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.
The Avalanches ft. Blood Orange
We Will Always Love You
The latest single from Australian sample gurus The Avalanches cracks smiles on two separate counts.
Firstly, it can and should (positive thinking) be considered that the release of ‘We Will Always Love You’ testifies to the release of another Avalanches project, hopefully in the near future.
Secondly, it’s an absolutely stunning song in its own right. The track, which features both vocals and bars from Blood Orange, primarily samples vocal group The Roches’ ‘Hammond Song’.
Spacey, anxiety-induced heartache, perfectly delivered in Blood Orange’s supreme falsetto delivery.
2.
King Krule
Stoned Again
King Krule‘s Man Alive! hits a peak just three tracks in with ‘Stoned Again’. The track represents the most vehement moment of reckoning on an album filled with them (more on this later).
The bassline leads us into the rhythm section like the drunk descend a flight of stairs. Krule’s vocals are cracked, pushed to the fringes of a scream. The guitar line that announces the chorus refrain is honest to goodness glorious. One young man rages against the ceaselessly invading annoyances of life behind the veil of a marijuana-induced moment of unclarity.
3.
Tame Impala
Glimmer
“It’s like, “Oh, bass,” cool / You know how you make the bass better? / Crank the bass up (Yeah) / You know how to make the kick drums better? / Just crank the bass up
And then it’s like, “No, not really”.”
4.
Wilma Archer ft. MF Doom
Last Sniff
Legendary MC MF Doom teams up with British producer Wilma Archer on cerebral new single ‘Last Sniff’.
It’s hard to say Doom steals the spotlight throughout ‘Last Sniff’. It’s not that his pulp depiction of New York, wallowing in corruption and the night, isn’t superb. It’s more so that Archers’ mood piece meets soundtrack meets hip hop beat arrangement is as striking, evocative and masterfully assembled as it is.
5.
Darkstar
Wolf
Warp Records signed electronic trio Darkstar return with new single ‘Wolf’. The single signals the end of a long drought of new recorded material.
‘Wolf’ is a woozy, moody mid-tempo electronica track. It’s held together with a rigid clap/perc sound, over which the sweet vocal melody and airy synth chords are overlaid.
6.
The Weeknd
After Hours
The Weeknd lets the mask drop for long enough to issue a sincere apology on new single ‘After Hours’.
While this sort of sombre, authentic emotional output wouldn’t have been uncommon throughout the artist’s Trilogy period, it’s a testament to how much Abel has played into the superstar persona that ‘After Hours’ was actually a bit surprising. Production is super tight throughout too.
7.
Tennis
Runner
Indie-pop duo Tennis returns with the first single from their forthcoming new record, called ‘Runner’. Glamourous dream pop stuff.
8.
Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams
The Run Around
Step-father and son get up to all sorts of predominantly instrumental electronic hijinks on ‘The Run Around’.
Love the very synthetic, cold production throughout the track, not what I was expecting from Sufjan and Lowell at all. Leaves much interest in what the full album will sound like.
9.
Elaquent ft. Oddisee
Guidelines
Canadian producer Elaquent pulls a roster of MCs together on new platter Forever Is A Pretty Long Time.
‘Guidelines’ is my absolute favourite cut from the album. Featuring bars from American MC Oddisee, the track sports a boombap beat with neo funk basslines beneath a set of bars set around the gift of fatherhood. Super tight hip-hop all round.
10.
Massimiliano Pagliara
Accidently We Rushed
We absolutely love to see it.
Lecce native producer and DJ Massimiliano Pagliara came through with new EP Nothing Stays In One Place Too Long last week. We’ve highlighted ‘Accidently We Rushed’, an acid bass, digital synth riff centred progressive dance track. You should check out the whole EP though, super strong stuff.
