Friday is release day and here’s the first things that caught my ear while listening to new songs out.
See the New Music section for individual posts on tracks we deemed worthy enough of their own article this week.
AE MAK – ‘Jamie’
Aoife McCann continues her forays into doing it all with a self-produced taster from another EP – Class Exercises on March 26th on her own label Spacer Records.
McCann did an online Ableton production course with She Knows Tech last summer and one of the songs that came out of it was this song which is tangentially inspired by Jamie xx.
“I made the full song during the production course – we’d pick tracks that inspire us and one of mine was a Jamie xx song. So, I named it after him and wrote about our fantasy love affair while I’m Making tunes down in my dungeon.”
Noname – ‘Rainforest’
A new Noname track is always welcome, and I’m also pleased that she has announced a new album Factory Baby. No release date yet.
Clark – ‘Lambent Rag’
Clark’s forthcoming new album Playground In A Lak (March 26th) is a new challenge for the English producer who is delving into new-classical sounds in his own unique way. ‘Lambent Rag’ is certainly that.
“I’ve always wanted to record strings, but feel there’s this baggage with classical music. Even though I’ve taught myself how to read and write sheet music, I’m not putting that genre, or any other genre on a silver platter. I’m not from an institutionalised contingent who deem a narrow range of instruments ‘the real stuff’ and everything else worthless commercial pop. I take what I admire from that world and then move on. I’m just using it as another colour.
So, I started thinking about my favourite kind of string arrangements, like Scott Walker records, where they exist amongst contrasting elements. Then I started to approach the album from a dark folk place, also with this heavy 70s synth element. Then came the improvisation of musique concrète, and some of my favourite modern classical and sound design obsessions, and then it clicked.”
Braids – ‘Young Buck’ (DJ Python remix)
New York producer DJ Python takes on a Braids original.
Sofia Kourtesis – ‘By Your Side‘
The Peruvian Berlin-based artist Sofia Kourtesis is releasing an EP called Fresia Magdalena via Ninja Tune imprint Technicolour on March 19th and I’m really enjoying its textures on this lead track ‘By Your Side’.
Speaking of the track Kourtesis says:
“‘By Your Side’ is about having someone there when you need it most. It was one of the first tracks I recorded for Fresia Magdalena and a lot of sounds and samples were recorded in and around Lima, Peru. For me it’s one of those songs that soundtracks the final few moments of daylight”
Fears – ‘vines’
The second single from Constance Keane aka Fears’ forthcoming album Oíche in May follows on from the similiarly-light tones of ‘Tonnta’ but is about a tumultuous time.
“This track was written before a breakdown. It chronicles a stage where one blames themselves and sees that it is only them that is the problem in a situation. Listening back, I hear myself drowning in confusion as to why I can’t control my feelings and want to shed those thought patterns.”
The video underscores the theme – “documenting the journey from being lost at sea, washed away by the weight of blame, trauma, and rumination, to a Megalithic portal tomb – Ballybrack Dolmen, built circa 2500 BC, arriving at sunrise.”
Elkin – ‘Kismet’
Electronic-pop duo Elkin are releasing a series of singles from this month until September that will be collected as ANTHOLOGY. ‘Kismet’ is produced by Lullahush once more and has some serious Billie Eilish ASMR vibes.
People Club – ‘Take Me Home’
The Berlin-based quintet People Club will release a new EP Take Me Home on May 7th and they continue to release sheenful alt-soul-indie tracks.
Tebi Rex – ‘Oh It Hurts’
Max Zanga and Matt O are already moving towards album number two. ‘Oh It Hurts’ is the duo’s first single featuring some live instrumentation with help from Local Boy and Word Up producer Silent Ghost.
Wolf Alice – ‘The Last Man On Earth’
The return for the Mercury Music Prize-winning band is a stark contrast to their previous work – a piano ballad that swells with choral crescendos and a slightly proggy feel.
Carrie Baxter – ‘Without You’ feat. Nealo
Carrie Baxter enlists Nealo on the edbl -produced hip-hop leaning soul song.
“The song bounces between nostalgia, love lost and independence. Although the lyrics give an air of ‘the one that got away’ there is a power to the chorus in keeping with a kind of self trust, self worth and confidence that can only be gained from making decisions that serve the highest good of yourself.”
Carrie Baxter
Hare Squead – ‘Handle Bars’
A woozy and autotune-heavy return for Tony Konstone and Lilo Blues.
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