Every month, having scoured open mic nights, local radio airwaves and the deepest corners of the Internet, we publish a playlist of under-the-radar talent. This is your portal to the best music from the evergreen grassroots.

Soul Alphabet: The January Collection is a playlist of ambient music that leans heavily into structure and melody. As we move forward into the New Year, we thought this voiceless array of moods and textures would be an appropriate palate cleanser.

In this particular playlist, we have broken our own rule of including only under-the-radar artists. Alongside lesser-known names such as Lullatone, we also feature luminaries like Nils Frahm and Hammock. (We figured these were our rules, after all, so we were allowed to break them.) We hope you enjoy the collection as much as we enjoyed putting it together.