Early in the pandemic, I went down a rabbit hole of surveys of music genres and scenes. One of the most captivating books I encountered was SKA: the Rhythm of Liberationby Heather Augustyn. It was a fantastic book the traced the evolution of Calypso and Ska music and how it came from the songs of enslaved people in the Carribean. “Watina” is a song that may not have been from this period, tells the story of the Garifuna people, a people that were forced into slavery and many of which were forced to migrate to the Americas. It’s performed by Calypso Rose, the 82 year old Calypso music legend that has been steadily releasing records since 1969!
You can enjoy “Watina” in all the usual places here. It’s the first single off Forever, which is due out on August 26th!
It’s looking like the new Metric album is going to be a winner. We are on the second single, “Doomscroller,” and its a 10 1/2 minute epic of jittery emotions that’s an epic dance song, a boombastic rocker, and dark piano ballad. The song is a journey that’s over before you realize it started, much like actual doomscrolling. Only this song won’t send you into a dark depression that fills you with a deep distrust of the universe.
On my first listen to “Dreamt I Talk To Horses,” my initial impression was “this song is uncomfortable.” Upon further listens, the vocals- both intensly human and clearly manipulated by digital sources, move from uncomfortable to deeply warm and inviting. This is clearly a pop song, but coming from someone that knows her way around the Throbbing Gristle catalog. This song is the kinda track that forces relistens because there are so many layers and sounds sneaking up on you that you can’t take it in all at once.
There are few songwriters that really understand how to convey the feelings of anxiety, desperation, and fear quite like Emily Haines. I’ve been waiting eagerly for the first pandemic-era release from Metric, because I was pretty sure we would get a track that would clearly validate the feelings of being stuck in a madness that’s out of our control. and they delivered tenfold. “All Comes Crashing” in a lot ways is classic Metric- pure, emotive vocals, post-punk guitars appearing out of nowhere beneath warm synths, and danceable beats to help ease the burden of the anxiety and provide just a little bit of optimism.
“All Comes Crashing” is the first single off their upcoming release, Formentera, which is due to be in your hands and ears July 8th. Preorder details coming soon. Also, there are few nights more cathartic than a Metric concert, and their 2022 North American Tour goes on sale TODAY at 10am local time. Check tour dates out here!
Faye Webster is only 23 years old, yet has unleashed her magnum opus upon us with the haunting “Suite: Jonny.” This is an extended journey of story through song that belongs alongside Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” or The Velvet Undergrounds’ “Sister Ray.” If you thought last year’s I Know I’m Funny, haha was a work of genius (and it is), it definitely didn’t prepare me at all for this stunner of a track.
“Suite: Jonny” is the lead track off Car Therapy Sessions, an ep of mostly previously released tracks re-recorded and arranged for full orchestra. The record is out TODAY and you can grab it in either the physical or virtual world here. And don’t forget to catch Webster at Outside Lands 2022 on August 5th-7th! Tickets and details available here!
I kinda love a good, solid, melodramatic torch song. “Goodnight Moon” by Los Angeles’ Gabriella Marinaro may not be a torch song by strict definition, but in a concise 1:57 takes you on the same kind of emotional journey that the greats like Julie London or Amy Winehouse would take you through.
“Goodnight Moon” is the first single off Marinaro’s EP, Inner Space, due out May 6th. Keep an eye out on her official page and her Bandcamp for more details on this release!
I’ve DEFINITELY been sleeping on Nilüfer Yanya. “the dealer” is actually the 4th single off her second album, PAINLESS. It’s a frantic number that is so jittery it could be uncomfortable if the hook wasn’t so great. It’s a song that never “breathes,” the beat never drops, it just builds and then STOPS. It’s an emotional journey that she forces you on, whether you like it or not. And I like it.
I’ve often said that the most rebellious music is disco. Being able to dance in the face of darkness is a far bolder move than anything presenting anger and violence. “sad disco” is one of the most vivid presentations of that feeling that I’ve ever heard. Oakland’s mxmtoon is clearly ready for the next level in her career, and this song is going to be the anthem for what may be the most confusing and weird Summer of our lives.
HOLY SHIT! I said that out loud when I hit the 2nd minute of this song. It’s not so much a song as it’s a sonic journey that takes you through nearly a dozen emotions and genres in a tight 3 1/2 minutes. This song is potent and powerful. It’s “experimental” but doesn’t sacrifice emotion for being clever. Our single of the week is an adventure for the ears and the heart and even on the 100th relisten, you’ll still find something new that you missed.
“IF THERE’S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)” the first single off Saya Gray’s debut record 19 Masters, is available in all the usual places on June 2nd.
I was in a music discussion channel on a Slack I frequent and I mentioned how I had bought a ticket to see my favorite obscure Norwegian popstar in Los Angeles. To this, my Norwegian friend told me that Sigrid was anything but obscure. Yes, having discovered her while living in Europe, I’m wholly aware she’s playing arenas across the ocean, has won a Brit Award, and that this same song I’m about to talk about was just BBC Radio 1’s “Hottest Record in the World.” She remains obscure to most pop music fans in America. This is a travesty! To see what I mean, watch this filmed set of performances as it’s a total joy from start to finish.
Sigrid’s new song, which she’s been teasing for months on her social media outlets as her favorite song that she’s written, is “It Gets Dark.” It re-teams her with Emily Warren, co-writer of “Mirror” and “Sucker Punch” (as well as Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”) and this is some alchemical magic the two of them have.
This song is cinema. It starts with a synthesizer orchestra leading into aa slow first verse which channels Sigrid’s hero, Adele, as she tells us she wants to leave the world behind to travel into space, and by the time the beat drops and the pounding, stuttering bassline kicks in, she’s there and telling us what she’s learned. By the end, as she continually repeats her discovery, “it gets dark so I can see the stars,” cosmic voices join her as she floats away into space on a bed of electric guitar. It’s a beautiful ending that I found gleefully surprising the first time I heard it.
This is the kind of music you might fly down to Los Angeles the day of the show and then fly back the next morning in time to get to work the next day, not that I know anything about that!
