DC-natives, SHAED, will release their latest EP, “Melt” next Friday, Sept. 21 via Photo Finish Records. “Melt” is the follow-up to the band’s debut EP, “Just Wanna See,” which scored the band slots at Billboard Hot 100 Festival, Firefly, Electric Forest and tours with Bishop Briggs, Marian Hill and X Ambassadors. When we last spoke with the band in April, they were living in a house together (Chelsea and Spencer are engaged, Max and Spencer are twins) for several months, writing and recording nonstop. Since then SHAED released three songs from the forthcoming EP with the most recent being “You Got Me Like,” a breezy, slow burning ear-worm that features New York-based artist, snny. To celebrate the release of Melt, SHAED will be playing a very special hometown show at Rock & Roll Hotel on Sept. 29. Get your tickets HERE before they sell out.

Last week, we asked SHAED to send us a list of songs that inspired the sound of “Melt.” Check out the influential bops below and read about why each song was chosen. You can follow the playlist on Spotify here.

“Broken Clocks” by SZA

For the past couple of years we have been heavily listening to R&B, especially female artists. I've listened to "Ctrl" over 300 times and I still never tire of it. SZA's lyrics and vocals have been so influential for me.

“Lights On” by H.E.R

I found this track while listening to a random playlist on Spotify. During our free time we always play H.E.R in the background, especially when we're cooking together. Every song off her most recent album is amazing.

“Running” by Abi Ocia

This track has all the vibes. I fall deeply in love with this song every time I hear it :)

“CoUnt to Nine” by The Japanese House

One of my favorite artists of all time. I listen to her all the time, no matter the season or the mood. The intro of the song is so lush and has a similar vibe to the interludes we created for this EP.

“Gamesofluck” by Parcels

We became obsessed with Parcels after seeing a video of them performing live. This is the best driving music and has definitely influenced some of our funkier tracks on this EP.

“Reverse Faults” by Sampha

We love Sampha and this song in particular has incredible production. We wanted a similar texture on our song “Melt” so we worked with Matt Colton who was the mastering engineer for “Reverse Faults.”

“Liar” by LÉON

This is one of my favorite songs to warm-up to, especially before tracking vocals. Her voice is so deep and beautiful.

“OTW” by Khalid

We listened to this song over and over on the way home from a family dinner. When we got back, we walked right into the studio and wrote "Inside a Dream" - the closing song on our EP. The songs sound completely different but "OTW" inspired us that night.

“Lose My Cool” by Amber Mark

We <3 Amber. She writes really fun tracks that just make you want to dance. This song in particular was a huge jam when we first moved into a house together last fall. I remember unpacking all our stuff running around the house with this song blasting in the background.

“How to Disappear Completely” by

Radiohead

This track continues to inspire us. It's from our favorite album, Kid A.

Melt Inspiration: A Playlist by SHAED