredible music out there just waiting to be heard, and all it takes from us is an open mind and a willingness to listen. Through our Editor’s Picks, we hope to shine a light on our own music discoveries and showcase a diverse array of new and recent releases.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, this week’s Editor’s Picks features six special love (and love-adjacent) songs by James Bay & Jon Batiste, The Aces, Bren Joy, Stevie Bill, Julien Baker & TORRES, and Gabriel Jacoby!

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How do you show someone just how much you love them? With music, sweet music: James Bay’s latest single is pure love and light manifest in song. Featuring the inimitable Jon Batiste, “Sunshine in the Room” is a bright, bold, and beautiful love song sung from cloud nine. For Bay, it’s a joyous, golden ode to his wife, Lucy – the subject of many a James Bay anthem and ballad over the years. For all of us, it’s an instant reminder of that singular person who lights up our lives – that special someone who makes us happy when skies are grey, and who can “turn grey skies into blue.” With a sprightly, spirited beat and buoyant, soaring melodies, Bay and Batiste channel the warm euphoria and rhapsody of love into a cinematic, soul-stirring, and irresistibly catchy celebration.

You’re the reason, you’re the feeling
Make me wanna get up in the morning
Nothing better, am I dreaming
When I see you at the start of my day?
(That’s right)
I don’t remember any feeling
Worth believing that came before you
There’s no other way I know how to tell you

I don’t know how
I don’t know why
You turn grey skies into blue
You’re the best high
You burn so bright
You’re like sunshine in the room

“Working with Jon Batiste for ‘Sunshine in the Room’ is an experience I will never ever forget,” Bay tells Atwood Magazine. “He literally burst into the studio like a ray of sunshine and brought so much joy to the sound of the record and the work. He’s a total inspiration, and I hope we can work together again. The song is about having someone in your life who truly lights up the room as soon as they walk in.”

Released in January, “Sunshine in the Room” arrives on the heels of Bay’s fourth studio album Changes All the Time, a record that found him collaborating with several big names – including The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, The Lumineers, and singer/songwriter Noah Kahan – for the first time.

A 5x-GRAMMY Award winner, EMMY Award winner, and Academy Award winner (not to mention his seven-plus acclaimed studio albums and a trove of soundtracks, EPs, live records, and one-off collabs), Jon Batiste is yet another extra-special musical collaborator; it feels only fitting that these two decorated artists would combine their talents to make a sweet, soulful, and sun-soaked revelry – finding common ground in that one thing that, at the end of the day, binds each and every one of us.

“Jon felt so right and exciting for this song,” Bay smiles. “There was no guarantee, we absolutely had to ask him (and hope he would say yes!) after we’d dreamed up that he could be a great feature on the song. He brought so much joy, literally so much sunshine to the session and the track. I make no exaggeration when I say that everything about his playing is everything I love in any kind of instrumentalist. It’s so inspiring! And his voice! Wow, he hit some notes I could never dream of reaching!”

I go in and out of talkin’ ’bout
The specialness you bring into my life
I could shout it from the top of any mountain
Any time of the day
You know how to make me better
Doesn’t matter how you do, I adore you
There’s only one way that I know how to tell you

‘Cause I don’t know how
I don’t know why
You turn grey skies into blue
You’re the best high
You burn so bright
You’re like sunshine in the room

As for the inspiration behind the song, Bay says that came naturally and instantaneously. While he’s written his fair share of love songs before, this one admittedly feels extra special – and it is.

“I feel very lucky that I have that person in my life,” he says. “And I’ve witnessed it in other relationships around me and close to me. It’s an experience that is just pure joy and the imagery of sunshine streaming through a window, into a room, just felt like a beautiful visual metaphor to represent that feeling. No songwriting is necessarily easy, but there was an effortlessness to the way that came about lyrically. I wrote it with my great friend Jon Green, who I probably share my best and strongest writing relationship with. Always a privilege to spend time writing with or just being around Jon.”

Many of Bay’s other love songs are painted with both lighter and darker hues, and he’s previously discussed a tendency to mix shades and emotions together, rather than skew all the way to one side. “Sunshine in the Room” is notable, in part, due to its unapologetic one-sidedness: It’s a true expression of pure euphoria and joy, and something ‘new’ as far as the James Bay catalog is concerned.

Bay explains how he made a conscious choice to go all-in on joy this time around, emulating his favorite artists from the golden age of soul.

“Songwriting and being an artist can be very consciously contrary work,” he admits. “Artistic license and listening to the concept of ‘devil’s advocate’ are often fun directions to explore. If my usual move is to write something more emotionally heavy or sad, then on this occasion, something in me was just very inspired to write with more joy. Personally, I enjoyed referencing details in my favourite Motown records. They always felt so joyous even if the lyric was heavier at times.”

Hold me, hold me
I don’t want this night to end
Don’t let go
Feel the moonlight flooding in
I won’t ever be lonely
Just let me fall in love with you
Over and over again…

“Sunshine in the Room” might call to mind such classic numbers like Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” The Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” and even Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”: All of these songs come with their own special serotonin boost, thanks to the artists’ decisions to pour their heart and soul, and all the love and light they could muster, into their art. In that vein, this is just the latest in a long, legendary line of smile-inducing love songs.

And if that’s going to be a part of James Bay’s legacy, then it’s a legacy bathed in warmth, light, and the timeless power of love – one that’s sure to brighten hearts for generations to come.

As for me, I’ll be dancing and singing away the days to this intoxicating, sun-soaked single.

I don’t know how
I don’t know why
You turn grey skies into blue
You’re the best high
You burn so bright
You’re like sunshine
Like sunshine
Sunshine in the room

The Aces’ euphoric brand of indie pop has always brought about big smiles, and yet their latest single is exceptionally irresistible: A passionate, pulsing pump-up song of self-love and swagger, “Jealous” is an invigorating anthem here to boost our spirits and remind us just how awesome we are.

When I hit the bar in my usual garb
I look like a star, I’m shinin’
I don’t even try, but I get all their eyes
They feel so inclined they’re asking

How do you walk, do you talk so cool?
Where’d you get your hair cut?
Where’d you get those tattoos?
A routine interrogation,
tryna get the information
How I pull all the girls in the room

“‘Jealous’ is about being the coolest person in the room,” the band says. “That often comes with adoration and envy, and we wanted to paint the picture of having unshakable confidence throughout all of it.”

The Aces rise to a resounding fever pitch in their sweetly seductive, beautifully bold chorus:

I know you’re jealous
I know you’re jealous
I know you’re jealous
when I walk in the room
Oh, I’d be jealous
Oh, I’d be jealous
Oh, I’d be jealous
if I met me too

It’s charming, it’s charismatic, and it’s endlessly alluring.

There’s something extraordinarily admirable about what The Aces have done with this song; their uplifting, unadulterated bravado gives every single listener a reason not just to smile, but to feel good about themselves. Few songs are that inspirational, and it’s a quality about “Jealous” – and about The Aces, in general – that’s worth celebrating.

Oh, I’ve seen this before
That envy you can’t ignore
Such a shame when you should be dancin’
So don’t drink that haterade, babe
Just feel that 808, babe
‘Cause my song is on
And I know you wanna ask me

How do you walk, do you talk so cool?
Where’d you get your hair cut?
Where’d you get those tattoos?
Oh, the blatant imitation
Oh, you want sophistication
Kinda cute
how you’re stealing my groove

I know you’re jealous
I know you’re jealous
I know you’re jealous
when I walk in the room
Oh, I’d be jealous
Oh, I’d be jealous
Oh, I’d be jealous
if I met me too

The title really says it all: “NEVER WANNA LET YOU GO” is an intimate, impassioned love song full of raw vulnerability and heartfelt devotion. Bren Joy’s first song of the year – the second single off his fast-approaching debut album SUNSET BLACK (independently out February 21^st) is a sweet, cinematic stomp-and-holler reverie that sees the Nashville native embracing his folk and country roots through his own unique, Joyful lens. (Get it?)

I should be fired by the
gods who invented roses
‘Cause I pick and kill
each one for you
And still, I smile
With the weight of the world
on my neighbor’s shoulders
‘Cause I’ve got nothing left to prove

Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go
Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go

In some ways it’s reminiscent of what singer/songwriter Raury did ten-plus years ago with Indigo Child and All We Need – two intrepid, trailblazing records that deftly bridged the worlds of folk, soul, and hip-hop, creating a unique template free of ‘genre’ and unbound by tradition.

“‘Never Wanna Let You Go’ embodies the aesthetics and sonics of where I was born (Nashville), married with my personal approach of songwriting and lyricism,” Joy tells Atwood Magazine. “It carries the simple theme of ‘once the world ends, all you will have is the hand you hold,’ which is more relevant today than ever.”

“‘Never Wanna Let You Go’ is my celebration of folk and a reintegration of the sounds that have inspired and shaped me back home.”

Some days I feel
Like a fire on the side of a burning highway
Some days I hold you way too close
And if I won a billion dollars in the lottery
But found out that it meant
I’d have to give you up, well
I’d take your love for what it’s worth

Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go
Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go

Rich, radiant harmonies and soaring folk-soaked melodies help make “NEVER WANNA LET YOU GO” an instantly irresistible, uplifting serenade. Joy’s expressions of dedication and desire are at once charming and tender; he channels his innermost feelings into a beautifully raw and robust display that captures the warmth, the wonder, and the magic that is being in love with someone else, and giving them your full self.

Oh, sometimes we all just
Wait it out for something bigger
Pointing fingers
Dodging bullets, pulling triggers
Judging love like governmental supervillains
Everyone falls down

Kids these days, they catch grenades
Hoping to blow up, get famous
They crave the visions they were sold
Beverly Hills and vintage Cartier
Will fade to particles, and
All you’ll have is the hand you hold

Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go
Singing, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go
Screaming, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go
Screaming, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh, I never wanna let you go

Aren’t we all just a little bit in love with our favorite artists?

We often talk about the relationship between artists and their fans as a “parasocial” connection, and it’s relatively easy to understand why: Fans form a personal bond to the artist through their work, finding commonality and even community, despite never knowing the artist personally. In point of fact, most of us are more in love with the songs than we are with the singer, but that didn’t stop our teenage selves from hanging posters in our bedrooms.

Hot on the heels of her sophomore EP (which featured in Atwood’s Best EPs of 2024), Stevie Bill’s first single of the year is an ode to that ever-so-special artist-audience dynamic, and what it feels like to be a “fan.” Opening with a clever interpolation of a fairly familiar – yet nonetheless distinct and original! – melody, “Fan” is, well, one for the fans: A song that celebrates feeling ever-so close to someone who doesn’t even know we exist!

I once had a boy
Or should I say
He once had me
I sit by the phone
Hoping he calls
At least once a week

I’m touching too far
Touching myself
Thinking of him
There’s just one little thing
He doesn’t know I exist

“Have you ever felt like you truly know someone, even though you don’t actually know them?” Bill tells Atwood Magazine. “You see them, hear them, and it feels like you just get each other. Like they’re your best friend, or maybe someone you’d love to get even closer to.”

“It’s almost like being in a relationship, right? Because let’s be honest, when you’re a fan, aren’t you just a little bit in love too? That weird mix of feeling super connected, even though there’s a whole world between you. That is what ‘Fan’ is all about.”

Bill rises to a cathartic, emotionally charged climax in the chorus. Rosey guitars roar and soar around her as she rides the high of that one-sided relationship – a kind of intimacy that knows no limits, nor distance:

Don’t spoil my appetite
I just wanna feel like you are mine
I watch you in the spotlight
You’d do me when the lights are off
So I can be your fan

One of Atwood Magazine‘s top artist discoveries of 2024 and a 2025 artist to watch, Stevie Bill has entered the new year with a bona fide bop. “Fan” is a feel-good love song for all of us romantic music lovers out there – an anthem we can cherish for years to come, while singing aloud at the top of our lungs.

And while the “original” version of this song was unfortunately removed and replaced with a new verse (The Beatles are notoriously litigious, and apparently Bill’s loving nod to “Norwegian Wood” was seen as a more than ‘wink’ to the concepts of fandom and Beatlemania by Sony’s copyright team), “Fan” still slams – or as she wrote, “Even with the new verse the chorus still bangs as hard as ever!!!! (No pun intended)”

Don’t spoil her appetite, and don’t spoil ours, either: “Fan” is a slam dunk – an indie pop fever dream we’ll be singing and swaying to all year long.

I once knew a girl
Who wanted to be known
For something important
She showed me the world
With every song
And every word

I know her so wеll
She’s touching my mind
Touching her skin
Therе’s just one little thing
She doesn’t know I exist

Don’t spoil my appetite
I just wanna feel like you are mine
I watch you in the spotlight
You’d do me when the lights are off
So I can be your fan

It’s not often we get a musical match made in heaven, but that’s exactly what Julien Baker & TORRES is shaping up to be. When the two singer/songwriters first announced their collaborative foray into country music last December, I might as well have wept with joy: Their sun-kissed debut single “Sugar in the Tank” is a seductive, free-spirited celebration of country music and queer love, a combination that, in itself, feels novel – and more necessarily now, than ever. Its follow-up, “Sylvia,” is equally expressive: An achingly intimate and emotional ode to TORRES’ dog, the song is full of unconditional love, longing, and the recognition that, while our pets’ lives may be a blip to us, but we are everything to them:

“A day for me is a week for you, and my life’s already halfway through,” TORRES (aka Mackenzie Scott) sings in the second verse, her voice hot on the mic and heavy with feeling. “Tomorrow, today’s worries might turn out to be regrets. Tomorrow, yesterday’s glories will be a memory.”

Sylvia, my baby
I have got to go away
In the mornin’ when you rise
I’ll be halfway down the highway
Neither of my two minds
Can decide if I’m at home
On the road when I know
The road ain’t any kind of home

Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia
Feel like I’m missing everything

“The morning I went to pick up Sylvia from an upstate shelter, I was at home making my coffee and I turned on WFMU and Dolly Parton’s ‘Cracker Jack’ was on,’ TORRES shares. “I burst into tears – it felt like the universe was telling me she was going to be mine (Sylvia was only meant to be a foster). I remember thinking that I’d love to write a song like that, a song that people could feel in their chest within five seconds of turning on the radio, because anyone who has ever had the honor of sharing a home with a beloved pet knows that a pet is family – they’re the best friends you could ever have.”

“Sylvia” aches inside and out as Julien Baker & TORRES channel a one-of-a-kind love – the bond between human and dog – into a heartfelt reverie reflecting on all the memories, moments, and emotions we can share.

Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia, feel like I’m missin everything
So alone when I’m not with you
But I ache to see the world
What’s it even mean to have everything
If I can’t share it with my girl?
Haunted by all the goodnights that I’ve missed
Every time your cheek goes unkissed
A day for me is a week for you
And my life’s already halfway through
Tomorrow, today’s worries might turn out to be regrets
Tomorrow, yesterday’s glories will be a memory
I am afraid
I’m doing it the wrong way

Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia
Feel like I’m missing everything
Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia
Feel like I’m missing everything

In a way, no one knows us as well as our pets; we can give them all of us, unconditionally, and they do the same. “Sylvia” captures that intimacy, turning something no one else sees or feels into a sentimental, soul-stirring song full of rich harmonies, sweet pedal steel, and shiver-inducing warmth. Needless to say, Julien Baker & TORRES is a singular, fast-rising pair in 2025’s music scene – not that either name needs reintroducing – and with their debut album Send a Prayer My Way coming this spring (April 18^th via Matador Records), the sky’s the limit to what their combined singing and songwriting can achieve.

“Jump back and let me through,” Gabriel Jacoby sings, his emotionally charged voice a breathtaking beacon of unbreakable love and unwavering devotion. Tender, soulful, and aching, the South Carolina-born artist and producer’s first song of the year is an intimate, vulnerable embrace of those closest to us – the ones who are always (and will always be) there for us, come thick or thin, hell or high water; no matter what happens, they have our back, and we have theirs. No wonder this song is named “brother and sister” – its title captures the weight and intensity of that timeless bond, and a testament to the real-life power of love.

Jump back and let me through
Ain’t gotta love me no
Get back and let me loose
Ain’t nun to tell me somethin
Sister I hear your cry for me
I won’t be long just hold on honey
Brother I hear your cry
I’ll never let you die

“‘brother and sister’ is my love letter to the people I care about most,” Jacoby tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s a promise that no matter how far I go chasing my dreams, my love for them is unconditional. Nothing – no obstacle or distance – will keep me from coming back to them.”

Daddy I hear you gone and
Ran off and let the lord in
Long as you don’t feel lonely
That’s all I ever wanted
I know you see me singing
Just like I said I would
I give my love away, yeah
Just cuz I know I should

Jump back and let me through
ain’t gotta love me no
Get back and let me loose
Ain’t nun to tell me somethin
Sister I hear your cry for me
I won’t be long just hold on honey
Brother I hear your cry
I’ll never let you die for me

As we celebrate one kind of love this Valentine’s Day, let us not forget that love comes in many colors, shapes, and forms – and while we often think of romance as the archetypal example, philia – the bond between close friends – and agape – unconditional, sacrificial love – are equally important, can be just as meaningful and fulfilling, and play an undeniable, outsized role in our lives.

In the end, that’s what “brother and sister” really is: A reminder to hold your loved ones as close as you can, and to let them know that you’ll never let them go.

Jump back and let me through
Ain’t gotta love me no
Get back and let me loose
Ain’t nun to tell me somethin
Sister I hear your cry for me
I won’t be long just hold on honey
Brother I hear your cry
I never let you die for me

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