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.

This week’s Editor’s Picks features Reem Mitten, hard life, BEL, Lord Huron, girlpuppy, and Young Gun Silver Fox!

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Reem Mitten’s “Back to the Start of it” aches intimately and unapologetically in all the right places. Cathartic, catchy, and cool all at once, it’s the kind of soulful, seductive song that holds your gaze and doesn’t let go – impassioned and intense, full of longing, bitterness, nostalgia, and the slow-burning sting of betrayal. An unfiltered, gently all-consuming confessional, Mitten’s first song of the year captures that hollow ache of looking back at love after the damage is done, still craving the simplicity of the beginning even as you know there’s no way to return. It’s slick, it’s tender, it’s triumphant – and it’s been stuck in my head and my heart ever since I first heard it.

Don’t talk to me like that

Don’t tell me how to suffer
when I’m lying in the water
Don’t tell me how to feel

Don’t you know that you wrote this?
Don’t you know that you caused it?

I, I, I, I, I, I,

I wanted it, I wanted it 

Oh I, I, I, I, I, I,

I needed it 

How do we get
back to the start of it?



Independently released April 15, “Back to the Start of It” is a stunning introduction. Reem Mitten’s fourth-ever song release (following last August’s two track It’s All Colour EP and November’s single “All Your Love”) finds the North West London-born singer/songwriter deep in her own emotionally charged reckoning, trying to pick apart what went wrong, when it went wrong, and why it went wrong.

“When I wrote ‘Back to the Start of it,’ I wanted to capture a shift in dynamics — the kind that brings anger, frustration, and the ache of feeling misunderstood by someone you once believed truly got you,” Mitten shares. “It’s that moment when something cracks, and you realize you’re no longer seen the way you thought you were.”

“I wanted it, I needed it. How do we get back to the start of it?” she pleads in the chorus, confronting the wreckage of a relationship and the desperate, impossible wish to rewind time. “Despite everything, there’s still that longing to return to the beginning,” she explains. “Before the cracks, before we saw each other’s flaws, before our little bubble burst.”

And it was all because I loved you 

What did that love do?

Tore me apart and left me in tethers

It was all for nothing 

You were nothing, nothing

Produced by Dave McCracken (Depeche Mode, Ian Brown, Alicia Keys) and written in her Cricklewood apartment above an old wine bar, “Back to the Start of it” channels the drama and emotional complexity of artists like Fiona Apple and Florence + the Machine. But Mitten’s voice – shaped by her Moroccan-Irish heritage and her lifelong musical journey – is entirely her own: Magnetic, commanding, and impossible to ignore.

“At its core, the song is about conflicting emotions: The pain of loving someone, the frustration of feeling unheard, and the hopeless desire to return to a time before everything cracked,” Mitten adds. “I think I’ve realized that while we might speak, we don’t really talk — not about how we really feel. It’s hard. So, instead, we carry these quiet conversations inside ourselves that never leave our heads.”

“I try to write in a way that leaves space for interpretation so the listener can find their own meaning. It’s not about being fully understood. It’s about evoking something familiar – a feeling, a moment – that they’ve lived too.”

We want to go back. We yearn to go back – but we can never go back to the start of it. In three spellbinding minutes, Reem Mitten delivers a hard, universal truth with equal parts soul and suave, her heart bruised, bitter, and never leaving her sleeve. Consider me hooked for life.

How easy was it to break?
I can see your body with somebody else

How hard was it to escape? 

Bet you’re wishing you were somebody else

Guess it took bravery to betray

Stuffing all your sweet nothings down my mouth

But how do we get back to the start again
?
Got lost in the comfort on the way down



I, I, I,
I wanted it, I wanted it 

Oh I, I, I, I needed it 

How do we get back to the start of it?

Witty, charismatic, clever, and endlessly catchy, hard life’s “othello” is a magnetic reintroduction – the sound of an artist reinvigorated, revitalized, and fully in their element. Fusing off-kilter acoustics with hook-heavy hip-hop and magnetic wordplay, Murray Matravers crafts a nuanced, intoxicating track that’s as emotionally sharp as it is sonically adventurous.

It′s never black and white,
it’s playin′ on my mind like othello
And as we intertwine,
you make my upper lip shake like jello
And before I could get my words out,
there was nothin’ but thin air
And before I could check my radar,
there was nothin’ but thin air

“It was the obvious choice because it hints at the new sonic universe of hard life without being too much of a departure from what fans might have become used to,” Matravers tells Atwood Magazine. “It was also the last song that I wrote for the album, so it also felt the most fresh – perhaps that’s just recency bias, but I’m glad it’s out in the world and people are vibing it.”

Written and recorded in Japan, “othello” plays on the board game’s tactical tension and the Shakespearean tragedy’s emotional weight, reflecting on a breakup that left Matravers feeling “incredibly sad and isolating.” As he explains, “Despite both people having the best intentions, these things can sometimes turn into a bit of a game of chess, or Othello in this instance. All of a sudden this person that was there in your life has vanished, and you feel incredibly alone. Of course, the feeling of loneliness can push you closer towards yourself, and a lot of growth and positivity can come from this place – however, the initial feeling is incredibly sad and isolating.”

She said, “See you later alligator”, Lacoste crop-top on the escalator
Said she′s goin′ through a bad time, been a hard ride
So she wore a bomber jacket and a detonator
Shoulda worn a high-vis, don’t turn down your brightness
What is life without all of the herbs and all the spices?
Shakin′ like arthritis, puttin’ in a night shift, tunin′ up the voltage

The song’s hypnotic refrain – nothin’ but thin air – becomes a mantra of absence, an ache where love used to live. And yet “othello” never sinks under its sadness; it’s buoyed by creativity, wit, and a fearless sense of artistic freedom. “This is the album I always wanted to make,” Matravers says of the upcoming onion. “It’s raw and honest in a way that I’ve never been before… I made it for me and I love it. I feel like I’ve made something unique.”

Whether you hear it as a breakup anthem, a playful sonic experiment, or just the sound of an artist throwing off the weight of expectation, “othello” is a fresh start worth celebrating – and a thrilling sign of what’s to come.

Fresh starts aren’t always clean or easy; sometimes they’re messy, bittersweet, and filled with unexpected heartache. BEL’s “Fresh Start” captures that tender balancing act: The sadness of letting go, the beauty of deep friendships, and the hope that change can bring something good, even if there’s a little up-front pain.

Released April 25, Bel Whelan’s first single of the year is a groovy, glistening confessional – and, quite literally, a fresh start for the California indie pop artist, who in tandem with the song announced her recent signing to Nettwerk Music Group. As with all beginnings, this one is coming in hot.

“I wrote it when I was moving out of the apartment I had been living in for three years,” BEL tells Atwood Magazine. “I had so many memories attached to it, and I lived within five minutes of my best friends. I was about to move to a part of town further away from everything. I was really emotional about it, but my friends knew just how to cheer me up and show me the bright side of it. It’s a song of gratitude for the deep friendships in my life and acknowledging that change can be both painful and beautiful.”“Didn’t even think that it’d be this hard, I know I’ve been due for a fresh start,” she sings in the chorus, her voice floating over breezy melodies and luminous production. Produced by Jason Vance Harris, “Fresh Start” is a dazzling display of BEL’s talents as a songwriter, a storyteller, and a melody maker – turning personal upheaval into a dreamy, emotionally resonant indie pop anthem that soothes even as it stings. Are fresh starts worth the weight they come with? It’s hard to say – but I know this one certainly is.

Why do we want what we want in life? What do we make of the dreams we chase, the ones we abandon, and the roads we never take? Are they worth the weight we give them, or are they just shadows trailing us through time?

Lord Huron’s “Nothing I Need” offers itself as a bittersweet, aching answer – if only a rhetorical one. Released March 28^th, the lead single off the band’s upcoming album The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 (out July 18 via Mercury Records) is classic Lord Huron: A wistful, poetic folk rock reverie basking in sweet, hazy sunlight, acoustic-electric bliss, and deeply intimate, soul-baring lyrics.

i fell asleep and when i woke up i was old
i said goodbye to my youth and my blood ran cold
i got a feeling i just had to get away
i left it all behind on an endless road
but i see her face everywhere i go

i got everything i want
and i got nothing that i need
i got everything i want
and i got nothing that i need

“I fell asleep and when I woke up I was old / I said goodbye to my youth and my blood ran cold,” frontman Ben Schneider sings, setting the stage for a meditation on longing, loss, and regret. Throughout the track, the protagonist wrestles with a haunting truth: I got everything I want and I got nothing that I need.

“This song wonders if it’s possible, within the short time you’ve got, to ever truly know what you want,” Schneider tells Atwood Magazine. “If it’s worthwhile wanting anything at all, and if there’s any point in pondering what’s down the roads you didn’t take,”

i fell asleep and when i woke up she was there
with her long black hair and her ice-cold stare
she made me wish that i had never let her go
i threw away our love on the goddamn road
but i see her face everywhere i go

i fell in deep when you fell out of love with me
now i got everything i want and i got nothing that i need
if i believe will you fall back in love with me?
now i got everything i want and i got nothing that i need
i got everything i want and i got nothing that i need

With its shimmering textures and confessional heart, “Nothing I Need” feels like a tender reckoning – a song to get lost in while standing at the crossroads, staring down the paths you did and didn’t choose, and wondering whether the one thing you’ll never get is the only thing you’ll ever need.

i threw away my life on a goddamn road
but i see her face everywhere i go
i threw away our love on the goddamn road
and i see her face everywhere i go

i fell in deep when you fell out of love with me
now i got everything i want and i got nothing that i need
just say the word and i will change the life i lead
and i will push away the world just to keep you close to me
i’d give up everything i got just to have what used to be
you’re the one i’ll never get and you’re the one thing that i need

i threw away my love on a goddamn road
but i see her face everywhere i go

“Think I’m a masochist, I know you can hurt me,” girlpuppy’s Becca Harvey confesses. “And I’m letting you, ‘cause I like you; I just do.” Few admissions hit as hard as this one. On “I Just Do!,” an emotionally charged standout off girlpuppy’s sophomore album Sweetness, the Atlanta-based indie rock artist lays herself bare in a moment of intimate, aching vulnerability – reckoning with her own self-destructive longing and the irresistible pull of someone emotionally unavailable.

I didn’t think I’d find you there
Now we’re spending everyday together
We brush our teeth and then you brush my hair
I’m just trying to make you laugh
But your whole world is changing back at home
We can stay in this hotel room
Pretend there’s nowhere else to go

Think I’m a masochist
I know you can hurt me
And I’m letting you
‘Cause I like you
I just do

Written after six days in Los Angeles spent spiraling into an “all-consuming” crush, “I Just Do!” is as raw as it is infectious – a dreamy confessional glowing with pain, pleasure, and that unmistakable ache of wanting something you know you can’t have – but you do it anyway, because it feels good.

“I wrote this entire song and then recorded a voice note of me singing it a capella in my bathtub, where I get lots of inspiration for songs,” Harvey shares. “I brought it to Alex Farrar and he built the instruments around the melody I wrote, and it turned out so much fun. This is definitely going to be be my favorite song to play on tour.”

Sleeping through another flight
I didn’t set an alarm and I don’t care
Laying in your arms
Blackout curtains, no daylight
Staying out and drinking beers
I love it when I make your friends laugh
I love how much they love you
And all the fun that you guys have

That duality – of hurt and happiness, grief and desire – defines “I Just Do!” and helps make it as undeniably cathartic as it is instantly memorable. It’s the sound of knowingly lighting a match too close to your heart: Raw, honest, and unshakably human.

And it’s a reminder that for every question, there’s a very easy answer right there, waiting to be used. Why do I really like this song? I just do.

Think I’m a masochist
I know you can hurt me
And I’m letting you
I don’t know why I always do
But I’m letting you
‘Cause I like you

There’s musical warmth, and then there’s the smoldering, seductive heat of Young Gun Silver Fox’s “Late Night Last Train.” A soul-soaked, sun-drenched reverie, the third track off the band’s recently released fifth album Pleasure invites its audience to sit back, relax, and bask in a world of streamy, dreamy sonic wonder.

On the one hand, it’s a classic, timeless sound – sweaty vocals stacked with lush harmonies, pulsing bass notes, and glowing keys call to mind bands like Ambrosia, The Doobie Brothers, Seals & Crofts, and Steely Dan – and yet, Young Gun Silver Fox are totally fresh – or at least, fresher than the 1970s. Active for just over a decade, the London-based duo of Andy Platts and Shawn Lee have been putting their own spin on that sweet, familiar soft-rock sound ever since their debut. Ten years in, the two clearly have honed their craft, and “Late Night Last Train” highlights not only the depth of their talent, but the continued passion and dedication they have to finding the “sweet spot” in every song.

I’ve walked the Brooklyn bridge
in the driving rain
Watched the sunlight flicker
in Californian waves
Flying high as a kite
With my head in the clouds
Now I’ve got my feet back on solid ground

Gotta make the
Late Night Last Train
And I’m running again, running again
Late Night One Way
Heading far away from here
Where I’ve been moving the needle
Now I’m coming home
Coming back to you where I belong

As the band explain, this track came to life during a particularly prolific 36-hour hot streak one dark December.

“The music was effortless and practically appeared out of the ether,” Shawn Lee recalls. “These type of mid-tempo grooves provide the ideal back drop for Andy and myself, both deep and dreamy but with a chugging driving pulse. We talked about the song ‘Honey’ by the Delegation, which really captures that mellow magic we were ultimately aiming for. Throw in a bit of ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac and some Todd Rundgren fairy dust for the middle section (“Check out the tasty bridge in 5/4 time!” Platts quips), and you’ve got a potent musical brew. Andy really captures the mood of the track with a really top classic vocal performance, and I channeled a tasty guitar solo as luck had it. It’s definitely one of my favourite songs on the new album!”

For Andy Platts, “Late Night Last Train” feels very real to his and Lee’s lives as touring musicians. “This is a late-night reflection on the grind of tour life, encompassing the highs and lows and the effects of constant displacement,” he adds. “It fuses our love for this kind of tempo with key influences from all those artists Shawn just mentioned.”

So tired of losing sleep
in heartless hotel rooms
Being on the other side
of the world from you
To be a king for a night
I’m burning out like a match
But still that voice inside
Keeps me going back

If like me, you grew up with a healthy amount of “soft rock” emanating from the speakers, then you, too, know how it feels when the band locks in and groove hits just right. “Late Night Last Train” is intoxicating – whereas the narrator may be burning the candle at both ends, the music itself lights the perfect fire.

Gotta make the
Late Night Last Train
And I’m running again, running again
Late Night One Way
Heading far away from here
Where I’ve been moving the needle
Now I’m coming home
Coming back to you where I belong

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