Happy Monday, loopers! Here are this week’s most exciting new releases (subscribe to our weekly New Music newsletter here)…
1. YUMI ZOUMA — DECEMBER
Following the earthquakes in their hometown of Christchurch in 2011 New Zealand dream-pop band Yumi Zouma went their separate ways, emailing tracks back and forth from their new homes in Paris and New York.
After two stunning EPs (2014’s Yumi Zouma EP & 2015’s II EP) and last year’s glorious debut album, Yoncalla, the band finally reconvened in Christchurch last summer, December, to record their much-anticipated second album, Willowbank, which is out October 6th.
Willowbank was recorded in a studio “in Christchurch’s semi-demolished CBD, on one of the few remaining blocks that still characterizes the city from before it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.”
Here’s what guitarist Josh Burgess said about the experience and how it felt to be home:
“It was as though there was a brief pause in all of our lives and we finally felt like a band from New Zealand. We were on home turf and creating from a place that felt fundamentally natural.”
December comes just a few months after the band’s delightful album-length tribute to Oasis’s 1995 masterpiece (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?. If you want to know what a synthpop version of Oasis sounds like, check out their stunning versions of Champagne Supernova, She’s Electric & Morning Glory and if you like what you hear (you will), you can get your hands on the full album here.
2. KING HENRY — MOMENT (FEAT. RHYE)
Los Angeles-based producer King Henry has teamed up with Rhye on his latest single, Moment, which follows up last month’s RY X collaboration, Destiny, and his 2016 debut EP, Don’t Stay Away.
Although King Henry’s far from a household name, you’ve almost certainly heard his handiwork on Beyoncé’s All Night, The Weeknd’s Nothing Without You and Major Lazer, Justin Bieber & MØ’s Cold Water to name but a few.
Moment and Destiny will both feature on the producer’s upcoming 2nd EP, which is out on his Duke City label later this year.
R&B duo Rhye recently shared a new track called Please that is expected to feature on their much-anticipated 2nd album later this year. If you’re as captivated by frontman Milosh’s angelic voice as we are, then here are a more of their songs to keep you going till then: The Fall, Open & Last Dance.
3. THE WAR ON DRUGS — PAIN
Pain is the latest track to surface from Philadelphia indie-rockers The War On Drugs’s upcoming fourth album, A Deeper Understanding, which is out August 25th and follows up 2014’s breathtaking Lost In The Dream.
A Deeper Understanding will also feature the recently released Strangest Thing, Holding On and the stunning 11-minute long single Thinking Of A Place, which was first released back in April for Record Store Day 2017.
If you’re new to the band and want to hear more, we highly recommend listening to Under The Pressure, Red Eyes and pretty much everything else they’ve ever released.
4. KELE OKEREKE — GROUNDS FOR RESENTMENT (FEAT. OLLY ALEXANDER)
Grounds For Resentment (feat. Olly Alexander from Years & Years) is the latest track to surface from Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke’s upcoming third solo album, Fatherland, which is out October 6th & follows up 2014’s Trick.
Here’s what Kele had to say about his latest single:
“I remember reading something that [Olly] wrote about the use of pronouns in pop music for gay artists that I thought that was very perceptive and intelligent — that the use of pronouns was the last frontier for gay artists. There are lots of gay acts that avoid using the term he when singing about same sex desire. It will just be a neutral term, whereas Olly understands from what I read that there is a long way to go for gay musicians in being able to describe love and desire authentically. So I was very happy to sing a romantic duet with him on my album, because I couldn’t think of a precedent of any out gay musicians singing a love song to one another without having to hide behind codes.”
Fatherland will also feature the recently released Streets Been Talkin’ and the excellent lead single Yemaya.
5. JESSIE WARE — MIDNIGHT
Midnight is the lead single to British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware’s much-anticipated third album, which is due later this year and follows up 2014’s Tough Love and her 2012 Mercury Prize nominated debut album, Devotion.
Here’s what Jessie had to say about her new album:
“I’ve written with a lot of different people, but I think what’s bringing it all together is my voice, and the storytelling. It’s quite a personal record, which I didn’t realize when writing it. I thought I was just writing songs, but it’s become this record that’s for my husband and my baby. It’s been a wild couple of years, and I feel like this album represents those ups and downs, the fear, the beauty, and the celebrations.”
The as-yet-unnamed album will feature guest appearances from Francis and the Lights, Cashmere Cat, Julia Michaels and Ed Sheeran, who co-wrote Tough Love track Say You Love Me with Jessie (she repayed the favour by co-writing New Man on Ed’s latest album).
6. JAKE BUGG — HOW SOON THE DAWN
If you caught Jake Bugg’s last album, On My One, you’d be forgiven for skipping this new track from the English singer-songwriter and just revisiting his stunning 2013 debut album, Jake Bugg, instead. But that would be a mistake, How Soon The Dawn is a real return to form from Jake and definitely worth your time.
Taken from his upcoming 4th album, Hearts That Strain, which is out September 1st, How Soon The Dawn is a delightful acoustic track that reminds us of why we all fell in love with Jake in the first place.
One reason for his return to form might be because, unlike his introspective and self-produced third album, Jake has collaborated with a bunch of artists on Hearts That Strain, including The Black Keys’s Dan Auerbach and the house band of the American Sound Studio, who worked with Elvis Presley on his 1969 hit Suspicious Minds.
Here’s what Jake had to say about working with the band:
“They’re old guys but they’re amazing. It was ten to five and then that’s it. They’d pack up and we’d done two or three tunes. It was a mad vibe being from England and meeting these absolute legends and then cutting some tracks with them.”
To support the new album Jake has also announced a series of acoustic shows across the UK in November, so be sure to head over to the Concerts tab on his LetsLoop profile to grab yourself some tickets.
7. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING — DESIRE
Desire is the 2nd single from Everything Everything’s upcoming 4th album, A Fever Dream, which is out August 18th & follows up 2015’s Get To Heaven.
Here’s what frontman Jonathan Higgs had to say about the new single:
“A desire for something so strong you have to have it, and don’t care about the consequences of getting it. Only desire separates the living from the dead.”
Along with this new single the band have also announced a series of tour dates, so be sure to head over to the Concerts tab on their LetsLoop profile page if you want to grab some tickets before they’re all gone.
A Fever Dream was recorded with the legendary Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode & Foals producer James Ford and will also feature the recently released lead single, Can’t Do.
8. ALEX CAMERON — STRANGER’S KISS (DUET WITH ANGEL OLSEN)
Stranger’s Kiss is the latest track to surface from Australian synthpop artist Alex Cameron’s much-anticipated 2nd album, Forced Witness, which is out September 8th and follows up his critically-acclaimed 2013 debut, Jumping The Shark. It will be joined on the new album by the recently released lead single, Candy May.
Jumping The Shark achieved cult-status in the years following its original release (for free) on his website, but it only received wider attention in 2016 when it was re-released after signing to indie label Secretly Canadian.
Here’s what Alex had to say about it at the time:
“It’s 2016, and its time for Alex Cameron. Entertainer. Showman. Shaman. Side by side with his business partner and saxophonist, Roy Molloy, the duo are a living and breathing story of success told through the internet; unedited, unscripted, and, up until now, to a dedicated audience of no one. Thanks to the good people at Secretly Canadian that is about to change.”
If you’d like to know more about Alex and his unique perspective on life, this is how he describes himself and his music:
“I write about the outlier, the table-for-one guy, the guy whose life is a constellation of microscopic tragedies. Failure has been under-explored in music. My characters come from a place where ambition, crippling self-doubt and tragedy intersect.”
Forced Witness was co-produced by Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and features guest appearances from The Killers’s Brandon Flowers and, on this song, the amazing Angel Olsen.
9. ODESZA — HIGHER GROUND (FEAT. NAOMI WILD)
Higher Ground (feat. NAOMI WILD) is the latest track to surface from Seattle-based electronic duo ODESZA (aka Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight)’s much-anticipated 3rd album, A Moment Apart, which is out September 8th and follows up 2014’s stunning In Return.
A Moment Apart will feature guest appearances from Leon Bridges & Regina Spektor, alongside the recently released Meridian, Late Night, Line Of Sight (feat. WYNNE & Mansionair) and RY X collaboration Corners Of The Earth.
If you like the sound of this and want to explore more from ODESZA, we highly recommend listening to Say My Name, Bloom, Sun Models and It’s Only.
10. HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR — FOOLS WEAR CROWNS
Fools Wear Crowns is the 3rd single from NYC electro-funk band Hercules & Love Affair’s upcoming 4th album, Omnion, which is out September 8th & follows up 2014’s farcically addictive The Feast of the Broken Heart.
Here’s what frontman Andy Butler had to say about his latest single, which confronts his battle with alcohol and drugs addiction, in a recent interview with Pitchfork:
“The lyrics acknowledge that we as humans enjoy, in a weird way, watching people fumble. But it’s not always buffoonery that you’re seeing. In my case, I think there was an illness at play.”
You could read the full interview here.
Omnion will also feature the recently released title track, featuring indie-pop favourite Sharon Van Etten, and the super-funky lead single, Controller, featuring The Horrors’s Faris Badwan.
ALSO WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS WEEK:
- Bully — Feel The Same
- Deerhoof — Come Down Here & Say That (feat. Laetitia Sadier)
- Four Tet — Planet
- Kesha — Hymn
- Liars — The Grand Delusional and Coins In My Caged Fist
- METZ — Drained Lake
- Rae Sremmurd — Perplexing Pegasus
- TOKiMONSTA — We Love (feat. MNDR)
- Twin Peaks — Shake Your Lonely and Sun And The Trees
- Zomby — GASP!
