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 Vienna Vienna, Petey USA, Tennis, Felly, Self Esteem, and JERUB!
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“God Save the Queens”
by Vienna Vienna“How can Heaven be better if we’re not fitting together?” Vienna Vienna sings hot on the mic, his charged voice rising to a fever pitch alongside pounding drums. “Somebody go tell the priest – God save the Queens!” And just like that, the self-proclaimed “glimmer rock” artist from Clovis, California – a relative newcomer, by every respect – establishes himself as a voice not just for his community, but for his generation and all those who believe in going bold, living unapologetically, and embracing our true, authentic selves.
I saw a man out in Hollywood, he carried a sign
That said he hated me, I said, “Please, get in line”
He starts to ask me a question,
he said, “Do you know Christ?”
I told him, “Maybe I do, does she work the nights?”
He said, “No, I mean Jesus, ”
I said, “That guy was tight
But I’m not living in a city built upon your lies”
He tried to save me,
but somebody already did last night
They said their name was Alex,
baby, and they showed me the light
Released in January via PULSE Records and Pete Wentz’s DCD2 label, “God Save the Queens” is a soaring, spirited, and utterly seductive queer anthem: The kind of dynamic, all-consuming rally cry you want to scream out loud at the top of your lungs, that plays on repeat (and rent-free) in your head for months on end, and that lights a fire in the depths of your very soul. With a striking beat and references to some of the LGBTQIA+ community’s legends – including a cheeky nod to dear old President Abraham Lincoln (whose relationships are well-documented) – Vienna Vienna delivers a timeless, catchy, and instantly memorable barnburner that hits hard and promises to leave a lasting mark.
For the artist – who released his debut EP Wonderland just last year on National Coming Out Day (October 11th) – “God Save the Queens” is an expression of pure passion and unadulterated happiness.
How can Heaven be better
if we’re not fitting together?
Somebody go tell the priest
God save the Queens
And all the in-betweens
Why you afraid of the love, love, love?
God save the Queens
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
““JOY!! DO YOU HEAR ME??? JOY!!!!” Vienna Vienna’s James Barre tells Atwood Magazine. “There are too many sad stories about us Queens. We deserve a chance to smile. F**k subtlety – I want it bold and I want it now! The amount of people who died fighting for the right to be themselves is uncountable. I’m sick of waiting around for the respect they’re never going to give us. I’m over being afraid of lust and life. I’m done holding my hands up to the sky, and asking the man-made version of Christ to love me. I’m pissed.”
“But in all of this, in all of my worn-out grievances, the one that churns the most unrest is knowing how they laugh at us, all while wearing those f**king cargo shorts. With no apology, ‘God Save The Queens’ points the finger right back at them. Corny bitches.”
I had a vision of Heaven through the pearly gates
I saw Freddie kissing Bowie, wearing roller skates
Mr. Lincoln rocking leather, even he was gay
Princess Di looked in my eyes and said,
“Go show them the way”
Little Richard in the choir, there with Marsha P
All the women loving women standing next to me
Then I woke up in a haze
thinking that was really weird
With a message on the mirror
saying, “Wish you were here”
Barre holds nothing back in belting the song’s chorus, pouring himself into a message of empowerment and revelry. “God Save the Queens” isn’t just a queer anthem; it’s a call to arms and a celebration of visibility – a searing, sparkling middle finger to shame, and a sacred tribute to the dreamers, the fighters, the icons, and the everyday heroes who dared to live out loud.
How can Heaven be better
if we’re not fitting together?
Somebody go tell the priest
God save the Queens
And all the in-betweens
Why you afraid of the love, love, love?
God save the Queens!
With its tongue-in-cheek jabs, heartfelt affirmations, and unapologetic exaltation of queer joy, Vienna Vienna’s single is a glitter-drenched gospel for the outcasts and the in-betweens – those too often pushed to the margins, but who continue to shine regardless. It’s fearless. It’s fun. It’s fury wrapped in glam. And it’s exactly the kind of radiant, rebellious energy this world needs more of.
God save the queens, indeed – and may their light never dim.
“Model Train Town”
by Petey USAPetey USA’s “Model Train Town” is an explosive, cathartic fever dream of a song. I’ve had it stuck in my head for months – and I mean that in the best way possible.
Released in January, the lead single off the midwestern singer/songwriter’s upcoming album The Yips (out July 11th) is a masterclass in raw, visceral emotional release: As catchy as it is cathartic, this song blends feral energy with raw introspection and just the right amount of existential dread.
I saw this town, quiet like a model train town
It was picturesque and beautiful
And I couldn’t wait to show you
When we came around you didn’t feel the same
You said I don’t really understand this place
I felt embarrassed that I ever liked the town
I stomped my feet into the ground
Produced by Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie fame), “Model Train Town” captures the strange tension of loving something – or someone – that the people around you just don’t understand. It’s a jagged, tender, and wildly infectious outpouring that hits like a panic attack and a hug at the same time.
Heard you met some guy,
at a party the other night
He was the coolest guy you’d ever met
He made you laugh and he smoked cigarettes
When we all hung out I didn’t feel thе same
He was self-involvеd and acting kinda lame
And I said I don’t really
f*** around with guys like him
You rolled your eyes and turned your chin
I had a f**ked up dream
The whole world ended violently
The only people left were you and me
I felt relaxed and I felt guilty
When Petey screams that chorus, it’s like he’s exorcising a decade’s worth of repressed emotion. The words send shivers down the spine – not just because they’re haunting, but because they’re true. There’s something deeply unsettling and weirdly comforting in the way he sings about apocalypse as intimacy, destruction as relief.
After seeing Petey perform this song and others live at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock earlier this week – at an unforgettable unplugged show with Medium Build – I knew it was time to finally give “Model Train Town” the spotlight it deserves. Live, its impact was seismic. Watching him tear into the chorus with nothing but a guitar, a mic, and raw conviction made the room feel like it might crack open.
Petey USA’s blend of angst, humor, and sincerity has earned him a cult following, and with this single, he’s carved out a space that feels both wildly unhinged and unmistakably sincere. “Model Train Town” is more than just a song; it’s a heart-wrenching scream into the void – and a reminder that sometimes, the only way to feel okay is to sing your guts out.
And I realized that you were all I need
Let’s buy a mobile home and sell all of our things
I’m still overwhelmed but this feels like a start
I laid my head upon your beating heart
I laid my head upon your beating heart
I laid my head upon your beating heart
I laid my head upon your beating heart
“12 Blown Tires”
by TennisSome songs just feel like goodbyes. Tender and heartfelt, lush and loving, brooding and bittersweet, Tennis’ “12 Blown Tires” aches unapologetically, inside and out. It’s a standout moment on Face Down in the Garden, the band’s seventh and final studio album – and it captures the spirit of departure with cinematic grace and emotional depth.
I’ve been a fan of Tennis since 2013 – their song “Petition,” off Young & Old, still holds a near and dear place in my heart. 2014’s Ritual in Repeat was one of the first albums I ever reviewed (positively, I might add!) for Atwood Magazine, and 2017’s Yours Conditionally remains one of my favorite albums of all time: A masterpiece, a triumph, and a masterclass in musical and emotional storytelling, full of timeless gems that sound just as fresh and tender today as they did eight years ago.
Making excuses looking back
I’m getting good at ignoring the past
Seems like our luck was all we had
Hold me so long without having to ask
For me again, I go on counting
Press my desire to the margins
I’ve been face down in the garden
You’re quick but time moves faster
Love like a natural disaster
When I walk I’m barely touching the pavement
You smile and laugh while you’re waving
To me again, I go on counting
No flower withers
No flower withers in your hand, in your hand
Up there with the very best Tennis songs, “12 Blown Tires” feels like the closing of a chapter that’s been written lovingly, carefully, and completely. Inspired by a surreal moment on tour – four blown tires, a high from a great show in Houston, and a roadside graveyard of shredded rubber – the song is, in Alaina Moore’s words, “a constellation of memories from the road, and of our marriage, two endeavors that are completely, hopelessly entangled.”
I know you are the golden son
And where you walk new lifе has begun
Waiting for fate to make it fast
Hold mе so long without having to ask
Twelve blown tires in under a mile
Twelve blown tires in under a mile
Looking for a stone in a dust pile
Counted twelve blown tires in under a mile
It’s a vignette of beauty and breakdown, of love and loss and time’s slow, unstoppable movement. Alaina Moore and her husband and Tennis bandmate Patrick Riley distill the chaos, the connection, and the passage of years into four haunting minutes of music that manage to sound both expansive and deeply intimate.
“When we recorded ‘12 Blown Tires’ a few months later, I had the sense of distilling the past 15 years into four minutes of music,” Moore says. “It felt like the end of something, though I wasn’t sure what.”
Now we know what. With Face Down in the Garden, Tennis have chosen to close the book on their project – at least “in this configuration,” as they put it – and move toward new creative endeavors. “Patrick and I spent most of our 20s and all of our 30s focused on Tennis. It has been the most joyous, bewildering, challenging, and humbling experience. After finishing Face Down In The Garden, it became clear that we had said everything we wanted to say and achieved everything we wanted to achieve with our band,” Moore reflects. “This will be our last studio album… We are ready to pursue other creative projects and to make space in our lives for new things.”
Swaying backstage at Terminal Five
Fleshed out kissed up I’m feeling alive
Looking for a storm in this weather
Couldn’t even rub two dimes together
When I walk I’m barely touching the pavement
We smile and laugh while we’re waving
Cycling down the drain to the basement
Hang on to the time that I wasted
For me again, I go on counting
I see our fates go on colliding
And so, Face Down in the Garden becomes a full-circle moment: The farewell after the voyage, the final thoughts before the curtain call. “12 Blown Tires” is Tennis’ love letter to the road, to the music, to one another, and to us. It’s a stunning and stirring reminder of everything Tennis gave us – and everything they made us feel.
Let it play loud. Let it linger.
“Ambroxyde”
by FellyA
There’s a quiet kind of magic to Felly’s “Ambroxyde” – a dreamy, gentle indie folk meditation that stirs the soul in ways I still can’t quite articulate. This song moves in phases. For a long time, I didn’t know what I wanted to say about it, because I didn’t fully understand it. And in many ways, I still don’t. But I know how it makes me feel. I know I smile every time I listen. I know it sends shivers down my spine.
The title track to his upcoming fourth studio album, “Ambroxyde” captures something both cosmic and deeply grounded: A spiritual stillness wrapped in flickering memory and restless emotion. “Coming home late on the flight / Swimming through space, feeling oceanic,” Felly sings softly, his voice floating above warm acoustics and gentle textures. It’s an atmosphere more than a narrative, yet the emotion rings loud and clear: Tenderness, love, uncertainty, wonder.
Coming home late on the flight
Swimming through space feeling oceanic
How will I know when it’s right?
Cover my face off the north atlantic
I can remember
Hearing your voice for the first time
In the cool of December
Keeping you close through the night
light up the ambroxyde
kiss on your lips feeling oceanic
Surely there’s time I could buy
See how it goes when I just don’t plan it
Isn’t it obvious?
We’re just some particles, yea
And the worries they hardly come
Haven’t you had enough?
“When we finished recording the album – ‘Ambroxyde’ was a song that felt like it bled through with a lot of the colors/moods that come up throughout the album,” Felly tells Atwood Magazine. “So I wanted that to be the first single. Almost like a palette cleanser for the past and a hint at what could come. When making the song it felt how I’d imagine building a house feels. You have a blueprint – but each new section or part would give way to a different part, and sort of inform what would be fitting. It took a lot of trial and error. I always knew I wanted it to have a storyline arch, and a full circle feeling. But making it work is a whole other thing. Luckily, I had time to try a lot of ideas, throw a lot away, and just create different foundations. It was a fun one to crack.”
You can hear that process in the song’s evolution — how it blooms and folds back in on itself. The second half shifts tempo and tone, a hushed storm of nostalgia and emotional clarity: “Fell on someone who loves me / She prettiest thing that I’ve ever seen.” It’s a moment that feels both intimate and infinite.
Growing up fast I hold
to things i never could catch, let go
they say dont ever get attached
ok i got attached
Loro on my back
That’s French, that’s suede
said baby Get dressed, Lets leave this place
know the Kids gonna Play (ooo)
The scars gonna fade (oo)
swimming up toward the sun beams
that vertigo wipe my compass clean
fell on someone who loves me
She prettiest thing that I’ve ever seen
we took Sol he had no ID
spin three or four times around the country
Took me a while to look up
Now I see where I’m bound
light up the ambroxyde
(Kiss on your lips feeling oceanic)
How will I know when it’s right?
See how it goes when I just don’t plan it
coming home late on the flight
my love is yours baby don’t you panic
surely there’s time i could buy
see how how it goes for the night…
Born out of a period of reflection and reinvention in Iceland’s remote Flóki Studios, “Ambroxyde” marks a new era for the Connecticut-born artist known for his genre-blending work across hip-hop, rock, and indie. This time, Felly leans into subtlety. The result is a song that feels like memory in motion — gentle, soul-stirring, and somehow eternal.
As a timestamp of where he is now, “Ambroxyde” doesn’t just signal change; it embraces it. It’s not a loud announcement. It’s a soft, radiant unfolding.
Ambroxyde (the LP) is out June 27th.
“Focus Is Power”
by Self Esteem“And now I see it clear with every passing of each year: I deserve to be here.” Some songs don’t just speak to you – they affirm you. Self Esteem’s “Focus Is Power” will forever and always take my breath away: A galvanizing, gospel-backed anthem of self-worth and survival, the lead single and second track off A Complicated Woman, Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s third studio album as Self Esteem, radiates reclamation from the inside out. One of many standouts off the LP, this track feels like both a battle cry and a blessing.
I never could’ve told you anything I long for
While I was in the water
swimming ‘gainst tides we’re taught to
Take it in our stride, laugh it off,
take it on the chin just right
Don’t be too loud or too quiet,
but I got all this fight
And now I see it clear
with every passing of each year
I deserve to be here
And every time I fall,
I crawl back like an animal
My focus is powerful
It’s hard to overstate how powerful these words feel when sung not just by Taylor, but by a jubilant, all-female gospel choir that lifts them skyward – making them not just a personal truth, but a communal one. “Focus Is Power” is a mantra wrapped in melody, rooted in resilience, and steeped in the hard-earned wisdom that comes from refusing to shrink yourself any longer.
In a personal note on Instagram, Taylor wrote: “I’ve struggled a lot with feelings of giving up. The world is getting harder unless you’re that type of specific person. I feel more and more dejected as logic repeatedly shows me that this is a losing game. So where does that leave us? ‘Focus is Power’ is about just that. If you have focus, you have power. The power to change, learn, educate, fight. Even if it’s just in the tiniest way. Find the small pockets of defiance, focus and keep existing.”
We never had it better,
my head and heart together
Before the pushing and the pulling,
the shape-shifting I’m doing
To give them what they want,
whether it’s what I want or not
You see it wasn’t up to me,
but now it could be
And now I see it clear
with every passing of each year
I deserve to be here
And every time I fall,
I crawl back like an animal
My focus is powerful
It’s a sentiment that pulses through the song’s every beat. From the opening lines (“I never could’ve told you anything I long for…”) to the final, repeated declaration – “My focus is powerful” – this is music for anyone who’s been told to stay small, to wait their turn, to pipe down. Taylor sings not just for herself, but for everyone navigating the pressures, contradictions, and impossibilities of being a “complicated woman” in an oversimplified world.
And now, I know you’re feeling ready for your bowBut the world is in your hands, you took it downSo what are you gonna do with it now?Keep singing, singing, singing now
And now I see it clear
with every passing of each yearI deserve to be hereAnd every time I fall,
I crawl back like an animalMy focus is powerful
In many ways, “Focus Is Power” encapsulates the spirit of the album it comes from: Bold, brave, and uncompromising in its conviction. A Complicated Woman is Self Esteem’s brightest, most expansive record yet – a celebration of complexity and contradiction, elevated by a chorus of female voices that make you feel seen, heard, and held.
If “Prioritise Pleasure” was the assertion, “Focus Is Power” is the embodiment. A rallying cry. A reminder. A reason to keep going. And though I may not be this song’s target audience, I feel its message in my bones.
“Deeper”
by JERUBTo love someone fully is to meet them in their mess, to hold space for their flaws, and to stay when it would be easier to walk away. It’s about presence, patience, and a deep, unwavering commitment – especially in the moments when that love is tested most.
JERUB’s “Deeper” is the kind of song that holds you close and doesn’t let go. A soul-stirring, emotionally charged love song that aches in all the right ways, it instantly calls to mind the emotional warmth and weight of Sam Smith’s now-timeless “I’m Not the Only One” – not just in sound, but in spirit. JERUB sings hot on the mic with devastating sincerity, pouring his whole heart into a ballad about loving someone completely: At their highest highs, their lowest lows, and everywhere in between.
A former Atwood Editor’s Pick for his stunning 2023 single “Cold,” JERUB continues to prove his power as a storyteller with “Deeper” – a track that radiates compassion, courage, and care in equal measure.
Lay your head on my shoulder
Wear your heart on your sleeve
Even when you feel the pain running
Through you
And wanna feel the way used to
Know that you’re not alone
Whenever you need me most
I will love you deeper
The further you fall
Hold you till your demons
Won’t hurt you no more
When you’re falling to pieces
And your heart needs a healer
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
It’s a promise wrapped in melody, a quiet anthem of unconditional love that builds and blooms with each verse. JERUB’s voice melts like butter as he croons through soaring choruses and tender confessions, each line more vulnerable than the last. There’s strength in his softness; resolve in his restraint.
“Deeper is a song about showing up for someone, not just when things are good, but when they’re at their lowest,” JERUB shares. “It’s about loving without conditions–through the mess, the doubt, the days when they don’t even feel worthy of it. I wrote this because that’s the kind of love I believe in, the kind I try to give. But honestly, it’s also the kind of love I want to receive.”
“We all have moments when we feel like we’re too much, too broken, or too far gone. This song is a reminder that we’re not. That real love – whether from a friend, a partner, or anyone who truly sees us – doesn’t waver when things get heavy. It goes deeper.”
No you don’t need a savior
But sometimes you need a friend
When you wanna run and hide in the darkness
They’re the days I’ll love you the hardest
Just know that you’re not alone
Whenever you need me most
I will love you deeper
The further you fall
Hold you till your demons
Won’t hurt you no more
When you’re falling to pieces
And your heart needs a healer
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
Born in Nigeria and raised in Nottingham, JERUB has carved out a space for himself by blending pop and soul in a way that feels both deeply personal and wildly cinematic. “Deeper” is no exception: Backed by a powerhouse arrangement and produced by Edd Holloway (Tom Grennan, Lewis Capaldi), it captures the magic of a fleeting voice memo turned fully-formed song – the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle moment that can’t be faked.
From its swelling choruses to the final, tear-streaked refrain – “I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper…” – this song isn’t just about love. It is love. Real, flawed, committed, healing love. The kind we all need. The kind we all deserve.
I can’t walk on water
Or make winter warmer
But I, I will love you deeper
Can’t promise tomorrow
Or life without sorrow
But I, I will love you deeper
I will love you deeper
The further you fall
Hold you till your demons
Won’t hurt you no more
When you’re falling to pieces
And your heart needs a healer
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
I will love you deeper, deeper, deeper
— — — —
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