We are well educated on our musical savants here in the U.S., but rarely do we pop our American bald eagle bubble, and usually that’s for the Brits. So today I’ll be taking you around the musical world, feel free to start the playlist on the right and listen as you read.

Cocoon- Bjork

Bjork hails from Iceland, and creates a beautiful wintery atmosphere on this entire album, “Vespertine.” This song in particular grabbed my attention due to its breathy and raw vocal backed by minimal harp and odd sounds. Bjork paints a picture with words like no other, and this song, more so this entire album, is guaranteed to leave you breathless.

Paradis Perdus – Christine and the Queens

Héloïse Letissier fronts this one man show under the stage name “Christine.” She grew up in France, and speaks English fluently. In fact, most of her songs have lyrics in both French and English. She blends songs beautifully, and that talent becomes extremely apparent in her cover and mash-up of Kanye West’s “Heartless”, and French singer Christophe’s “Les Paradis Perdus.” This mix is masterful, and so is the video that accompanies it. Christine’s genius infused self-named genre “freakpop” is the perfect representation of her music.

Video Girl- FKA Twigs

I promised myself I would let one British singer slip into this mixtape, and FKA made the cut. Her synthy weirdness and crazy unique vocals bring a new level to any song she makes, but Video Girl has always been my favorite. Twigs brings the weird on this track, but for her it always works. “Video Girl” brings a deep gutty bass to the table along with Twig’s ethereal vocals.

Silas- Betty Who

This Aussie pop artist always brings your new anthem to the table, so “Silas” was something surprising on her debut EP from quite a while ago. Slow and melancholy, Betty Who sings a love ballad rid of cliches, and extremely raw and powerful. Her artistry shows through in this stand out track, giving this EP the depth it needed to start her career. Years later and it’s still my go-to sad song.

Mil Espejos- Nudozurdo

This indie rock band from Spain is one of the best there is. Their soft guitar riffs and superb drummer bring a light, summery feeling to this track. Singer Leopoldo Mateos is masterful at creating the perfect lyrics, and everything flows beautifully and without hesitation. Nudozurdo’s music is begging for the attention they rightly deserve, and I hope to give them some by introducing you to this track. If this mixtape has done anything, I hope it had proved that great music is found everywhere, as long as you keep your ears open.