Editor's Picks 138: néomí, Dove Ellis, St. Panther, JERUB, Chrissy, and JOSEPH! - Atwood Magazine

      Atwood Magazine is thrilled to present our Editor’s Picks column, curated and authored by Editor-in-Chief Mitch Mosk. Each week, Mitch will highlight a selection of songs, albums, and artists that have resonated with him. There is an abundance of extraordinary music waiting to be discovered, and all that is needed is an open mind and a readiness to engage. Through our Editor’s Picks, we aim to illuminate our own musical findings and feature a wide range of new and recent releases.

      This week’s Editor’s Picks showcase néomí, Dove Ellis, St. Panther, JERUB, Chrissy, and JOSEPH!

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      “Sit back baby, let it go.” This refrain feels as comforting as a hand on your shoulder, gentle yet firm, urging you to release your burdens. In néomí’s interpretation, these words are both solace and a challenge, a subtle rallying cry to embrace difficult emotions rather than flee from them. Uplifted by warm, enveloping guitars and a slow, atmospheric build, “Sit Back Baby” confronts uncertainty, grief, and self-doubt openly before inviting them to rest. It is both tender and powerful, deeply personal yet expansive, a smoldering folk-pop release that feels more like achieving a hard-earned peace than escaping reality.

      It can be difficult to be honest.

      Sometimes you just want to play it cool.

      It would be easier not to act.

      Pretend that everything’s fine.

      It can be hard to forgive.

      Sometimes you just want to let it slip away.

      Isn’t it true that you might desire

      To at least try?

      So you sit back baby, let it go.

      The emotional core of her recently released EP, Another Year Will Pass (to be released on October 31 via Nettwerk), “Sit Back Baby” encapsulates néomí’s current artistic evolution: finding clarity through gentleness, courage through vulnerability, and a renewed resolve to accept her feelings instead of battling them. This latest record was created during a time of significant personal transition, when the Surinamese-Dutch singer/songwriter (previously featured as an Atwood Editor’s Pick) re-evaluated her pace, her perspective, and her relationship with her own mental state. Themes of time, surrender, and realignment resonate throughout the EP, with “Sit Back Baby” serving as the polished and immediate reflection of this transformation. While some tracks delve into years of memories, this one immerses itself in the pivotal moment when an individual chooses to let go rather than resist.

      “It’s a song where I’m trying to assure myself it’s all going to be okay,” néomí explains to Atwood Magazine. “I’m telling everyone else, especially my loved ones, that it’s going to be okay. Naturally, I know nothing is truly okay, and it might never be, but that paradox is what makes it okay. It’s a message for myself and encouragement for others: Try to live, try to move forward. When things become overwhelming or tough, just sit back and let it go.”

      This balance of honesty and reassurance drives the track. The guitars resonate with warm, exuberant overdrive, glowing like a late-summer sky, while néomí’s voice remains light and effortless, establishing a striking contrast between heat and tranquility. Her melodic delivery feels conversational, looping back around the refrain until it transcends mere lyrics to become a mantra. Lines such as “It can be hard to be honest… it can be difficult to improve” and “What does love mean when you can’t risk your heart” resonate with subtle heartache, yet the song never buckles under their weight; instead, it becomes even more radiant, lifting its burdens with grace.

      It can be a challenge to do better,

      When you stay hidden, you will always flee.

      Is it about all the things you’ve said?

      About all the actions you’ve taken?

      Red gaze, shoelace, hurry, find your rhythm,

      And it might all vanish.

      Remember that we just

      sat on that hospital bed,

      And you cried, and you asked,

      And I laughed instead,

      And I said

      Sit back baby, let it go.

      Sit back baby, let it go.

      This notion of deliberate release is mirrored in how she shaped the song's sound. “I wanted the music to feel like breathing: at times shallow, sometimes deep, occasionally faltering,” néomí shares. “There are instances where the production remains very still, as if we’re cradling a memory. Then there are small surges of sound, just enough to remind you that even within fragility, there exists movement and a form of quiet strength. To me, that was the emotional journey: beginning in uncertainty, leaning into gentleness, and discovering strength in allowing things

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