Some of the best new songs added to Double J this week

Are you hanging in there? Not long to go now.

Big week for me. I bought a computer game console (even though I am a grown man), finally watched the Australian Made concert film and ate hundreds of different vitamins in an attempt to kill a cold that I was sure would kill me.

Also heard a stack of good new songs, and a few of them are available for you to hear below.

Get onto our Spotify playlist if you're keen on hearing more great new music from the past six months or so. We've got you.

Chela – 'Delivery'

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This incredibly buoyant pop song from Perth/Melbourne/Los Angeles singer Chela has better hooks that Rex Hunt. It's the kind of ultra-slick electro pop that has been one of the defining sounds of the 2010s and Chela does it better than most. Deep shades of Haim and Caroline Polachek are evident, but Chela's delivery (pun not intended) is nice and natural, which is to say it doesn't sound as if she's trying to be anyone else. Truly wonderful stuff.

Dumb Things – 'Waiting Out'

"That striped, sunlight sound", a phrase used to describe the work of The Go-Betweens, seems fitting for a raft of Brisbane-bred bands from across a range of genres. Dumb Things are one of them. They're one of the best bands in Brisbane right now, and while their sound isn't necessarily one that is tied to their home city, when you find out where they're from, it makes a whole lot of sense.

'Waiting Out' will kinda grab you on first listen, but it's one of those rich songs that gets better with every listen. The hook isn't an immediate earworm, but by the time you've heard the song a few times, you'll be humming it everywhere you go. This kind of thoughtful, languid indie rock will hit in precisely the right spot for those who need it to.

Roisin Murphy – 'Narcissus'

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The great Róisín Murphy delivers a new eight-minute-long modern disco burner and all of a sudden the world doesn't seem like such a bad place. Murphy is in some of the best form of her career right now – yes, we do remember those Moloko smash hits – and the way she just slips into this dancefloor filler with complete effortless class is so commanding. She's been one of the most assured vocalists in the dance/pop/indie world for years now, it's great that this continues to be the case.

Alicia Keys – 'Time Machine'

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The amazing Alicia Keys has delivered a late highlight of the year with this slow-creeping cut of soulful pop that might well be the most interesting song of her career thus far. It's so brilliantly executed, borrowing a little from modern electro, a little from 70s psych soul and of course injecting her second-to-none R&B vocal to take it to the next level (or maybe the one above that).

If you can't bring yourself to love Alicia Keys because she's a pop singer, it's your damn loss: this song is incredible.

Tim Shiel – 'Right In Front Of You' (ft. Braille Face)

Tim Shiel's first non-soundtrack music in five years is a great reminder of how his knack for building moods is just as powerful in more traditional songs as it is in those longer forms. Along with his friend Braille Face, Shiel has crafted a wonderfully exploratory piece of music that somehow fits myriad sonic elements without ever sounding congested.

That staid, throbbing bassline that pumps throughout the track serves as a kind of anchor that won't let up, completely unconcerned as to whether it might outstay its welcome. It doesn't. The trumpet solo is unexpected and glorious. The atmospheric flourishes in the background are eerie in the best of ways. He packs a whole lot into this a tiny little package, but it all works.

Disclosure: Tim Shiel is the host of Arvos on Double J.

Jack Peñate – 'Murder'

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This is an interesting take on modern interpretations of gospel music. It takes some aspects of genres that have borrowed from gospel in recent years – house, neo soul, indie rock – and kinda melds them together. It's a unique song made up of familiar elements. Very intriguing stuff from British artist Jack Peñate – who has a hell of a voice to boot. His third album After You is out now.

Holy Fuck – 'Free Gloss' (ft. Nicholas Allbrook)

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Turns out Canadian electro masters Holy Fuck and Pond frontman Nicholas Allbrook make a wonderful team. 'Free Gloss' is a dense, deep and dark electro exploration that is just begging to be blasted loudly from a festival doof tent in the middle of the night. There are shades of that pioneering 70s and 80s electro going on here, as well as something much more future focused. Holy Fuck's new record Deleter will be out on Friday 17 January.

The New Pornographers – 'The Surprise Knock'

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Canadian supergroup The New Pornographers remain one of the most interesting acts in indie rock, as 'The Surprise Knock' proves. A.C. Newman is forever looking at new ways to project his inimitable pop hooks in new ways, and the colourful flourishes of this song provide the perfect balance of weirdness and straightforward pop that we've loved from them for so many years. Plus the sound of him and Neko Case singing together is just one of life's great joys.

Ruby Gilbert – 'Slave'

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A ripping little rockabilly-infused number from Brisbane artist Ruby Gilbert. It'll get your toe tapping immediately, the chorus will stay in your head long after the song is over, and you'll be seeking out more from this great fledgling artist before you know it.