10 of the best new tracks for your listening pleasure

Here are the best new songs we’ve heard in the past week, tried, tested and ready for your ears.

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1.

Tyler, The Creator

A Boy Is A Gun

IGOR is out and the internet is awash with its praises, at least the corners of it where music geeks hang out. It’s a superb album, though it takes a few full listens before you can see it all clearly. This is especially true of those who approach IGOR expecting something along the lines of Flower Boy. While Tyler hasn’t turned his back on an R&B-influenced sound, IGOR is grainier, noisy and more electronic than its predecessors. It’s actually surprisingly lo-fi considering Tyler’s reputation as a perfectionist.

‘A Boy Is A Gun’ is our pick of the bunch. Swung on a soul sample for a refrain and barbershop quartet styled vocal harmonies throughout. Contrast that with the often vicious lyricism, the type inspired by bitter heartbreak. It’s the perfect combination of sweet & sour, archetypical of Tyler’s music at large.

2.

DJ Seinfeld

Electrician

DJ Seinfeld is still making mad dance music. ‘Electrician’ opens with what sounds like a computer trying to beatbox and the tweetings of digital birds. The Swedish producer and DJ is easily among the most intuitive and creative electronic artists out there, his 2016 EP Season 1 helped to popularise the current lo-fi dance scene and his subsequent releases have strayed far into the realms of cutting edge sound manipulation. ‘Electrician’ is taken from his brand new Galaxy EP, more sparsely arranged than much of what he’s done before.

3.

The National

The Pull Of you

Our favourite from The National’s I Am Easy To Find. Lisa Hannigan and Matt Berninger make a perfect vocal duo – pitting the choir like aloofness of Hannigan against the bar room quality of Berninger. It’s a love song sung from out of agony. The chorus points to two people “connected by a thread”, a fragile connection.

4.

Pillow Queens

HowdoIlook

Another cracking tune from Dublin pop-punk band Pillow Queens. ‘Howdoilook’ is the group’s first new material of 2019. Each release has definitely heard the group getting better at crafting earworm melodies and presenting more compelling lyrical content. ‘HowdoIlook’ is another timely reminder that the group are hands down one of nation’s best rock groups.

5.

Duckwrth

Nobody Falls

South Central native Duckwrth straddles the line between pop-rap genius and bland, often in the same song. After tracking his releases over the past year, certain songs like ‘Nobody Falls’ and ‘Love Is Like A Moshpit’ continually make me re-evaluate how I feel about them. One thing is for sure, Duckwrth will soon be a much bigger international name than he is now. Even at his worth the Californian artist still produces the kind of hook-heavy rap the masses would adore.

6.

Jimothy

Getting Talkative

A big yes to British semi-satirical MC Jimothy for ‘Getting Talkative’. Don’t be possessive, he speaks the truth.

7.

Gaika X Dean Blunt X Spragga Benz

R6 Remix

We don’t tend to cover a lot of dub-reggae on the site, just not our thing. That being said, Warp Records man Gaika’s 2018 LP Basic Volume was a damn fine album and this remix of one of the tracks from it, featuring a verse from Spragga Benz, is sweet as a nut.

8.

Olden Yolk

Cotton & Cane

Folk pysch group Olden Yolk’s ‘Cotton & Cane’ is taken from their new album Living Theatre. The American duo has successfully put their minds to creating catchy and dreamy electric folk group, with the pysch being provided via the often cryptic lyrics. Well worth a spin.

9.

Dam-Funk

The Flow

American funk artist Dam-Funk put out a brand new collection of instrumentals last week, entitled STFU II, the whole project has a tendency to sound very repetitive. However, its opening track ‘The Flow’ is a woozy, hip-hop inspired jam.

10.

Slowthai ft. Skepta

Inglorious

Two MCs, one of them is the most hotly tipped upcoming British MCs and the other is arguably the most well known Grime artist of all time, what’s not to love?

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