The legend goes that frontman Michael Angelakos recorded the first Passion Pit songs on his laptop as a Valentine’s Day gift to his then-girlfriend. On “Cry Like a Ghost”, the Massachusetts indietronica quintet still haven’t given up on sex, romance and love-sick serenades neatly wrapped as danceable party anthems.

“Cry Like A Ghost” confidently grooves with crisp shuffle beats, muscular sub-bass, candied synth bits, spooky Moog leads and Angelakos’ trademark multi-tracked falsetto. The track’s video is a thought-provoking portrayal of passion and infidelity: a hoodied female protagonist is chased through a Blair Witch Project-style woods, before breaking into a dance, falling in and out of the arms of various lovers, and finally returning to the misty forest in a series of out-of-sequence smash cuts and micro-vignettes. Watch it above.

“Cry Like a Ghost” appears on Passion Pit’s Gossamer, out now via Columbia.

Dallas Green is not an easy man to pin. Originally known as the melodic-vocals frontman in Canadian screamo outfit Alexisonfire, he forsook the band (who have since broken up as a result) and hardcore metal altogether to pursue his acoustic solo side project City and Colour full-time.

From City and Colour’s upcoming fourth album, Northern Wind, “Of Space and Time” is a perfect example that Green may be on to something. Open, spacious and breathable, the waltzing track rolls effortlessly on hushed brush drums, easy-strummed acoustics, atmospheric lap steel, cello and Green’s accessible buttery baritone. It’s a mark of a maturing artist who traded heavy distortion and top-of-your-lungs aggression for space and time, and the 180-degree metamorphosis feels completely natural. Stream it below.

Northern Wind is slated to drop Summer 2013 via Cooking Vinyl in the UK/Europe and Dine Alone Records elsewhere.

STREAM: City And Colour – “Of Space And Time”

Better known for his sensuous, candlelit grooves and touring with Trey Songz and Usher, LA-based R&B singer-songwriter-producer Miguel trades the carnal for the spiritual on “Candles In the Sun” from Kaleidoscope Dreams, his Grammy-nominated sophomore offering.

The artfully-shot video features striking black-and-white images of gun and drug paraphernalia, religious iconography, patriotic symbolism, stylized police violence, homeless people sleeping by graffiti, young black men in handcuffs and children in gas masks, set to a stark synth beat and the trench coat-clad crooner’s tortured facial expressions and passionate neo-soul vocals.

Miguel’s preaching on social justice, racial equality, pantheism, and world peace is a bit heavy-handed, but he manages to evade force-feeding by sheer power of his earnest and commitment to his art, and it helps solidify his berth alongside Frank Ocean and The Weeknd in new wave R&B’s eclectic roster of breakout stars. Watch the video above.

Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dreams is available now on RCA.

Like Sia, Imogen Heap, Florence + the Machine and the rest of her fellow British baroque-pop songstresses, London-born Natasha Khan, better known as Bat for Lashes, has all the breathy-voiced charm and quirky good looks that make for love at first sight.

The daughter of a Pakistani former professional squash player and an English mother, Khan’s music bears all the drama and conflict and beauty of her biracial heritage. “Lilies” is the opening track from her third disc, The Haunted Man, a hauntingly poetic, dream-like New Age anthem, shimmering with glossy glitch beats, weepy washes of electric guitar, swelling full-orchestra treatments and Khan’s big, gorgeous neo-classical vocals.

The official video is a sumptuous piece of trippy performance art, with a scantily-clad Khan in body paint frolicking through a kaleidoscopic stop-motion world with furry monsters à la “Where The Wild Things Are” and vomiting animated sailboats and lightning bolts. We’re swooning. Watch it above.

Bat For Lashes’ The Haunted Man is out now via Parlophone.

STREAM: Bat For Lashes – “Lilies”

Never mind that frontman Julian Casablancas and his blue-blooded comrades met at privileged Manhattan prep academies and elite Swiss boarding schools, The Strokes make music for the working class, man. Spearheads of the early 2000s post-punk revival, on new single “All The Time” these rich kids thankfully graduate from pure Kinks copycats and (somehow) narrowly evade self-parody.

“All The Time” centers around Casablancas’ trademark Lou Reed-esque deadpan vocals and imperceptible lyrics, and present are the familiar jangly, power-strummed guitars and bouncy, bubblegum drums, but the track brims with a revived sense of urgency and youth, a freshman energy usually lost on exalted rockstars now in their mid-30s.

Short n’ sweet, “All The Time” is all the things you love and hate about The Strokes, but you gotta admire Casablancas & Co. for trying on subtly different colors while sticking to their well-worn fabric. Sure, The Strokes are never gonna blow your mind with technical virtuosity, but man, they still know how to write a freaking catchy pop tune. Stream it below.

The Strokes’ Comedown Machine is due out March 26th on RCA/Rough Trade.

STREAM: The Strokes – “All The Time”

Scottish quintet Mogwai practically wrote the textbook on slow-build, loud-soft-loud-soft, epic instrumental post-rockback in the mid-90′s. Now, on their new track “Wizard Motor,” they aren’t afraid to go off script.

Keeping it shockingly brief — under 5 minutes — the sinister minor-key track stays true to the band’s namesake; ‘Mogwai’ means “evil spirit” in Cantonese, and the band’s dark, brooding movements are ever-present on “Wizard Motor.” It begins with a dirge-like organ, then deftly grafts pristine sheets of switching electric guitars, gritty, trashed bass lines, cavernous toms and gated electronic snare samples before making an ominous full-stop exit, like a phantom disappearing into thin air. It’s a mature, retrained piece that leaves you wanting more, something that can’t often be said about common fare in the genre these days. Stream it below.

“Wizard Motor” appears on Mogwai’s Les Revenants EP, out February 25th on Rock Action/Sub Pop.

STREAM: Mogwai – “Wizard Motor”

Before you listen to Devandra Banhart’s plaintive ballad “Mi Negrita,” prepare to be transported back to the bygone world of dusty Southwestern cattle towns, sun-drenched chicano work fields, balmy haciendas and crowded barrios. On this track, which appears on Banhart’s upcoming LP, Mala, the Venezuelan-American singer displays a keen mastery of the Latin American romantic folk music lexicon using flamenco-tinged guitars, ranchera-influenced group vocals, strutting mariachi percussion and quietly-enunciated, reverb-coated Spanish vocals. Sonically, “Mi Negrita” is a deft reconstruction of retro 50s and 60s production techniques, sounding more like it belongs in a classic telenovela or spaghetti Western than 2013. Stream it below.

Devendra Banhart’s Mala is due out on March 12th via Nonesuch.

STREAM: Devendra Banhart – “Mi Negrita”