Featuring Dave Okumu, ENNY, Loyle Carner, O’Flynn, Jessie Ware, Romy, Saint Sister, Shura, Ross From Friends, Jean Deaux, billy woods, Kenny Seagal, Samuel T. Herring
Today is New Music Friday, which means there’s loads of new songs in the world.
Here are the 10 single songs released this week I loved the most.
See the New Music section for all the of tracks and albums featured this week, and the end of the post for the Spotify playlist featuring much more than 10 tracks released this week.
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1.
Dave Okumu, 7 Generations
Eyes On Me
UK artist Dave Okumu is also known for his work as The Invisible, released an album called I Came From Love today, which I look forward to delving into properly but it has the stated ambition of aiming to be a “tapestry of the Black experience that explores ancestry, the legacy of slavery, what it means to exist in an unjust society, and Okumu’s own family history”.
Guests on the record include Grace Jones, Eska, Kwabs, Wesley Joseph, Robert Stillman, Anthony Joseph and Raven Bush.
‘Eyes On Me’ comes deep into the record, an indication of the explorations here – exploring heartbreak in many contexts – societal, personal and beyond in a statement shared by Okumu.
“Consciously or unconsciously, it’s difficult not to feel that we are all contending with layers of heartbreak, both on a societal and personal level. There’s the loss of faith in our leadership, political systems and the mismanagement of our environment. But I also believe that this country suffers from an unconscious heartbreak at the loss of the Empire. And those who have suffered at the hands of imperialism are still subjected to its resounding societal echoes. The minority encounters heartbreak of a particular kind as it searches for experiential representation, healing and understanding, a way of being in an environment that seems to struggle to create the space for wider discussion and multiple perspectives. It opts instead for the intoxicating power of collective amnesia.
The responses and adaptations around heartbreak are innumerable and include suppression and detachment, as well as a continual reframing of our personal and collective experience. However, the fact remains: you can’t deal with heartbreak without acknowledging heartbreak. This piece of music engenders a desire to meet these complex dynamics with love, space and honesty.”
2.
O’Flynn
Vesta
Cerebral electronic headphones music written large in the sky here by London producer O’Flynn, for his first song in two years. We last heard him collaborating with Bonobo on ‘Otomo’, and there’s more to come this year, including a remix for a high-profile dance duo.
3.
billy woods, Kenny Seagal, Samuel T. Herring
Facetime
You probably didn’t have the lead singer from Future Islands linking up with esoteric rapper billy woods on your bingo card this week, but Sam T. Herring has form in the collab (with the likes of BadBadNotGood) and rap stakes (as Hemlock Ernst).
Of the song Herring says: “It was late summer 2022 and most days I was stuck in my hotel room wondering what was happening with my life…. All of that being on the road and living remotely, feeling alienated, alone, missing people back home, but also feeling at home living that way – I understood it deeply…. That song is my life and I was living in it.”
‘Facetime’ is from woods and LA producer Kenny Segal’s collaborative album Maps on 5th May via Backwoodz Studioz.
There is a tour too, with dates in LA, New York, London and Amsterdam.
4.
Jean Deaux
When I Dip
Fun fact: I was supposed to interview Jean Deaux for a piece on Chicago Music for the Aerlingus magazine a number of years ago, we connected but when I got to the venue, I could not find the space at all, and couldn’t get through to Jean on my burner phone.
Anyway, good to see Jean still knocking out attitudinal slow jams as heard on today’s new Heavy EP, which is also on Soundcloud.
5.
Ross From Friends
The One
Ross From Friends’ first single in two years has a sound parallel to Overmono’s gargantuan future two-step style with fizzy vocal and synth stab energy flavours.
6.
ENNY, Loyle Carner
Take It Slow
English rapper ENNY has a distinct voice that you could say is analogous to Chicago MC NoName in timbre and tone. I’m loving this Loyle Carner collab from the new We Go Again EP, out today.
7.
Jessie Ware
Begin Again!
Jessie Ware’s sophisticated disco vibe is always a winner, even if she veers a little too safe with the music at times. ‘Begin Again’ felt like it was going that way but big piano stabs, brass parps and backing vocals make this a celestial event with horns by Kokoroko and production by James Ford.
Ware’s fifth album That! Feels Good! is out on April 28th.
8.
Romy
Enjoy Your Life
Meanwhile, Romy’s forays into electronic pop music of late are heart on sleeve ’90s-indebted dance pop music, and ‘Enjoy Your Life’ is a big festival gathering event with a sample drawn from electronic trans artist Beverly Glenn-Copeland.
The track was produced by Fred again.., Stuart Price AND Jamie xx, and was inspired when Romy went with Robyn to see Glenn-Copeland perform in Stockholm, and the sampled words from the song ‘La Vita’ stuck with Romy.
The video was directed by Romy’s wife, the filmmaker and photographer Vic Lentaigne, which features intimate fly-on-the-wall moments with Romy alongside footage of Romy’s mother, who passed when she was 11.
9.
King Krule
Seaforth
King Krule has announced a return to releasing records with new album Space Heavy, due out on June 9th on XL Recordings, with ‘Seaforth’ a pleasing if low-stakes return
The song is gentle, somnabulist reintroduction to the artist, and the video is largely concerned a father golden retriever and his puppy, with footage on the beach of King Krule and band.
10.
Saint Sister
Dynamite (Shura Remix)
I’ve no idea why this Shura remix of an older song from Irish alt-folk duo Saint Sister’s ‘Dynamite’ is out today but I very much appreciate its existence.
Nialler9 Weekly Playlist
Nialler9 New Music Playlist
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, hit up the Irish section for individual track features
For this and more Irish songs, follow the Nialler9 New Irish Spotify playlist.
