Top 10 New Tracks
Featuring the likes of pop-punk leviathans Knuckle Puck, New Orleans native Bailey Flores and RnB beast Ragz Originale, this week’s Top 10 features some hand-picked bangers.
Jesse James Solomon — Haze
The latest track from rapper Jesse James Solomon is solid. Perhaps I’m biased because I love trap music — but the flows in this song are really well written, and the sample used is tight. They are beautifully cohesive and infectious for the listener; I felt myself moving to the beat even after just listening once. Jesse James Solomon has been on tracks with Giggs before, and I see how he would fit well into this type of music. Something about this song really reminded me of Drake’s More Life — perhaps it’s the sample pattern and rap style. Sure, it’s nothing special, but I enjoyed it. — Chess Warren
The Stick Arounds — Connection
This song belongs in a mildly dirty pub in Manchester in 1992. It screams The Stone Roses. Genuinely, I believe that if this was by a band like The Verve or Oasis, then this track would be a classic. It may not be what we are looking for in the charts right now, but I appreciate it! Although the lyrics don’t grab me as much as I hoped they would, I appreciate the meaty guitar part so much that I kind of…don’t care. I will be sure to listen to the rest of their album. — Chess Warren
Emily Burns — Hello
I find it perplexing why, in the modern world, anyone besides Adele or Lionel Ritchie would ever call a song ‘Hello’ — but here we are. As my first “hello” to Emily Burns, this song is decently enjoyable. The production throughout is satisfying, almost approaching PC Music levels of cyborg pop idiosyncrasy; I particularly love the synth lead in the chorus. The vocals are a little more run-of-the-mill but definitely do not spoil this cut. If Burns has more of this slick brand of sophisti-pop up her sleeve then I wouldn’t be averse to hearing more of her. It would certainly be nice to have another Rugby native gain some acclaim in the music world (I can’t think of any successful bands from there other than Spiritualized). — Joe Waters
Erik Sjøholm — Sooner or Later
In my time at URY, I’ve come across many heinous examples of bland Swedish Indie Pop. Where does it all come from? Is this the legacy of super-hitmaker Max Martin? At least the songs he wrote managed to actually succeed in being catchy. Much of this kind of output is simply forgettable at best. However, it has to be said, Erik Sjøholm is a cut above the rest. I might not like the ‘na-na-na’s in this song, but I do, at least, respect them. Indeed, as the track builds to its climax, it genuinely becomes moderately enthralling managing to get away from the corrupting influence of Oh Wonder! into a more tasteful echo of Fleet Foxes. The strings are lush; the percussion is tactile. Its cosy, cheesy warmth almost, for just a second, burned through my cynicism. Almost. — Joe Waters
Bailey Flores — Grave Dancer
Will this track appear in my playlists? — Probably not. Will I advise everyone to listen to it? — Probably yes. Will I advise everyone to watch the genuinely entertaining music video? — Absolutely.
Flores new single is a modern funky pop dance track (is that a genre?) that should be familiar to most readers. In ‘Grave Dancer’s structure, there’s not much new. There are the repeating guitar lick/chords, the spacey synths and harsh 808 drum pads coming in strong with a breathy and strained main vocal form Flores herself. At this point I’m supposed to complain now about this song-style dominates yada yada yada — however that’s boring and wrong and even if I wanted to, Flores doesn’t laze about in the genre — she has fun with it. The main pull of ‘Grave Dancer’ is the brilliantly balanced morbid humour in the lyrics and in the music video that pulled me in, made me laugh and made me want to listen and watch again and again and again.
Flores has perfectly combined modern pop production with modern pop videos with her dark and funny personality with flying colours. Go enjoy ya big smellies! — Saul Devlin
Gaby Jogeix — Fair Green
Who’s Gaby Jogeix? Well, cross mid-career Bruce Springsteen with Zeppelin III and a bit of Americana thrown in, and you pretty much have Jogeix’s second single. Not to disparage on the track, it’s got strong rock production, a simple yet effective band arrangement and a big rolling guitar riff that can get you excited… for a bit. There’s a certain amount of growth needed in a good rock track, where new melodic ideas, rhythmic ideas or arrangement ideas add that great replayability factor. ‘Fair Green’ sits in its own confined box, not straying too far from its main riff and general ‘classic American rock’ tone. You get the elements of a rock track without that magic element of passion and originality a great rock track has — that killer line, that killer melody, that killer beat. Nothing is killer about ‘Fair Green’. Jogeix, stop smacking the door. Kick the f***er down. — Saul Devlin
Knuckle Puck — Tune You Out
The rather fantastic thing about music is that it can take you anywhere — a distant land, the back of a taxi, or into the deepest depths of your own memories. Anyone who lived through the noughties will be thrust into that strange era of pop-punk upon hearing Knuckle Puck’s ‘Tune You Out’. The treble-y chords elicit memories of playing Blink-182’s ‘All The Small Things’ on Guitar Hero, Joe Taylor’s vocals echo the first time I heard Fall Out Boy’s ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’, and the anarchic lyrics evoke the memory of opening my electric blue iPod Nano on Christmas Day as an eleven-year-old. It will come as no surprise, then, that Knuckle Puck are one of the last major pop-punk icons from last decade, releasing multiple albums — the latest of which was 2017’s Shapeshifter. Above all this bitter-sweet nostalgia porn, ‘Tune You Out’ is an original, eclectic track, in its polyrhythmic drumming and crunchy guitar lines. Give it a go; you may be reminded of memories you didn’t realise existed. — Connor Flashman-Wells
School of X — Collarbone
Danish lad School of X, AKA Rasmus Littauer, brings some heat on this beautiful multi-instrumental track. He’s entirely self-produced, and yet has some serious edge that will certainly appeal any fans of Glass Animals or King Krule. Take the chorus — underpinned by chorale guitar arpeggios, X litters in a delicious helping of distorted guitars, sparing synths, and well-mixed drum lines. Though his first album, Destiny, was only released last year, School of X has managed to switch up gears nicely; ‘Collarbone’ sticks out as a slight departure from his freshman effort, and it’s welcome. — Connor Flashman-Wells
Fergus — Concave
‘Concave’ is the latest track by London-based singer-songwriter Fergus. He has had a steady output of singles over the last two years, with some of them clocking in just under half a million plays on Spotify. Lines such as ‘when I binned your birthday card, did you feel it?’ show Fergus as more than just another songwriter who can mope about love and loss over twangy guitar chords. He notices the petty acts of frustration we engage in when we are hurt, those that make us feel better but are ultimately meaningless. The refrain is very sweet and genuinely catchy, the instrumentation in the second half is a bit too overblown; nothing is particularly distinct other than his incredibly intoxicating tenor. But that said, it does justice as a backdrop, a stage for his vocals to display exactly what they have to offer. — Edward Smith
Ragz Originale — Jennifer
Self-described ‘shower-man musician’ Ragz Originale has released his new track ‘Jennifer’, two years removed from his debut album Nature. Ragz channels the Rnb flow of his contemporaries such as Daniel Caesar and Blood Orange, paying more of a homage to their style than a straight knock off, giving himself enough room to make his voice distinct from the crowd. Admittedly, while the hook is incredibly sweet and catchy, and it will be stuck in your head after the first listen, it does get repetitive very quickly. This feature is made especially concerning since the track clocks in at less than three minutes. It does fit with the theme of the track, with him pleading to this girl repeatedly, not being able to find the words, just trying his hardest to get his desperation across to her. While the intentions may be there, it does feel like two people having a slightly uncomfortable to witness public domestic. This aside, Ragz shows promise as an up and coming artist and there is a real flair to his singing and beat production. There is a superb vibe to this track and I look forward to what he crafts next. — Edward Smith
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