Featuring English Teacher, Maggie Rogers, Shiv, Baby Rose, BadBadNotGood, Ambient Babestation Meltdown, Borai, Voids, X-Coast, KiLLOWEN, Brian Ring, UTO.
See the end of the post for the Spotify playlist featuring more than 10 tracks released this week, which is updated weekly.
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Baby Rose, BadBadNotGood
Weekness
The Canadian jazz band BadBadNotGood have proven themselves boundless collaborators in their work with rappers (Ghostface Killah, Danny Brown) and singers (Charlotte Day Wilson) but there’s a special alchemy at play between the notes of their latest work – a full six-track EP collaboration with Atlanta-based Washington singer Baby Rose.
Rose’s voice oozes classic soul and jazz diva operatics – her singing voice sounds older than her 29 years – closer to the howling vibrato of Shirley Bassey. On ‘Weekness’ the combination of the throwback singing voice and BadBadNotGood’s tightly-wound loose playing leads to an elegant musical repartee.
English Teacher
I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying
Leeds band English Teacher released their debut album This Could Be Texas last week. The band have shown themselves to be multi-faceted – from the visceral post-Brexit duality of a hometown as heard on ‘Albert Road’, to the anthemic ‘Nearly Daffodils’ and the indie hit in another time ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’.
‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’ is another aspect of their sound – channeling a Dry Cleaning-esque indie sound.
Their Dublin and Belfast shows this May are sold out.
Shiv
Limerence
Irish singer-songwriter and producer shiv is back after a brief dalliance with releasing on Warner Music Ireland, with news of a debut album the defiance of a sadgirl, due June 27th.
‘limerence’ is the first song from the album, which was written during a writing trip in her parent’s house in Uganda, and a big period of change.
Along with ending the deal with the major label, shiv also stopped moved to a different country, stopped working with her management and in her personal life, ended her relationship, all in 3 months.
The song is a playful one about an unrequited crush.
“I have the tendency to run away with myself and my feelings, says shiv. “Sometimes the delusion wins, and I write entire stories in my mind, becoming borderline annoyed with the other party for not carrying their weight in the fictitious relationship I’ve created in my head.”
Maggie Rogers
Sick Of Dreaming
The indie-pop singer-songwriter’s third album Don’t Forget Me draws on country, disco, psychedelic rock, Y2K pop, and classic rock in the vein of Fleetwood Mac, and there’s no better song on it for me than ‘Sick Of Dreaming’ makes a virtue of being stood up on a date.
Ambient Babestation Meltdown, Borai
My Heart My Motherboard
A three-track collaborative cyberpunk-themed EP between producers Ambient Babestation Meltdown and Borai on Optimo dropped last week, and it was ‘My Heart My Motherboard’ that grabbed me with its sci-fi dystopian electro music and deadpan vocal.UTO
Napkin
A French duo making intriguing largely indie IDM electronic pop (with nods tdream-pop, indie, shoe-gaze and folk), with their second album When all you want to do is be the fire part of fire on InFiné – the title is actually a Bill Callahan lyric, and the album is partly or wholly informed by Neysa Mae Barnett and Emile Larroche’s relationship as a couple and artistic collaborators.
‘Napkin’ is the album’s most edifying track moving from atmospheric songwriting to ’90s rave pianos and breakbeats.
“Everything starts, everything stops in the unknown” are the opening words of this song, handwritten on a paper towel. Much like the fate of a paper towel. This song speaks to all those who jot down their thoughts and leave words on the bedside table..”
Voids
High Tide
The Galway duo Voids were active around 10 years ago and made bass-lead coldwave atmospheric electronic music with vocals.
Andrew Madec and Alison McDonnell-White returned last year with a new song and last week the band released Swoon, a full-length record, and the album features a more textured version of what they put out before. It’s still atmospheric, icy and minimal, but there’s a greater dynamic range and a more refined condensed production that makes these songs more pleasing to the ear.
Brian Ring
Funky Feet
Berlin-based Irish producer Brian Ring comes through with a Hercules and Love Affair-esque slice of full-bodied nu-disco.
KiLLOWEN
Rita Ora
The West London artist with Cork heritage who recently sampled Amerie is referencing a pop singer closer to his home with the track ‘Rita Ora’, just one of many pop culture references on the fun garage-pop rap tune.
X-Coast
Marathon Man
Hi-viz bludgeoning dance from Serbian US-based producer Bojan Cizmic that comes barrelling out the speakers with rave stabs, deep bass hits and trance synths.
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