This Halloween, WLUW DJs listened to albums across the spooky spectrum. October’s edition of Station Spins features danceable tracks from artists like Troye Sivan and darker tunes from musicians like Brakence. Whether you stayed in carving pumpkins or partied all night, WLUW has your Halloween playlist covered.
Believe You Me - Mackeeper
This fall has been a phenomenal time for new music, and Mackeeper have released one of the most unique projects of the month, possibly even of the year. Despite a significant age gap and different tastes in music growing up, brothers Miles Cohen and Nick Harwood have established their joint sound through their debut album. Believe You Me blends influences of electronic pop, a classic alternative sound, and rap-like rhythms into a 13-track cohesive work. Its lead single, “Holy Moses,” hardly represents the variety of sounds that the project includes, making the full album a must-listen.
RIYL: Wishy, Panchiko, George Clanton
Favorite track: “Paddleboat”
by Sunny Greenberg
She’s the Best - Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan’s highly anticipated fourth studio album, She’s the Best, finally dropped in early October. This comes three years after the release of Something To Give Each Other, which made a huge cultural splash with songs like “Rush” and “One Of Your Girls.” She’s the Best captures both the feelings of the party and the solemnity after it’s over. Every track is vulnerable in its own way, but all are incredibly catchy. His sound feels more mature than previous projects, and listeners get the sense of a freedom Sivan has found through his music. This album delivers exactly what it promised: catchy pop music that will continue to be a massive hit within the queer community.
RIYL: Tinashe, Tove Lo, Charli XCX
Favorite Track(s): “Embarrassingly,” “Le Boy”
by Fiona Hammond
Mud - Remi Wolf
On her third studio album Mud, Remi Wolf combines her usual explosive, experimental sound that her fans know and love with new influences. Wolf, as always, pairs unique lyrics with powerful vocals and exciting instrumentals. This album leans towards a folk-inspired sound, with more acoustic guitar and vulnerable lyrical phrases. Songs like “Moon So High” have an almost yacht-rock vibe, which is new for Wolf. While each song is unique, the project feels complete and cohesive. This album is great for those who enjoy sad lyrics with a catchy beat behind them.
RIYL: Magdalena Bay, Faye Webster, MJ Lenderman
Favorite Track: “Burn Me Blue”
by Fiona Hammond
The Girl of Your Dreams - Ashe
On Ashe’s fourth studio album, she combines her known sound of pop with 70s dance and disco. Her lead single “Stop the Wedding!” is her imagining if she found a note on her wedding day from her future self warning her to not marry her ex-husband. This song was the perfect lead single for the album; it has every aspect you hear on the album in one song, with dazzling harmonies, extreme emotion, and lots of whimsy. We have seen Ashe dip her toe into the vintage aesthetic with her past albums, but she really dives into it with The Girl of Your Dreams. This album will become a timeless classic that old and new fans revisit often.
RIYL: Olivia Dean, Fleetwood Mac, and Lizzy McAlpine.
Favorite Track: “Lasso the Moon”
by Isabella Todaro
Ready or Not - Brakence
Brakence’s third full length album, marroW, intertwines a gothic, fantastical story with his own experience. The dark and theatrical eighteen track record was announced with lead single “ready or noT”, which gave listeners a glimpse into the glitch pop and indie rock landscape of the album. This album followed Brakence’s 2022 sophomore album hypochondriac, which was critically acclaimed within the hyperpop scene. marroW has no features, but nothing feels missing when brackence is singing about both illusioned point of views and very personal narratives.
RIYL: Braden Ross, Eden, Kurtains
Favorite Track: “Crystallized”
by Sam Glasscock
The Greatest Album in the World - Sophia Stel
In mid-2025, Dazed magazine coined Sophia Stel as the “sonic lovechild” of Ethel Cain and 070 Shake, drawing from her musical sound and personal style. Well, Dazed, she's all grown up now. She may still dress like “drain gang Ethel Cain,” but on her first studio album, the greatest album of all time, Stel escapes from the labels of musicians she's been compared to. This isn't a standard trip-hop album: with varied autotune and synth sounds, addicting lyricism, and even a string quartet, it's in a realm of its own. The spotlight is on track 10, “Now I’ve Got A Lot You Know,” an at-first seemingly somber song which explodes into an addicting synth beat. If you yearn for the feeling of a late-night hang out with your coolest and closest friends accompanied by the ambient scent of smoke, the greatest album of all time will take you there.
RIYL: A.G. Cook, underscores, Oklou
Favorite track: “Now I’ve Got A Lot You Know”
by Sunny Greenberg
hunting what we already killed - Dev Lemons
Dev Lemons' performance on her second LP, hunting what we already killed, feels as though you are looking directly into her mind. The Pennsylvania-born artist has been involved in the music scene for a while, originally under the name Miss iPad, which she then changed in fear of being sued by Apple. She also previously created content on music theory as well as videos leading up to her first album's, Surface Tension (2025), release. Since then, she has crafted her own alt-pop sound reminiscent of old RPG game tracks and dream-like internet spaces. In 11 songs, Lemons builds a surrealist world that invites the listener on an emotional journey through melodic vocal layering and distorted instrumental backing tracks.
RIYL: Portraits of Tracy, After Louise, Quadeca
Favorite Track(s): “only one way to know”, “let you”
by Sofia Byrd
