This is for all those who were too busy listening to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly to listen to any more new music. Take some time out and hear the best songs of the week past which actually includes Kendrick too.
Kendrick Lamar
King Kunta
It was a big week for Kendrick this week. We were all waiting until next week for the release of To Pimp A Butterfly but alas it fluttered into our ears early. King Kunta is the most immediately likeable track on the album. It’s Lamar does funk complete with female backup singers and a groovy instrumental. The whole of the LP is politically and socially charged so it’s not surprising that while the instrumental may suggest otherwise, the lyrics tackle everything from ghost writers in rap to race.
M.O.
Preach
M.O. are the freshest girl group around right now and yet they haven’t completely caught their break. No doubt they’ll be hoping for that to change with this feel good anthem Preach. With typically throwback ‘90s vocals, the girls’ harmonies are tight and their solo sections are super smooth. The instrumental is pretty casual so it’s completely up to them to light the flame and they do so effortlessly.
Years & Years
Worship
These British lads have finally announced their debut album Communion off the back of their UK number one single King. This track Worship, from the LP, takes it straight to church in a club with a vocally-layered chorus bound for the heavens. Olly sounds silky as per usual while the beat tackles a future bass aesthetic. These guys have served out ace pop tune after ace pop tune and it’s no different here. Another knockout.
Tinashe
Wrong
RnB’s rising star Tinahse dropped a seven-track EP this week as a thank you to fans. For what I’m not sure given that she’s doing all the work but we’ll take it anyway. AMETHYST was recorded in her bedroom in between tour breaks and sees her serve up more warm tones over some of the tightest production in the game. Ryan Hemsworth takes the reigns on this one and offers a typically skeletal instrumental with a dab of auto-tune on some of Tinashe’s vocals. I get the feeling these two could knock together a collaboration album in two seconds. Make. It. Happen.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/tinashenow/02-wrong[/soundcloud]
Earl Sweatshirt
Grief
Rappers are having some bad luck with album releases this year. First came Kendrick’s foiled attempt to release the biggest album of the year on its proper date and now iTunes has leaked details of Sweatshirt’s album before it was meant to. He’s pissed but the good news is now we know we’re going to get new Earl next week. Grief is the first taste and it’s a dark, distressed number with an industrial beat driving the heavy tones that loom over it. Given the title of the album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, and the general feel of this track It’s easy to assume that Sweatshirt is not a happy man right now.
Lupa J
Waiting For Her
We have our fair share of Aussie females killing it with electro-pop right now but somehow each one brings something different to the next. Lupa J is making perhaps the darkest music we’ve heard yet with a brooding vocal accompanied by icy instrumentals made for 5am cityscapes. Her latest Waiting For Her is a haunting track; the type that lingers over you the whole time never quite allowing you to feel settled. There’s an anxiety to it that makes it utterly captivating. It helps that the production is top notch too.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/lupajmusic/waiting-for-her[/soundcloud]
Jhene Aiko
living room flow
Aiko’s slow-burning debut LP is still flourishing in front of me, but she’s already onto making new music gifting us living room flow this week. The song seems to be a one-off release and it easily stands on its own two feet. She’s one of the most sultry singer around and she uses every bit of that to her advantage here, slinking around the beats with impossible ease. “Whatever turns you on, just let me know,” she sings making us all feel as if dating Jhene Aiko would be the pinnacle of life.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/jhene-aiko-1/living-room-flow[/soundcloud]
Set Mo
White Dress (Feat. Deutsche Duke)
We’re already big fans of Deutsche Duke and now we’re also big fans of Sydney production duo Set Mo based off this track. White Dress is a crisply-produced piece of deep house centring around the smooth vocals of Deutsche Duke. The keys married with the throbbing beat is absolute perfection going hand-in-hand with Duke’s imagery of a the girl standing in a white dress. Australia has dabbled with this kind of music commercially but traditionally it’s far more popular in the UK. This could be a top ten there.
[soundcloud wdith="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/setmomusic/set-mo-white-dress-ft-deutsch-duke[/soundcloud]
Boska
Saviour
In the latets instalment of Scandinavians do everything better than most, here is a thumping house track from Norwegian producer Boska. We’ve got a deep appreciation for club tracks that really dig their feet in and go hard and Saviour is one of them. The bass may be abrasive but it’s complemented by warm undertones and vocal samples which up the temperature just a tad. It spends the majority of its 6 minute plus duration working its way into your head and swirling with a delectable repetitiveness which is broken up by brief moments of solace. Saviour will be released via Norwegian label Bolsa Wood and is part of his Cascades EP due for release on 22nd May.
Rihanna
As Real As You And Me
Rihanna is seven albums deep in her career and yet she still hasn’t had a truly classic record. It looks like she’s trying for it on album number eight saying this week that she wanted it to be “timeless”. As Real As You And Me may be for the Home soundtrack but it’s definitely got that classic vibe to it. It’s a piano-led ballad featuring Rihanna’s vocals in all their raspy glory. This is RiRi at her most haunting, gloriously drifting through the keys in a sleek fashion. We’re sure she’s hiding some serious gold nuggest for #R8 but we’ll take this for the moment.
