This week was actually quite slow for new music. Since the start of the year we’ve had massive comebacks and surprise drops but this week we were spared some of that in order to regain our composure. That was until Jack U dropped a surprise album and ruined our zen-state. And then PC Music dropped some more sugary-sweet music and we just said “screw it, hand me an alcopop.” We ain’t mad though. Music is what happens while you’re busy making plans, or something like that. I dunno, we read it in a book once.
James Chatburn x Jordan Rakei
Holiday Love
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/jameschatburn/holidaylove[/soundcloud]
James Chatburn is a singer/songwriter/producer triple-threat from Sydney who’s been churning out a smattering of delicious soul tunes over the past year. Holiday Love sees him team up with Brisbane vocalist Jordan Rakei for a track that sits somewhere between Movement and Chet Faker. It’s a crisply-produced song suiting the impeccably smooth vocals that have been laid down.
Purity Ring
bodyache
Purity Ring’s album another eternity leaked a little while back but that hasn’t stopped them enticing those who have been patient enough to wait with little tasters. bodyache is the latest track to drop from the album and it’s a dark track that oscillates between the fragile and the crushing. The strings send it to an ethereal place while the dense synths of the chorus bring us right back down to earth. It may actually be the best thing we’ve heard from the record yet. Unless you’ve listened to the leak - is there anything better?
Florence + The Machine
What Kind Of Man (Nicolas Jaar Remix)
The only thing better than five minutes of Florence is 12 minutes of Florence with Nicolas Jaar. Jaar has taken Florence’s bombastic, aggressive What Kind Of Man and turned it into a funky jam with a groovy bassline and some typically Jaar percussion. Florence’s voice is reverb-soaked making it sound like she’s leading some sort of protest through the streets. In that way it’s got notions of ‘70s activism, if the uproar was taking place in a club. Over the 12 minutes it just continues to flower with layer upon layer of ear-pleasers. Nicolas Jaar is the only man who could have us listen to the same song for 12 minutes. Or Burial, he’ll do it too.
Jack Ü
Take Ü (Feat. AlunaGeorge)
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/jacku/skrillex-and-diplo-present-5?in=jacku/sets/skrillex-diplo-present-jack-u[/soundcloud]
Another week and another Beyonce-style drop. This week it’s Skrillex and Diplo’s Jack Ü adopting the guerilla release. During a 24 hour streamed party (which was shut down by the cops after 18 hours), the boys released 10 songs which will now be known as their debut album. This track is the one that immediately pricked our ears. To U features AlunaGeorge, mostly centring around Aluna’s slinky vocals. Truth be told she could sing over the Crazy Frog and still sound good so it’s not surprising that this is one of the album’s best tracks. Bieber is also on there if you need some extra convincing to listen to the record.
easyFun
Laplander
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/pcmus/laplander?in=pcmus/sets/deep-trouble[/soundcloud]
Sometimes I wonder what’s missing from the week and every time I end up with the answer of a Sims-inspired, sugary dance-hit with computerised vocals. Thank goodness this week has been fulfilled thanks to PC Music’s easyFun. easyFun’s three-track EP takes the same kind of route as Hey QT with ‘90s rave elements fused with a dehumanised vocal. Oddly, once again the dehumanised music actually makes my heart palpitate more than anything I’ve listened to this week. Laplander is so deliciously melodic that it makes me giddy.
Samo Sound Boy
Baby Don't Stop
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/bodyhigh/samo-sound-boy-baby-dont-stop[/soundcloud]
After the bass-assault that was DJ Dodger Stadium, it’s nice to hear Samo Sound Boy slow it down a bit with a smouldering dancefloor steamer. Baby Don’t Stop is the first taste of Samo Sound Boy’s debut Begging Please and it’s a predictably nuanced and reliable track. You can always count on the producer to offer up a delicious vocal sample and he doesn’t disappoint here bringing a bit of soul to the track. It’s probably one of the slowest numbers we’ve heard from the producer but it’s made for those necessary moments on the dancefloor when you take in the moment and slow the body motions down.
George Fitzgerald
Full Circle (Feat. Boxed In)
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/george-fitzgerald/full-circle-feat-boxed-in[/soundcloud]
German producer George Fitzgerald is pretty much a dancefloor staple now but he’s only just gearing up to release his debut album Fading Love. Full Circle is from that said record and it’s a twinkling piece of dancefloor euphoria. The beat has a caramelised vibe to it as it never goes too hard, always hovering between the point of being too soft and so hard it knocks right through your skull. The vocal adds to this vibe adding short burst of melody that also induce a little melancholy. It’s an after-midnight tune best consumed within view of flickering streetlights.
BUOY
Took Me Up
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/b-u-o-y/took-me-up-2[/soundcloud]
Australia has had a lot of international success recently but we’ve been pretty much unable to export a female electronic artist. BUOY could be our big hope. The Sydney singer’s debut single Took Me Up aims her for the super in vogue realms of electro-RnB-pop and is buoyed by an airy, feather-light vocal. It’s both atmospheric and introverted while also delivering just enough pop to appeal to a much wider audience that it otherwise would of. Buoy is a really exciting prospect for Australia.
VÉRITÉ
Wasteland
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/veritemusic/wasteland[/soundcloud]
VÉRITÉ is operating in the same kind of sonic realms as Buoy but she’s less atmospheric and more straight-up. On Wasteland her voice effortlessly moves between its airy heights and smoky depths with a chorus that thumps just like it should. The verses are delicate and built slowly so that the chorus packs the ultimate punch.
Best Coast
California Nights
Best Coast’s debut album Crazy For You hit at the perfect time. Reverb-soaked californian rock was the most fashionable sound of the time and while it meant they quickly became the coolest band on the scene it also saw them run into difficulties on their second album. They tidied up their act and essentially made a Fleetwood Mac record for album number two The Only Place. On the title track for their forthcoming third album California Nights it feels like their truly detaching themselves from anything fashionable. They’ve made a record that sounds like you’re watching the sun flickering through palm trees in a daydream. It’s definitely got a certain Horrors vibe to it but there’s an added warmth that only Bethany Cosentino could add to it. This could be Best Coast’s resurgence.
Listen to the full playlist here:
https://soundcloud.com/the-in-terns/sets/10-songs-you-need-to-hear-6
