Stepping out of the haze of the Coachella weekend and back into the new music world, here are 10 songs that you need to wrap your ears around this week.
Samantha Urbani
1234
Samantha Urbani was the lead-vocalist of uber cool Brooklyn band Friends who broke out with I'm His Girl back in 2011. It seems now though she's stepping out on her own with the assistance of her boyfriend and our favourite producer Dev Hynes. 1 2 3 4 is her first audible endeavour as a solo artist and was apparently half-recorded on a train which is both impressive and confusing. Its sound is a little cleaner than the scuzzy vibes of Friends but it's still melodically tight and buoyed by an impressively strong chorus. Dev's influence is all over it which is a ok with us, as per usual.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/samantha-urbani/1-2-3-4a[/soundcloud]
Aeroplane
Let's Get Slow (Feat. Benjamin Diamond)
When you go by the moniker of Aeroplane you better be serving up euphoric, head-in-the-clouds type music and that's exactly what this Italian-Belgian producer does. Aeroplane has done remixes of everyone from Charli XCX to Justin Timberlake but he's also fully-capable of crafting his own tracks of smooth, melodic electronic music. Let's Get Slow features the vocals of Stardust's Benjamin Diamond (remember this?) who helps bring equal parts of funk and sensuality. "Let's get together baby, let's get high," is exactly the kind of lyric the dancefloor needs.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/aeroplane/lets-get-slow-feat-benjamin-diamond[/soundcloud]
Made In Heights
Forgiveness
Made In Heights have trickled out brilliant tracks for the better part of two years now with never any word of an album. Now though it seems we are finally going to get that LP with their new track Forgiveness coming with word that an album is set to drop on 26th May. The US duos latest track has us swooning once more with a percussion-driven hook bookended by swelling synths and fragile vocals. They nail the rarely-trodden genre of subtle pop music and we can't wait to see what else they have on their album.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/madeinheights/forgiveness[/soundcloud]
Empress Of
Water Water
Empress Of made a name for herself in 2013 with a brilliant run of tracks starting with Don't Tell Me but since then she's been pretty quiet. That's because she's been working on a debut album set to be released via Terrible Records and XL Records. XL usually don't waste their time with artists unless their pretty damn sure about them (Adele, Shamir, FKA Twigs) so you can feel pretty confident about what Empress Of has been crafting. Our first taste is Water Water, a rushing synth-driven track which is darkened by the brooding vocals that teeter between Robyn and Zola Jesus. This has the potential to be one of the most captivating records of the year.
BenZel
Stuck On You (Feat. Tory Lanez)
Two Inch Punch and Benny Blanco are in their own right brilliant producers so it's not surprise that together they've been churning out some pretty impressive stuff. Stuck On You is the latest track to come from the duo and it's the first BenZel track to feature a solo male vocal. Canadian rapper and singer Tory Lanez perfectly weaves through BenZel's smooth, spacey instrumental switching between his two crafts effortlessly. This tracks up for free download so grab it while you can.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/officialbenzel/stuck-on-you-ft-tory-lanez[/soundcloud]
Hudson Mohawke
Ryderz
Incase you haven't heard HudMo is prepping the release of his debut album lantern which will be with us in June. First we heard Very First Breath and now we've been gifted Ryderz - a soulful, triumphant number centring around a sample of D.J. Rogers' Watch Out For The Riders. These type of songs are the ones that convert a set from being great to being mind-blowing. It's so grand that it manages to both tug at the heart and raise your hands to the air.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/hudsonmohawke/ryderz-rinse[/soundcloud]
Giorgio Moroder
Déjà Vu (Feat. Sia)
The reaction to Giorgio Moroder's collaboration with Kylie, Right Here, Right Now, was lukewarm but it's likely that this one with Sia will excite much more. Sia dons her disco diva alter-ego for Déjà Vu, the title track from Moroder's forthcoming LP. There's lush strings, funky guitar-riffs and a blue-light-disco-ready beat sitting below Sia's euphoric vocal. This is the funnest thing Sia has ever attached her name to and it might just have the same effect on people that Daft Punk's Get Lucky did two years ago.
Vic Mensa
U Mad (Feat. Kanye West)
If you're gonna drop a collaboration with Kanye West it's probably best you make a moment of it. That's exactly what Vic Mensa did with U Mad last weekend. He performed the song at Coachella to an elated crowd and then shot it out all over the internet. The track has Mr. West all over it both vocally and instrumentally. There's big horns, abrasive raps and a thudding beat. While Kanye is an undeniable presence, Mensa holds his own proving that he can kick it with the big kids. In fact his rap is probably more abrasive and attention-grabbing than Kanye's.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/fuck-vic-mensa/u-mad-feat-kanye-west[/soundcloud]
Erik Hassle
No Words
We go crazy for a big pop tune over here at the interns and No Words by Swedish singer Erik Hassle ticks all the boxes. Despite making brilliant pop songs since 2008 Hassle is yet to have his huge commercial breakthrough as a solo artist. He wrote Shakira and Rihanna's Can't Remember To Forget You but it's about time he had some chart success with his own face lit up in lights. Surely this will do it. It sinks right into the ears effortlessly without being too in-your-face and compliments a happy-go-lucky instrumental with mournful vocals.
[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/erikhassle/no-words[/soundcloud]
Sinead Harnett
She Ain't No
You would have heard British songstress Sinead Harnett's name pop up a number of times over the last few years. She featured on Discolsure's Boiling and also was the vocalist on Ryan Hemsworth's Small + Lost. It seems, however, Harnett is done with paddling other people's boats as she's gearing up to really push her own solo career with the release of She Ain't No. Harnett's smokey voice is the perfect antidote for the industrial RnB beats. It's a slight step away from the dance world she's operated in as a featured vocalist which seems like the logical step to differentiate herself.
For your convenience, here are all/most of the songs together:
https://soundcloud.com/the-in-terns/sets/10-songs-you-need-to-hear-9
