The best songs of the week
3.
Metronomy
‘Old Skool’
The welcome return of Joe Mount making “bangers”.
With the wealth of music whizzing past our ears, it’s easy to forget the effort it takes to create great songs. ‘Old Skool’ is a case in point. Joe Mount not only wrote, played and recorded this song in two weeks, he recorded an entire new album Summer 08. ‘Old Skool’ is a deceptively simple, really well-written song. A rubbery bassline, robotic synth, air-sucking percussion and lyrics about being jealous of people on the other side of town. It takes talent to write something this good. Plus, bonus MIXMASTER MIKE! Bow down.
4.
James Blake & Bon Iver
‘I Need A Forest Fire’
A heavyweight creaking collaboration.
I have mixed feelings about James Blake a week after the release of The Colour In Anything. He’s clearly a talented musician, producer and singer but sometimes, an album feels like a laborious slog and I don’t feel much about it. Other times, it hits me direct. I need more time with it. Two songs ‘Timeless’ and ‘I Need A Forest Fire’ are drawing me back. The former takes Blake’s ability to create post-dubstep to a song format that works as both that and a sonic piece of music.
‘I Need A Forest Fire’, his collaboration with Justin Vernon is pure emotive neo-gospel. Blake loops himself singing ‘Another shade, another shadow’ and the pair sing about a relationship in need not of extinguishing but of igniting. The song bursts with emotion.
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