New England's best new music this month

Our critics' local music picks for the month of February are, dare I say, fun? Other Brother Darryl's singalonable alt-country, JoJo's heartfelt hooks, The Pomps' playful ska and the up-tempo rock 'n' roll of Cape Crush — even Connis and loe4t's hip-hop ennui is easy on the ears. Crank up these tunes and allow yourself to forget your troubles for a while.

“Yo, let’s make Track 2 a bop.” So ends the first track on “New Sky,” a dreamy collaboration by the Cambridge rapper Connis and the producer loe4t. The next song, “DAMN I’M HIGH,” is a hazy, downtempo reverie that captures the slow-motion, underwater feeling of being too high — but it’s not exactly a bop. This is the general mood of “New Sky,” an album that reaches for transcendence more than it achieves it. Instead, Connis and loe4t soak pleasurably in the warm sounds of acoustic guitar, wandering basslines and gentle distortion. They evoke the languid feeling of lying around in your bedroom with the shades drawn, sleeping off a hangover: claustrophobic but cocooned, intimate and a little depressed. Good feelings are hard to come by in this universe, but somehow, it feels good anyway.

Connis is an evocative lyricist who deftly traverses the edge between wry and sentimental. “What, you want me standing outside of the crib/ On some John Cusack shit/ Speaker above my head/ Playing SZA ‘I Hate U,’” he raps on “EASIER.” In an email, Connis explained that “New Sky” was written during a “grief-ridden period” following the death of his best friend. “I feel like throughout the album there is this sense of me digging myself out of a hole and re-entering the world as a ‘new’ version of myself,” he wrote. On “New Sky,” melancholy lurks alongside positive emotions like a shadow: “We like 50 deep in the club looking for a answer.” Joy, in this framing, is a means of escaping pain. But you get the sense Connis thinks answers are still worth seeking. — Amelia Mason

“Spin the dial/ Momma, won’t you turn that song up loud?/ I’ll watch the trees, you smoke your cigarettes,” Dan Nicklin sings on “Watch The Trees,” a single from Other Brother Darryl’s debut album “Roll Shine Roll.” The refrain evokes visions of the backseat from a child’s perspective, the world’s splendor gradually unfolding in whichever direction your parents steer you. Wouldn’t it be a relief if life were that simple again?

When “Roll Shine Roll” is spinning, it is. On this first LP, the Boston group embarks on a sun-dappled journey through the wending grooves of “cosmic canyon rock.”  “Roll Shine Roll” maintains a grounding earthiness as it escorts listeners through panoramas evoked by Other Brother Darryl’s alt-country: billowing plains, ruddy canyon walls and amber dawns. In a musical landscape that’s burdened by filler-heavy albums — all for the sake of racking up streams — “Roll Shine Roll” presents a roadmap where every song is worth stopping to take in the view.  — Victoria Wasylak

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The song “Katie on the Radio” is about appreciating what’s in your own backyard. While writing it, Cape Crush’s Ali Lipman was thinking about her days as a college radio DJ at UMass Lowell. Back then, it felt like the best place to be a young creative was somewhere else, like Los Angeles or New York. Meanwhile, the records she loved were by artists who wrote about and still lived in their own hometowns. “I was missing the point completely,” she says.

That has since changed. Her homage to unsung hometowns around the country sits on a split-EP, “Good Dogs Wear Capes,” that aspires to be a time capsule of the local scene. Packed with excellent, nostalgia-laced emo tunes, it’s a collaboration with two other bands — Good June and Impossible Dog — who are unapologetically rooted in their New England communities. The whole project is worth a listen, but if you’re craving a sweet dose of group harmonies courtesy of Impossible Dog’s Evan Doherty and Evan Kelley, a killer guitar solo from Cape Crush’s James Christopher, and a chorus to hum for the next few weeks, “Katie on the Radio” has it all. — Lukas Harnisch

Can the topic of zoning by-law referendums yield a golden ska song? You better believe it’s possible when The Pomps get to work. The Boston foursome, led by guitarist/singer Alex Stern, is back with another of their sardonically titled LPs: “Partial Eclipse of The Pomps.” The song in question, “That’s Not A House,” is a frenetic look at zip codes where private planes are more welcome than public transportation, and it bubbles over thanks to organist Casey Gruttadauria and the supple rhythm section of bassist Jameson Hollis and drummer Zak Khan. With their New Wave hooks and spectacular songwriting, The Pomps have a voice all their own, whether they’re bemoaning the current state of private equity-financed lodging in “New American Hotel” or declaring that they’re not about to take orders in “I’m Not A Restaurant.” — Noah Schaffer

The Pomps open for Westbound Train on March 21 at the Middle East Upstairs.

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The mid-2000s superstar JoJo, who grew up in Foxborough, secured her first record deal at 12 and became the youngest solo artist to reach number one on the Billboard Top 40 just one year later, in 2004. But her journey wasn’t easy, from being raised by parents struggling with addiction to fighting through a lawsuit with her label, as she chronicles in her 2024 memoir “Over the Influence.” Her latest EP, “NGL,” continues that story of overcoming. Standout tracks include “Porcelain," an electronic bop with vibrating bass, that seems to dance through the pain, while “Porcelain Reimagined” ruminates on deep wounds and power in resilience. Light piano chords flow warmly under JoJo’s silky voice. She triumphantly declares her strength, weaving in delicate vocal runs. “I had to break it and rearrange it/ And turn into a beautiful mosaic,” she sings, acknowledging how she is imperfect, but complete, thoughtfully pieced together like kintsugi. — Maddie Browning