Top 10 New Tracks
This week’s handpicked tracks are nothing short of incredible. Featuring the likes of PVRIS, BROCKHAMPTON and KOKOROKO, you’re gonna want to take a look.
Kalbells — Cool and Bendable
‘Cool and Bendable’ is addictive from the outset. It sets the scene for entry into something avant-garde, ambiguous in tone, yet undiscovered and exciting. It is not immediately clear which path Kalmia Traver and her producer, the fantastic Chrome Sparks, is guiding us down. As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the atmosphere is one of joy and celebration in the form of a natural curiosity for the world. The very essence of life, of what it means, and of our first encounters with it as children, is a recurring theme. As such, the song is aptly named, as it explores the desire and pleasure found in something as rejuvenatingly child-like and simple as something ‘cool’ and ‘bendable’. It sparks something very nostalgic in the listener, a memory we are eager to revisit and enjoy. This is enhanced by the song’s composition, starting out slow, introducing the listener to the general vibe of the song, before building up into a crescendo in which it is clear the listener has become part of the song. All in all, ‘Cool and Bendable’ is an incredibly intriguing experience. — Ida Maher
PVRIS — Dead-Weight
‘Dead-Weight’ is a brilliant example of PVRIS’ ability to seamlessly blend a variety of genres and produce a song that will appeal to a large range of listeners with little friction. Treading a line between rock, indie, EDM, and electro/synth-pop, while still dipping into crucial elements of each genre, it is a song which surprises the listener in its versatility. It does not stop there, though, exploring the development of these genres through time. With an underlying beat reminiscent of Phil Collins and Genesis and a rawness reminiscent of bands like Muse, it is a phenomenal thing to witness. The lyricism complements the musicianship perfectly and leaves little ambiguity. Such a skilfully produced track is something many contemporary bands attempt to achieve, yet very few actually succeed in doing. Hats off. — Ida Maher
Squarepusher — Midi Sans Frontières (Avec Batterie)
Hot on the heels of his latest album Be Up a Hello, the boundary-pushing electronic musician Thom Jenkinson (better known as Squarepusher) returns with this gorgeous teaser for the forthcoming Lamental EP. The ‘Midi Sans Frontières’ project started out as a collaborative effort, with Jenkinson releasing the midi files of the track for people to interpret and use as they wished. The composition was a reaction to the Brexit vote and its melancholic melodic progression seems to crystallise the feelings of sadness and loss felt by many after the EU referendum. Its collaborative nature could be seen as an attempt to capture some echo of the global, communal spirit that Brexiteers seem to define themselves against. In this more definitive version, produced entirely by Squarepusher himself, the plodding pace and screaming synths add to the potency of the piece. Over the years, Jenkinson’s work has ranged into the wildly experimental but it’s refreshing to see how, with this simple and minimal palette, he can still work wonders. — Joe Waters
Lorenzo Senni — Discipline of Enthusiasm
‘Discipline of Enthusiasm’ is the first single from the Warp Records debut of Italian dance-music producer Lorenzo Senni. There’s no more that I can say about it than it’s so good. A sequence of bouncy, deconstructed trance chords, hitting with a Rite-of-Spring-like unpredictably, gives the track its erratic pulse. The effect is amazingly physical and propulsive, emboldened further by the declamatory melodies skirting around the impacts. The distorted chiptune palette echoes off in all directions, giving the track an incredibly physical feel, which is especially impressive given that it is essentially beatless. I love the progression of the song, from its spirited intro to the small detours and corners it skirts along the way. This is electronic music at its most visceral. I am extremely excited to hear more. — Joe Waters
KOKOROKO — Carry Me Home
With the electric keyboard, brass ensemble and driving snare and bongos, KOKOROKO give us an inventful, vamping modern jazz track inspired by the Afrobeat style of Dele Sosimi. It is a grooving track — it’s easy to listen to, yet is constantly complex with its syncopated rhythms and stabs from the brass section anchored by gorgeous keyboard and vocal harmonies. It’s a track that moves you to dance with it, “till you cry” as their Bandcamp states. It sure does just that, disinterestedly avoiding tesselating between the two-chord vamp or the lyrical content. However, that’s all I’d be looking for in this sort of track. It is the small additional improvisations and features that refine ‘Carry Me Home’; the ad-libber vocals in the fade-out and the fills played by the bass, are just two driving forces behind the track. This is an extremely strong single for a strong ensemble: please, I beg, gimmie more!! — Saul Devlin
The Snuts — Coffee & Cigarettes
Ah, a nice real rollicking indie rocker has appeared, with that nervous energy that The 1975 made into a whine and Arctic Monkeys left far behind. Yet The Snuts don’t let it wallow or stop-start, they keep it steady here on this four-to-the-floor track inspired by Bob Dylan. It’s also a welcome change from the previous single “Fatboy Slim”, going for an older Bo Diddley rhythm instead of their previous 90’s pastiche. It’s great fun, with some inventive harmonic movements and strong vocals The Snuts remind me of Jake Bugg and Passenger. There’s also an odd high-pitched sample that adds surreal energy to the track. Altogether, ‘Coffee & Cigarettes’ is a strong new single for their upcoming EP later in the year! — Saul Devlin
All We Are — Bad Advice
Bands like Bombay Bicycle Club, Two Door Cinema Club, The Fratellis, and to a lesser extent, Foals, have spent the better part of the last twenty years re-writing the same half dozen songs, for them to be blasted out over daytime radio and rubbish indie clubs. So when a track such as ‘Bad Advice’ by All We Are drops, you can imagine my excitement at someone taking a stab at mixing up the formula. The funky bassline anchors the track as it slowly builds into a dense and groovy funk-fest. When it explodes into the chorus, there is something truly infectious in the hook which grows insidiously on repeat listens. The band may cite themselves as disco, krautrock, whatever, but I can’t help thinking that is a definitional stretch. But, this is also what makes the song work wonders: it is a melding of different genres into this indie-rock formula, which, while it is likely unable to resurrect the genre, it may give it a few more breaths of life. — Edbenjsmith
BROCKHAMPTON — SUGAR (Remix) [feat. Dua Lipa]
‘SUGAR’ has been one of my favourite BROCKHAMPTON songs since it first appeared last summer on their fifth studio album, Ginger. The first noticeable difference you are greeted with is the short introductory verse by Bearface and the subsequent changes in the chorus. The modulation on the vocals has been dialled down, leaving room for Ryan Beatty to show off his vocal chops. But that is not to say that this version is better: I actually prefer the original hook. It is, however, a good example of what this remix is trying to achieve. It is not a re-invention of the track, but more or a star-studded version of what we already have, with a few minute changes to differentiate it from the original. The beat is sparingly switched up; the verses are great, together melding the tone of the track brilliantly. And, while the number of features has doubled from four to eight on this track, (if you count the six BROCKHAMPTON members on the remix), it never feels too crowded or too much of anything. Ultimately, this remix works really well as a subtle reimagining of an already great track. There is something certainly relevant in that old mantra: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. — Edbenjsmith
Rina Sawayama — XS
Rina has quite the repertoire behind her, which will come as no surprise to listeners of her latest single ‘XS’. The Cambridge graduate employs a fantastic metal sample, which the rest of this cut is built around, splicing together her experiences alongside Wolf Alice’s Theo Ellis. Metal influences are far less explicit here than in other tracks like ‘STFU!’ though: in fact, without the metal sample, she’d likely fall into the category of generic pop. But no! She’s clearly beyond being her contemporaries, lifting herself into the leagues of Billie Eilish and Lana Del Ray: Rina expresses an alt-pop sentiment that can only be described as ensnaring, and, while the track does not stray far from its central hook, there is no need for it two. Judging by this single, her sophomore album Sawayama, due for release next month, shows a whole lot of promise. — Connor Flashman-Wells
Aitch x AJ Tracey — Rain ft. Tay Keith
There is something in Tay Kieth’s adlib, the hallmark of his production, that imbues a certain excitement for those familiar to his work. Whilst understated, ‘Rain’ combines three rap Goliaths, Aitch, AJ Tracey and the aforementioned Tay Keith, to create an effective trap banger. Production is simple and unvaried — hence why ‘Sicko Mode’ co-writer Tay Keith is marked as a feature. Yet his use of a bass piano riff suits the complex bars which Aitch and AJ spit brilliantly, complemented by effortless trap drums. Passing the mic between them, the duo spit enticing bars about traditional rap stuff: money, girls and drugs. Their flows are varied enough to keep the subject interesting, though, oftentimes shifting between rough rhymes and triplet flows. Given that the two released excellent debut albums last year, and have continually released singles and features this year, it’s fantastic to see that there has been almost no falter in their quality of music. And, given the recent announcement that JPEGMAFIA, Denzel Curry, Slowthai and Zillkami announced that they were forming a ‘man group’ this week, it is fantastic to see further interaction between UK and US hip hop. Here’s to more of the same! — Connor Flashman-Wells
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