There’s been so much new music released this week that we considered doing 43 Songs You Need To Hear This Week but we’re time poor and ready for a wine so we didn’t. Sorry. But we did put together 10 and they are a dazzling set of tunes.
Shamir- On The Regular
Shamir has been an interns favourite since he released his Northtown EP earlier this year. Being the clever lads they are, XL Records have snapped him up and launched his campaign with the bombastic, On The Regular. Shamir just oozes sassy charisma and the whole song has the cool persona of something like Azealia Banks, 212. Something tells me Shamir won’t be having any beefs with musicians any time soon, either. This is Shamir on the regular, so you know.
JOY.- Stone
It’s been a good week for this Brisbane teen. First she dropped this stellar new single, Stone, and they she said “oi, listen up” to everybody in the country, performing an unbelievable version of Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head on triple j’s Like A Version with Peking Duk. Her breathy voice is utterly captivating on Stone and the brass stylings that swing in during the chorus give us shivers. And yes, we’re very jealous. She’s 17 for goodness sake.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/joy-aus/stone[/soundcloud]
Calvin Harris- Pray To God (Feat. HAIM)
It’s true, we tease Calvin a bit here on the interns. Oh gosh, how we tease, but give the man credit where it’s due. He’s gone from a dorky producer to arguably the biggest DJ in the world in a relatively short amount of time. His new album Motion sounds like one continuous song but this one with LA girls HAIM is a standout. Harris takes the backseat letting HAIM take most of the glory and they may have just helped us become Harris believers.
Nicki Minaj (Feat. Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown)- Only
Nicki Minaj is absolutely killing it with single covers right now. Anaconda was ridiculous and this one is just as great. Only sees Minaj pack three others into the one song with Drake and Lil Wayne delivering verses and Chris Brown singing the hook. “I never f**ked Drake, I never f**ked Wayne”, she opens with just to clear things up and from there continues to rap like a dark queen. Drake’s verse is great and Wayne’s is average but really it’s just nice to have Nicki down off her Spaceship and rapping like the bad bitch she is.
Jacques Greene- 1 4 Me
Montreal producer Jacques Greene is releasing a new EP this month called After Life, After Party and he’s starting it off with the brilliant 1 4 Me. “1 4 me was trying to challenge myself to keep an arrangement dead simple”, he says of the track and it shows. It feels spacious yet warm and brooding.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/jacquesgreene/14me[/soundcloud]
Ara Koufax- Brenda
The delightful lads of Cut/Copy are releasing a mixtape full of all the wonderful tracks Melbourne has to offer called Oceans Apart. The first track they’ve dropped from it, is by Ara Koufax and it’s just so beautiful it makes us want to cry. It’s a emotion-packed, euphoric song that has these sad undertones that run beneath it and we can’t quite figure out where all these feels are coming from. Maybe it’s the lush, hearty vocal sample or the striking keys that drive the songs second half.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/cuttersrecords/6-ara-koufax-brenda-1[/soundcloud]
Drippin- Waterfall
We sung the praises of Norwegian producer Drippin’ a few weeks ago and we’re just going to keep on belting because he’s dropped another brilliant track. Waterfall is a dark, mesmerizing cut with gun-shot beats and icy, industrial synths. It sounds like something that Kanye would’ve easily rapped over on Yeezus, and we think he may just have a few rappers coming his way looking for beats. Ka-ching!
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/litcity/drippin-waterfall[/soundcloud]
Bauuer- One Touch (Feat. Alunageorge & Rae Sremmund)
Somehow Baauer has quite cleverly manoeuvred away from the shackles of a viral smash and has been able to go along doing his own thing unnoticed. One Touch is a million miles away from Harlem Shake with Aluna’s slinky vocals and Rae Sremmund aggressive rap sitting more in the category of RnB than electronica.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/baauer/one-touch[/soundcloud]
Thelma Plum- How Much Does Your Love Cost (Dugong Jnr Remix)
Thelma Plum is a fast-rising Australian queen of folk, so it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that she’d release anything club-bound but it worked for Emma Louise with Jungle and it’s definitely working again here. Fellow Aussie producer Dugong Jnr has transformed How Much Does Your Love Cost into a flickering, fluctuating track that actually shows Plum’s potential as an electronic vocalist.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/dugongjr/thelma-plum-how-much-does-your-love-cost-dugong-jr-remix[/soundcloud]
Saint Pepsi x Maxo- Celebrate Me
Saint Pepsi is one of the most unapologetically joyful producers around. Everything he churns out have sharp accents of happiness and smiling vocal samples. Celebrate Me is a bit more down-tempo than we’re used to but it also uses this delectable vocal sample that just fills you up with warm and fuzzies. I don’t even think I want to tell you what happens at the end. Just listen, it’s a beautiful, beautiful moment.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/saintpepsi/saint-pepsi-x-maxo-celebrate-me[/soundcloud]
