Sorry too busy listening to Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late to write an intro.
Kanye West - Wolves (Feat. Sia and Vic Mensa)
This one is only a recording from Kanye’s Adidas launch this morning but it’s an official video and the audio beats a lot of what was hanging around this morning. It’s third song we’ve heard from Kanye in as many months but it’s the first that doesn’t feature Paul McCartney and harks back to the stylings of Yeezus more than anything else. Sia and VIc Mensa are on the track too, delivering soulful verses over an industrial, brooding beat. It’s the first track on his new album which is still yet to be officially announced. Go to 8min29secs to hear the track.
Hot Chip - Huarache Lights
Hot Chip are back! It's been a big week for album announcements this week but this is definitely one of the biggest. The group plan to release their new album Why Make Sense? soon and the first single from it is Huarache Lights. It's perfectly melds together organic and electronic instrumentation as Hot Chip tracks so often do while also incorporating some Daft Punk-esque vocals. It's good to have them back.
Florence + The Machine - What Kind Of Man
Speaking of big album releases, they don't come much bigger than this. Florence + The Machine have dropped the details of their forthcoming record, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, and it's headed up by this corker of a single What Kind Of Man. It's more aggressive than anything we heard on her sophomore record Ceremonials, with Welch also pushing her vocal comfort zone. It's electric and makes us very excited for the album.
Kendrick Lamar - The Blacker The Berry
Another big release (so many!) was Kendrick Lamar's The Blacker The Berry which follows his single i from last year. i won two Grammys this week but ironically it was one of his weaker songs. The Blacker The Berry is a return to form with Lamar in a much darker mode lamenting about racism in his signature aggressive tone. This is one of the most thoughtful hip-hop tracks we've heard in a while.
Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Drake just dropped a whole album called If You're Reading This It's Too Late while we were writing this. We haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing so we're just going to place this one here and direct you to buy the album. This has been a huge week for music and this is an incredible way to end it. Most of us thought another Beyonce-like drop would be impossible but Drake has proved us wrong.
Chromatics - Just Like You
As if this day couldn't get any bigger, in the middle of the whole Drake saga Chromatics have dropped the first single, Just Like You, from their forthcoming album Dear Tommy. It's a melodramatic, dim-lit number with those signature drawling vocals. It's a sweet, reflective track that's a far cry from Kill For Love, which led the previous album.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/johnnyjewel/chromatics-just-like-you[/soundcloud]
Snoh - Emotional
For a new artist getting RZA on board as a producer is not too shabby at all. The raspy Swedish singer's new track is called Emotional and it's a jazzed-up track full of passion and energy. It's perfectly produced and intricate enough to keep us discovering new textures. Snoh is definitely one to watch if not only for the fact that she's a Swede and they are perfect.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/i-d-online-1/premiere-snoh-emotional[/soundcloud]
Jimmy Napes - Making Of Me
Disclosure and Sam Smith collaborator Jimmy Napes is finally taking the spotlight with his solo project. His previous effort Give It Up was a little demure but Making Of Me heads straight for the dance floor. It sounds like it could've slotted nicely into Disclosure's debut Settle with its deep house baseline and soulful vocals. And we have no problem with that at all.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/jimmynapes/making-of-me[/soundcloud]
Emile Haynie - Come Find Me (Feat. Lykke Li and Romy from the xx)
Producer Emile Haynie is gearing up to release his star-studded debut album We Fall at the end of this month. So far we've heard collaborations with Lana Del Rey, Dev Hynes and Charlotte Gainsbourg and now we have a track, Come Find Me, with Lykke Li and Romy from the xx. As you'd imagine it's a sombre affair given the choice of features but it's beautiful and stirring. It sounds more like an interlude than anything with Lykke Li barely singing more than 10 words but it makes us excited for the album nonetheless.
Jessie Ware- Champagne Kisses
This isn't a new song but goddam this video is just so good. Champagne Kisses is the fourth single to be lifted from Jessie Ware's wonderful Tough Love LP and as such it's been gifted with the video treatment. It's her most colourful video to date with director Christopher Sweeney creating an absurdist, weird and wonderful world for Ware. The whole thing is visually spectacular.
