Sometimes we really hate writing this article because some weeks can just be so slow that all we want to do is write 10 songs you shouldn’t listen to this week or 10 reasons you should fly to the US to witness Shania Twain’s final tour ever (yes, it’s a thing). This week, however, we’re delighted to be able to write this because there was such a wealth of new music this week. Kanye continued to edge closer to his album release, we got our first reason to really believe in grime’s resurgence and RnB-electronica proved why it’s still a genre that can be exciting.
Sink your teeth (and ears) into these brilliant tracks that coloured our week and keep listening to the Soundcloud playlist (below the tenth song) so you can impress your friends this weekend by knowing how many times Kanye says “all day” in All Day.
Deutsche Duke
Battleground
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/deutschduke/battleground-1[/soundcloud]
You may not have heard much about Deutsche Duke but you’re soon to. We’re leading 10 songs this week with the new track by this Australian newcomer because we feel while you may have been privy to the other nine track this week, this one could’ve slipped by and it shouldn’t. You know the first time you heard Drake’s Hold On We’re Coming Home, how you thought you’d never heard anything that effortlessly smooth? It’s the same kind of feeling with Battleground, everything from the vocal production to the silky synths make this song a total knockout. If you feel like you’ve heard the vocal before that’s because he turns up on Flight Facilities Down To Earth. If FF are already on to him you can be pretty sure that he’s worth listening to.
Tobias Jesso Jr
Without You
Tobias Jesso Jr’s Goon is shaping up to be an instant classic. We’ve heard three songs from the record now including this latest cut Without You and each song has been a masterclass in simple, heartfelt songwriting. This one feature Danielle Haim on drums and Jesso Jr on the vocal, of course. It’s a mournful, sombre tune with the American singer sounding once again like John Lennon at his best. Jesso Jr may be just the guy to remind people in 2015 that a song starts with a tune and sometimes it’s best just left at that.
Kelela
A Message
RnB inspired electronica has nearly run its course but every so often a song comes along that twists the arm of the genre and makes it sound exciting. Here Kelela teams up with Bjork/Kanye/FKA Twigs collaborator for a sparse, dusky track in which Kelela’s vocals are given plenty of room to breathe. She creates the an Aaliyah-esque melody among seas of rushing synths that come and go as the the intensity compresses and releases. This girl just adds so much more to RnB than what is being offered right now and Arca is the perfect producer to help her fully realise that.
George Maple
Where You End And I Begin
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/futureclassic/george-maple-where-you-end[/soundcloud]
So, George Maple is at least in the top five best things that this country has to offer right now, musically. Her Vacant Space EP was so beautifully sophisticated and this latest cut Where You End And I Begin is just another extension to an already brilliant back-catalogue. For the first time she channels ‘90s RnB with a throwback beat complemented by her airy vocals. Rapper Grande Marshall jumps on the end of the track and makes us feel as if we’re back in Busta Rhymes/Mariah Carey territory and maybe we are.
Skepta
SHUTDOWN
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/skepta/shutdown[/soundcloud]
Sometimes for inexplicable reasons it takes really talented people a long time to get recognised. For example, it took Kim Kardashian until she was 23 to be cast in a sex tape and it’s taken Skepta 32 years to finally get his moment in the sun. A little thanks to his appearance with Kanye on All Day at the BRITS and a lot because SHUTDOWN is a career highlight, Skepta is finally a name on many people’s tongue. SHUTDOWN is viciously good. The horns make it sound majestic, the “shutdown” hook is impossible to argue with and the beat is industrial and raw. 2015 is the year that grime will come to the mainstream and it needs a leader - Skepta is your man.
Cashmere Cat
Adore
The Ariana Grande/Cashmere Cat love affair continues with Grande this time hopping on the Norwegian producers solo track. Grande is such a well-manicured popstar but the main Kitty Kat manages to convince her to let her guard down. The chorus of Adore is basically just Grande doing vocal runs to absolutely nothing and that’s the best thing about this song. It sounds like the pair of them are just playing around and in the meantime have created an effortless RnB classic, more than worthy of the top of the charts. I hope it does well too, together these guys have a real chance to change the sonic atmosphere of mainstream music right now.
Courtney Barnett
Depreston
If somebody told me they were going to write a song about moving to the outer-suburbs of Melbourne I would literally cry right in front of them with boredom. Thank goodness Courtney Barnett never pitched Depreston to me because it may have never been made, or worse I would have cried in front of Courtney Barnett. Oddly, Depreston is probably one of the softest songs we’ve heard from the Melbourne singer. The vivid imagery in this track is testament to the strength of her songwriting and it genuinely makes me feel as if I’m inspecting depressing homes with her and gradually lowering my expectations.
Tink
Ratchet Commandments
Yas. Yassss. YASSSSSS. Timbaland’s tracks with Missy Elliot are some of his most impressive work and while it’s been a long time it seems he’s onto something good again with Chicago rapper Tink. Like Elliot, Tink has an effortless cool where’s she’s unconcerned with being the most-hyped name in music, she just wants to make great music. Ratchet Commandments is great and “Yo a hoe so do better,” is just the greatest lyric.
Kanye West
All Day
I’m a longtime Kanye West fan and these past few weeks have been like ecstasy. He’s finally making sense not only as a rapper but as a creative and he seems to be genuinely enjoying the process of releasing an album rather than doing it purely to prove a point about his own genius status. All Day has the same industrial feel as Yeezus but it feels more communal. Rather than playing for a team of one, the song feels like Yeezy is on a team of hundreds. It feels like a rap army storming towards you only to be stopped by Lucy in the sky with diamonds whistling. As I write this is number one on iTunes in the US. Nothing from Yeezus reached that height.
Nocturnal Sunshine
Take Me There
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/nocturnalsunshinemusic/nocturnal-sunshine-take-me-there[/soundcloud]
London producer Maya Jane Coles is going back to her moniker Nocturnal Sunshine and dropping a full LP. Take Me There is the first single off it and it’s notably different to her deep-house inspired work as Maya Jane Coles. Take Me There smacks you in the face immediately. The beat pulsates hard, the synths growl behind and the tribal-influences make it sound primal. It’s a wonderfully dark reintroduction to Nocturnal Sunshine and makes us incredibly excited for the album. This is some of her best work to date, moniker or no moniker.
https://soundcloud.com/the-in-terns/sets/10-songs-you-need-to-hear-7
