NESS NOST - caffeinenicotinenosleepdopamine (Self Release) [Alt-Pop]
I like versatile, eclectic artists, and NESS NÖST certainly fits that bill. Born in Ottawa, but now based in Vancouver, she's a singer-songwriter and producer that could be sitting in a coffee shop with an acoustic guitar by day and pounding out of a club system on the same night. Couple that with a nice lyrical turn of phrase, concern for the natural world and the ability to take the show on the road, and she's worth knowing about, even if you don't live in Canada.
As well as winning awards for 2026's longest track title, NÖST's new single "caffeinenicotinenosleepdopamine", co-produced with some help from the usually more folk-inclined Jonas Bonnetta is that rare thing, a bonafide banger with refelective pop undertones that will have people contemplating the lyrics and their relation to their personal existence during the quieter passages one minute, and then springing into chorus chanting dance floor action the next.
The track immediately leaps through the speakers and grabs you by the scruff of the neck with its nasty club beats and quickly spat chorus - something of a twenty-something clubber's anthem if ever there was one, certainly in harder partying cities like Berlin. The track then loses the gritty edge and nihilistic chant for a piano-house meets dreamy-contemplative-dance-pop second half. Perhaps there's more to think about than where your next cigarette and lost night are coming from after all?
Playlist Companion
Find NESS NOST in the Slow Alt-Pop Playlist.
