What We’re Listening To This Week 05/04/17

“Turn the Skies of Blue On” is the third track off of Irish folk-rock artist Fionn Regan’s most recent album, The Meeting of the Waters, which was released a little over two weeks ago and marked the end of an almost 6 year hiatus. Regan received renewed attention last year, when Bon Iver sampled a line from Regan’s 2006 track, “Abacus,” in “00000 Million.” “Abacus” remains one of my favorite songs of all time, and Regan’s style, then, was acoustic, soft-spoken, and minimal. His new album represents a fairly strong departure from his past ones, and Regan tries a whole bunch of new things, including more electronic arrangements. To be honest, most of it is quite good. “Turn the Skies of Blue On” is the song in which Regan sticks to his past the most, and it’s the song that I’ve been listening to this week. The evocative lyrics, the witty refrain, the mostly acoustic arrangement, and Regan’s soft voice all come together to deliver a solid, two minute track. In these two minutes, it seems that Regan is making the case to the listener (or to whomever this song was written for) to stay awake: “talk until the break of day/turn the skies of blue on.” Still, the lyrics are as knotty as they are evocative, and it’s hard to tell exactly what Regan is trying to say. In this way, it’s both puzzling and beautiful, and to me, it’s the most Fionn Regan track on the new album. ~Daanish Khazi

Everyone’s favorite giver of Major Key advice just dropped a track on Friday, and I can already tell I’ll be bumpin’ this one all summer. It’s a star studded mashup of Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance, and Lil Wayne. When I heard this song for the first time, the only thing I could think was that this song was like musical representation of summer. In addition to producing the song, DJ Khaled adds background vocals as your friendly neighborhood hype man as he does onmost of his songs. The song gives off a vibe that I can only describe as tropical, and its light and cheery beat complements that line that Khaled says at the beginning of the music video: “We gon’ celebrate life, success, and our blessings.” It’s a totally different feeling and sound from DJ Khaled’s similarly titled song, “I’m On One.” The chorus that Justin Bieber sings is very catchy, which is the highlight of this song for me, but Quavo, Chance, and Lil Wayne also deliver memorable lines in their verses. DJ Khaled hands you the song you did even know you needed this summer, so it’s time to add Another One to your pool party playlist. ~Kevin Chan