Top 10 New Tracks
Another day, another week: here’s a review of some tracks released last week, hand-picked by our digital librarians.
Lil Wayne ft. Big Sean and Lil Baby — I Do It
I don’t understand why I was so surprised that this track was irrevocably catchy. I find that trap can be incredibly repetitive sometimes, but Lil Wayne, Big Sean and Lil Baby kill it on this track. Their flows are fantastically constructed and the trio have excellent sonic chemistry. Alterations to their vocal tone throughout the song are quirky and intriguing — at one point, Lil Wayne sounds eerily, and endearingly, like Kendrick Lamar.
This is one of the tracks from Lil Wayne’s new album, Funeral, which contains features from Jay Rock, Adam Levine and 2 Chainz. I am very excited to listen to the rest of it. — Chess Warren
Night — Feeling It Everywhere
If this song pulled up outside your house, you might think “oh no, the Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey is here”. This track is a Swedish synth-rock nightmare; and somehow, I love it. It’s strangely endearing; it’s far outside of my comfort zone, but it’s irresistibly catchy. I found myself humming the chorus after a third listen. If this was in Adam Lambert’s repertoire, I would not be surprised. In terms of the actual sound of the track, the most notable moments come from the bridge’s lead guitar riff. It’s a wild ride from start to finish. — Chess Warren
Guvna B — Battle
Combining tight 2-step drums, engrossing vocal harmonies and restrained but effective bars, Guvna B’s new cut is absolute fire. The Christian rapper, whose 2018 album Hands Are Made For Working debuted at number two on the hip hop and RnB chart, is unstoppable at the moment; his latest venture, ‘Battle’, pretty well epitomises this. Even if you know nothing of his impressive musical career thus far (over five million streams and two MOBOs) this tune should be more than enough to convince you to lend him your ears. — Joe Waters
Celina Sharma — CHALO
Punjabi-Australian singer-songwriter Celina Sharma combines an effective hook with some interesting instrumental solos in this endearing and moderately unconventional pop track. It’s remarkably self-assured for a 17-year-old who has blown up through TikTok and, even despite hundreds of thousands of YouTube views, still tries to reply to every comment. Though it’s not ridiculously original, (there are some distinctive links to the likes of Little Mix and Dua Lipa) her wholesomeness alone should be enough of a motive to give ‘CHALO’ a listen.— Joe Waters
The Terminally Well — Take It Easy on Me
We don’t get much that could be considered “lo-fi” here on URY. Usually, the barrage of tunes we get sent every week are boringly well produced. This song, however, is a gleeful exception to that rule. The wonky production actually works so well. It’s simplistic, built around a humming adlib and soft piano lines. But the singing is raw, the guitar solo is chunky and the rim shots hit hard. It’s bizarrely compelling. — Joe Waters
Gianni Capurso — Amati Per Sempre
Gianni Capurso comes through with a smooth, mellow slice of Italian indie-pop. Even if I have no idea what most of the words mean, the chorus still comes off pretty catchy and I could certainly see this doing fairly well on Eurovision. Clean guitar riffs and unedited synths hammer home this track’s heart in Europop. Though it’s not really my cup of tea, it’s certainly nice to have some non-Anglophone tunes make it into our top 10 now and then. — Joe Waters
Dreams — Black Paisley
Rock ain’t dead, but it sure can be cheesy. Black Paisley’s new single continues their modern take on 80’s melodic rock, with pleading vocals and big catchy guitar riffs to fill in for a pretty clichéd track. ‘Dreams’ is another lost love ballad, with the singer not knowing where his one and only has run too, wanting her back, saying she’s the only thing he’s needed, etc, etc. There seems to be a darker undercurrent in the song, but the sugar-coated soft rock production obfuscates this a little, which undercuts the soaring emotion the band anticipates. Again, the song is pretty typical and will likely please the target audience, but it won’t entice many to relisten. — Saul Devlin
Physical — Dua Lipa
I never would’ve guessed, in a million years, that eighties workout music would be the surefire chart-topping track this week… or that I’d like it. Yet, with a superbly crafted track from Dua Lipa, that dream has come true, with a great abrasive beat circa Michael Sembello’s ‘Maniac’ and an on-the-nose lyrical nod to Olvia Newton John’s famous ‘Let’s Get Physical’. Lyrically, Dua Lipa doesn’t slack off. ‘Physical’ is a seemingly tongue-in-cheek nod to early stages of relationships where you can forget to actually take care of yourself. You just can’t stop loving this person, you have to be with them — who needs sleep? Physical never lets up with perfectly produced hooks and stirring synths keeping the song in your head long after you’ve heard it.
Also the music video is really, really good. Colourful, fun, impressive in scope. Yeah, this is a good track. Stop reading. Go, enjoy it. — Saul Devlin
James Righton — Edie
James Righton’s ‘Edie’ is chilled as a freshly installed fridge-freezer. It’s mostly based around a vamp of three chords. It has a simple arrangement, piano, drums, bass and some strings backing up the vocals. It’s quite simple but also quite catchy. You definitely can tell that the artist is heavily influenced by the Arctic Monkeys, but there’s also a dash of Harry Styles in there, which is refreshing. Unfortunately, this track suffers from being a tad repetitive. The chorus is nice and catchy, but you can only hear a chorus so many times if its only got one line. — Alex Bispo
OLI — Happy
‘Happy’ by OLI is semi-lo-fi. It starts off simply, with voices and piano, and slowly adds instruments. The song has an ethereal vibe that builds fantastically. It’s extremely 2020; it’s original, and everything is well produced. There’s a clarity to the vocals which reflects well off of brilliantly-placed instrumentation. Nothing pops out, though. At its core, its a solid pop track that is well-deserving of endless replays at clubs and parties. Yes, it lacks depth — the ABAB structure doesn’t help that — but OLI’s track still has some great production worthy of your ears. — Alex Bispo
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