Coming at us like some dreamy Arctic Monkeys with Beach Boys undertones is the New York band HOAX. Built by two musical empaths Michael Raj and Frantz Cesar who are equally drawn to the “beautiful sound of sadness” whether that be in ‘60s pop, ‘70s Motown, or alternative R&B. Each line of the duo’s new single ‘Could’ drips with existential crisis, especially lines like “Pulling back the blinds, / Is this the world you pictured here before?  / Struggling to find, / Some sort of reason behind this need to survive.” These blisteringly solemn moments launch into sky-ripping guitar riffs and an indie-rock vocal perfection that would make Alex Turner weep. The whole song is a play on the dichotomy of “doing” versus “being”, and it’s a concept we can expect to continue through the intertwined stories of HOAX’s debut project b? As they say: watch this space. - Hannah Thacker