Digital Underground: 10 Hyperpop Releases From 2024
- Nicole Basham
- 15 minutes ago
- 9 min read
These ten artists are rapidly changing the fabric of music from the underground up. Hyperpop thrives on distortion, dancing between a resistance to and fascination with pop’s genre conventions. Artists such as SOPHIE, 100 gecs, and A.G. Cook helped define the sound and popularized the avant-garde electronic and synth tracks that sound like someone added a dash of nuclear waste to your average pop song. The genre captured scores of listeners by exaggerating pop’s most artificial elements, twisting them into something chaotic, subversive, and oddly better suited for the disillusionment of late-stage capitalism and recent global pandemic than typical radio-bait, inoffensive melodies. Some artists, even those popular within the movement, have questioned or even distanced themselves from this microgenre label, but here are 10 hyperpop releases from 2024 telling us that the genre is here to stay.
"Underground" - f5ve (Doss Remix)
This song is seriously infectious. I’ve loved Doss remixes since listening to “Whole New World (Sophie and Doss Remix)” from SOPHIE’s debut album. Her remix softens the Japanese girl group’s original energy, slowing down key moments in the chorus and verses. The added gentle textures create a wistful, subdued quality that balances the song’s otherwise upbeat pulse. f5ve was formed in 2022, and the group self-describes on Spotify as “inter-dimensional dream agents from Tokyo, Japan," with their mission "to infiltrate the subconscious mind to eradicate self-doubt and bad vibes” and “to create surreal aural landscapes in which fear cannot exist.” Based on this track, I would say they're off to a great start! I love the fusion of Neo J-pop, also known as "gacha pop," and American hyperpop influences in their production and remixes.
The original lyrics of the song, translated to English by Genius, speak of their desire to find a world where one can exist in peace and harmony,
“Everyday, wake up, have coffee / With a smile that hides the overflowing tears / In a life following a manual / I feel like dying, I just wanna escape”
And, not discovering this world in their day-to-day life, f5ve must create it for themselves (and us) with their music,
“A place where I can finally become the person I want to be / Let's go together underground, ground / Flash, underground, flash, underground (Yes!) / From the stone hard world to the underground (Hey!)”
I would absolutely recommend listening to both the remix and the original (video below).
"Maniacal" - Alice Longyu Gao
This song comes as a collaboration with the series Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld, which I would highly recommend if you like Chinese mythology, 2D animation, or international electronic music! Gao is joined by other exceptional, internationally-acclaimed electronic artists such as Yaeji on the soundtrack. This song is perfect for the action sequence for which it provides the backdrop, where Jentry must allow herself to be possessed in order to fight daemons and escape Diyu, a layer of the underworld. The lyrics mirror the tonal shift in the series, marking the first time Jentry’s role as an unquestioned hero is challenged as she risks acquiring villainous characteristics and turning herself into one of the monsters she fights.
"it's maniacal / it's impossible / hypocritical / through your monocle / so maniacal."
I've talked about my love for Alice Longyu Gao elsewhere on Enharmonic, but this song really captures their maximalist approach to sonic and vocal layering. The song weaves in snippets of Gao speaking, chant-like verses and choruses, intermittent screams and "oohs," and a gradual acceleration that builds to a total collapse. It ends in a sonic crash, as if someone abruptly shut off an old TV.
"Matter of Time" - umru and Warpstr
umru is an Estonian American producer who was discovered on SoundCloud by A.G. Cook and has also produced for Charli XCX on mixtapes like Pop 2. This song is incredibly catchy. While the lyrics remain minimal and foreboding ("it's just a matter of time / it's just a matter of time / before we lose our minds"), the danceable beat creates a feeling of revelry and unbothered presence that feels genuinely uplifting.
The song shifts to different sonic landscapes, yet keeps a similar structure and pacing throughout. While the lyrics speak to the future, harsh drum beats keep the listener grounded in the present moment.
"special" - food house, Gupi, Fraxiom
This catchy, earworm song captures the postmodern malaise and skepticism that accompany dating in a world already oversaturated with “boy-meets-girl” love stories.
“Color haired girl meets RGB boy I’ve seen it a million times so / What about you makes you so special that you think you can take my love?"
Later, the pronouns invert and become: “What about me makes me so special that I think I deserve your love?” This moment reveals that the core issue in the relationship is not a lack of effort or connection, but a shared insecurity that nothing could actually be real or live up to the weight of social expectations. With heterosexual scripts crammed down our throats from a young age, the ultimate irony is that they are “both feeling stupid for loving each other" in a sincere way. This boppy song defamiliarizes a dating experience that has perhaps become too normalized and generalized to seem genuine, particularly with the way love is portrayed in modern pop.
“Deep sighing, does it take energy out of you to have me around? / Why bother? / Both of us deserve to find somebody who is like us but we’re in love with us and somebody like me could never be somebody like us”
"Exhilarate (feat. Bibi Bourelly)" - SOPHIE
This song comes from SOPHIE's posthumous, self-titled album. I was deeply moved and very excited when her family announced the release of the new album. Completed by her brother and featuring many of her closest collaborators, the album feels like a final tribute to her groundbreaking vision. SOPHIE is my favorite producer of all time, and this song is a beautiful demonstration of her talents. A pioneer of the hyperpop genre, SOPHIE took electronic music places it had never been before, often creating entirely new sounds. This album is more recognizably pop than her debut, yet the artistry still takes familiar elements to novel heights, reflected in the soaring sounds and lyrics of the chorus, sung by Bibi Bourelly.
"Got my foot on the gas, got my foot on the gas / I be goin' way too fast for myself / Got my foot on the gas, got my foot on the gas / I be goin' way too fast for myself, yeah
The sporadic bursts of laser sounds punctuating a sudden silence at the end of the song highlight another element of the microgenre: as much as these artists revel in creating huge, fantastic sounds, the moments where they bring them crashing down reveal eerie moments of reflection in the uncanny absence of noise.
I spend all my days now trying to get by / Oh, sometimes it don't feel like I'm gonna survive
"Laplander (Finn Keane remix)" - Finn Keane
This song builds on the dance elements of the original version, released 10 years ago, upping the distortion, shimmer, and bounce, while gutting most of the lyrics. The song captures hyperpop’s signature "glitch" element through its chopped-up lyrics, recombined fragments, and stuttering synths that distort and disrupt the track’s flow. Similar to "Matter of Time," the speaker creates a sense of comfort for himself through constant sonic flux and high-energy pacing to match turbulent emotions. The re-release also marks a new era and a name change for the artist, who used to go by the moniker "EASYFUN" and gained recognition producing for Charli XCX. The song becomes more abrasive and splintered in the remix, echoing the relationship that is seemingly being torn apart, with the lyrics:
"Can't you see? Don't you see? It's not true / It was only just to keep us together / This is it, that was it, your last chance / Don't say I didn't warn you in advance
Can't you see? Don't you see? It's not true / It was only just to keep us together / This is it, that was it, your last chance."
"Soulbreaker" - A.G. Cook
A.G. Cook is commonly referred to as one of the originators of the hyperpop sound and genre, and he was the founder of the iconic PC Music label. While he has recently gained widespread recognition as (another) one of Charli XCX’s core producers, his impact on the music landscape through his solo work is arguably even larger. This song, from his 2024 album Britpop, is, to me, the pinnacle of this genre. If I had to choose one word to describe the song, I would call it clean— and if I could only listen to 10 songs for the rest of my life, this would be one of them. The track contains but one repeated lyric:
"'Cause, yeah, I know when I look in my heart / You're a soul-breaker."
This minimalism reflects the truly singular experience and person the artist is attempting to capture his feelings for. Bass pulses and drum kicks give way to bright, shimmering synths, electric guitar, classical-sounding piano, and extreme vocal modulations to create a surprisingly cohesive yet ever-shifting melody. The animation of the video is beautiful and vibrant, and it truly captures the depth and storyworlds that can exist in a lyrically-simple song.
"giirL math" - horsegiirL_, Namasenda
This song captures the facetious and often sardonic nature of hyperpop, in particular its commentary on consumer-driven music and products. Namasenda, a member of the PC Music Collective, has been underappreciated in her contributions to the hyperpop sound and aesthetic for almost a decade, and horsegiirL_ is a rising star in the international DJ scene (as mentioned previously in Enharmonic). Together they make a powerhouse pair, with lyrics poking fun and consumer-driven models of feminism and the goals they inspire,
"An independent girl takes on the world / I know MC squared is E, leave it to me / See, I couldn't be a lawyer, working way too much / No point of being smart, if you can just be hot"
Another top contender for best lyric: "Could've been a doctor, but the outfit isn't cutе"
The two artists combine their sounds beautifully to create an ultra-catchy chorus that is just as sparkly as the lifestyle they claim to desire. The track cuts out, then ends with horsegiirL_ feigning an awkward interaction:
"Oh, oh / Oh, you have to pay for that / Oh my God, sorry, I'll, uh, I-I, I'll put it back / Yeah, uh, I'll put it back, huh / Sorry"
This makes it clear that the “girl math” mindset and ultra-luxury lifestyle they playfully promote remain far out of reach for underground indie artists like her.
"search and destroy" - ericdoa
I first started listening to ericdoa from his "movinglikeazombie - remix," a collab with umru, among others. What struck me again and again while writing this list is how deeply interconnected artists in this niche genre are, producing and creating remixes collaboratively in a way that truly makes this international community feel like a small town. This song captures another crucial element for a lot of hyperpop: a close connection to video games, avatars, and other digital media. A cacophony of stuttering sounds opens the song, mimicking the loading and buffering of a video game and generating the environment before things smooth out.
With lyrics like "know there ain't no respawn" and "father always told me that a gun was not a toy," the speaker's digital and AFK life blur together and distort each other. ericdoa describes his search and destroy 'mission' as he and 'his soldier' (his avatar?) navigate the terrain, remaining ambiguous as to whether this is happening on or off line, mirrored by the shifting landscapes of the music video.
"Hum it to google" - Bassvictim, Ngahere Wafer
Forgive me, but I'm going to cheat a little and end this list with a song released in January 2025. As I was looking up information and song lyrics for this article, I was indeed confronted with a google pop-up suggesting I tap a mic icon and hum the tune I was looking for.
As more art and artists are found and exploited online, finding ways to resist —or thrive despite— algorithms governing success and failure has become particularly difficult for young and independent artists. Bassvictim not only satirically remarks on this phenomenon in their title and lyrics, but also creates a sound that is nearly impossible to hum or identify due to the rapid, intensive layering of digital sound effects and extremely distorted vocals overlaying a snippet of a hummed tune. In fact, when I tried my best to hum the tune to the Google recognition software, it returned a message of "no matches found."
Big blue shiny eyes, yes, yes, I see ya / Wind blows, rainbows, oh (Oh) / Let my thoughts go numb, numb, yeah, I feel the lightness
Mindless, doubtless, ah (Ah) / Sounds like– (Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm) / Ah (Mm, mm-mm-mm)
Sounds like– (Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm) / (Mm, mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm-mm) / Sounds like–
I hope this article gives some inspiration for your next hyperpop playlist!
What do you want to see covered on Enharmonic Magazine next? Let us know.
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