The 5 best songs of the week

White Denim

Light On

I love how, every now and again, Austin rock band White Denim release a yacht rock Steely Dan soundalike song in disguise, although songwriter James Petralli says the influences are John Coltrane’s drummer Elvin Jones and Chicago storyteller Shel Silverstein.

‘Light On’ is from their twelfth album, titled appropriately enough 12, out December 6th on Bella Union, which took shape in the wake of COVID, after Petralli and his partner Elaine cared for her father who passed in 2021. They then moved to LA where Petrailli home-schooled the kids, all experiences that inform the record, and its recording.

“It was out of the window with even the idea of a band,” says Petralli. “On this record, there are many bands, sometimes in the room with me, sometimes miles away in a remote collaboration, and that process opened up a lot of possibility for me. This is the first White Denim record where I’ve engineered and been the main producer. I’ve touched every sound that’s on there.”

Moin, Olan Monk

Guess It’s Wrecked

Post-punk and Mount Kimbie come to mind listening to ‘Guess It’s Wrecked’, a song from the forthcoming album You Never End, the UK trio of Moin (Valentina Magaletti, Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews) out 25th October 2024.

Galway artist Olan Monk is one of the featured vocalists on the record alongside james K, Coby Sey and Sophia Al-Maria.

Adore

Supermum!

A cool blast of melodic garage punk pop from Adore, a band who are from Galway, Donegal and Dublin. I loved their debut grungey single ‘Postcards’, these guys weren’t hiding behind a wall of noise, and a catchy chorus.

‘Supermum!’ is no different, and tackles the trigger warning topic of sexual assault with satire, a deft touch and depth.

I grew up in a time
Where I can’t decline
Yeah it was rude to refuse
He said honey
You’re looking alright
I’ve got some spare time
I’ve got something to show you

It makes a lot of sense that Adore are supporting Sprints on their November UK tour. The song was produced by Dan Fox of Gilla Band.

Adore play their own Dublin show at Whelan’s on November 2nd.

Adore are Lara Minchin (guitar, vocals), Lachlann Ó Fionnáin (bass, vocals) and Naoise Jordan Cavanagh (drums).

 “Supermum! tells the tale of moments where power is lost due to the conditioning of others stronger than you. The lyrics come from my perspective of being raised as a quiet and polite young woman and how as I grew older, it became increasingly more obvious to me that I never learned how to say no, and even when I did, some of those around me had never learned how to take no for an answer. The tone of the song is satirical, which mimics the manner in which people talk about stories of assault abuse in their lives as a way to cope with the horror of it. This playful manner in which we talk about these problems shows that although we may be progressing by actually speaking up about assault, it is obvious that the issue at hand occurs so frequently that assault and abuse remains to be normalised. I hope that this song can continue the conversation of education surrounding sexual assault and abuse. I hope for people to feel safe enough to speak up about it. The fact is that sexual violence has remained a normal part of the majority of peoples lives and it shouldn’t be.”

Ethel Cain

For Sure

I didn’t know it when I heard it first, but ‘For Sure’ is a cover of indie-rock band American Football’s song from their 1999 debut which they are currently marking with a 25th anniversary with a remastered edition and a covers record featuring Cain, Iron & Wine, Manchester Orchestra, Blondshell and more. It’s out October 25th, and Cain’s version is three times as long, and clearly a treasured source.

 “I knew I wanted to do ‘For Sure’ immediately,” shares Cain, who also shot and edited the footage for the cover’s music video. “It’s always stood out to me every time I spin the record, and I knew exactly how I wanted to translate it into my sound. My favourite part of the entire track is the sound of the train going by the apartment I lived in back in Pennsylvania, stretched out like a synth at the beginning and end. American Football is one of those bands that really marked such a moment in time with their debut record, a mark with so much longevity that it found me the same way at 20 years old that I imagine it found everyone else the day it was first released: as an instant classic. Their sonic storytelling has inspired me in more ways than I can count over the years, so being asked to contribute to this covers edition was truly an honor. American Football forever.”

Here’s the original.

MJ Lenderman

Wristwatch

What a year the North Carolina-based artist is having. MJ Lenderman already featured on one of the year’s best songs in Waxahatchee’s ‘Right Back To It’ and was on tour with Katie Crutchfield. Now Autumn is his time to shine.

Now, Manning Fireworks, his new album out since Friday, is getting next level reviews, and features lyrical home thoughts and plainly spoken insightful lines set to Americana indie rock that is truly having a moment in the new music sphere this year.

Two Dublin shows are incoming on November 23rd and 24th.