Plenty of extra songs have come on to my radar since my last post in August, so I thought it was definitely worth sharing my love for them.
Bicep – Aura
I first heard the sweeping atmospheric synth waves of Aura late one night in my room and ended up listening to it over and over a couple of time in a row. Equally at home on the dancefloor or in headphones, this slow-build closing track on their debut EP is probably the most outwardly ‘classic’ house track on their album which takes cues from rave culture, garage and techno. It’s a vast euphoric track and their album has gone on to become one of my favourites this year.
Nick Hakim – Cuffed
Cuffed is a feverish and hypnotic track, steeped in yearning and aching for a past lover. It roots itself in his story when as a young man, he meets an adventurous woman who expands his sexual horizons and literally ensnares him in. Influenced by soul with a more psychedelic edge, the song breaks down in the final moments to a slow drum beat, his soft voice layered by subtle cymbals as the story drifts into a hazy memory.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Deadly Valentine
One of Charlotte Gainsbourg’s savviest moves in her work as a musician is finding the collaborators who bring out the best of her. For this track, the standout on her grief-driven album Rest, it’s French producer SebastiAn, bringing French house disco beats and pulsing synths on top of sweeping string melodies. It’s a bombastic yet also mysterious song, with Gainsbourg’s subtle understated voice almost struggling to be heard over the music. It’s a dreamy and earnest song about the quiet overwhelming experience of marriage and eternal love.
Big Thief – Haley
Big Thief’s second album Capacity is an achingly sad record of painful memories and tragic family stories, but lead singer Adrianne Lenker’s gorgeous velvety voice and masterful storytelling help push this away from being an unbearable listen, and it comes will a feeling of hope. Haley is almost a standalone single, driven by crisp guitar melodies and sweeping optimism, despite detailing memories of a since-ended relationship. Like the album, it is rooted in a sense of welcome catharsis – she’s not bitter or upset, but glad of the time that she did have.
Lorde – Homemade Dynamite
2017 has undeniably been the year of our Lorde. Melodrama is critically adored, and lead single Green Light is featuring on practically every Best Of song list. Personally I love Homemade Dynamite, a brutally yet almost poetically honest song about the discoveries, pleasures and dissatisfaction of parties, friends and youth itself. Boasting a beast of a chorus, her voice and the accompanying synths both at once airy and punchy, it’s one of those tracks that just demands to be listened to over and over again. The remix with Khalid, Post Malone and SZA is a blast too.
Lambchop – The Hustle Unlimited
I have to admit I’ve never listened to Lambchop, and indeed don’t really know anything about them. Spotify recommended a track called The Hustle off their new album, which turned out to be an 18 minute compelling drone track, one that was quite sparse and almost eerie. But this is a beautifully lush alternative take, sweeping and cinematic, evoking an almost classical era of vast dances at ballrooms populated by beautifully dressed folks living their own heartbreaks and personal dramas. But the lounge music roots of this rack give it a more intimate scale.
Ezra Furman – Love You So Bad
Ezra Furman returns! And it’s so good to have him back. Another one of my favourites returning with a change in sound – this time from bluesy 50s early guitar rock with do-wop saxophone, to something more dramatic and vastly original. The lyrics are achingly nostalgic, sweetly capturing that era of heady teenage self-discovery and romance. The strings that mark the backdrop of this coming-of-age novel give it a cinematic feel, with the sort of sweeping evocation that you can imagine will see it used in a beautiful montage scene in a teen movie.
Mac DeMarco – On The Level
This new sound from good ol’ Mac took a bit of readjusting to at first. Entirely ditching the jangly guitar and bedroom stoner vibe for something sunnier, hazier, altogether more American West Coast feeling. It’s unbelievably smooth and mellow, with barely any instrumental variation and warm synth chords played endlessly throughout, giving it an endless sunset-time-of-night kind of feel. But it’s also a little disconcerting, the repetition giving it an almost overbearing presence, and the lyrics offering a tale of disappointment and failing to live up to expectations.
Downtown Boys – Promissory Note
That voice! When I first heard Downtown Boys on the radio, I couldn’t get over singer Victoria Ruiz’s strained bellowed vocals. It took a few more listens to really appreciate the amazing combination of political punk, powering sax and Ruiz’s compelling lyrics, a literal ‘fuck you’ to those who refuse to accept the band for who they are. With a surprisingly danceable bassline and a big chorus, it makes this defiant confrontation to invasive patriarchy incredibly listenable. You feel her exasperation – that she feels like she has to bear all the world’s ills in favour of others, that she has to light herself on fire to keep them warm.
Sinkane – Telephone
Sinkane’s album Life and Livin’ It brought him to wider attention this year and was my introduction to his music. An infectious song actively designed to be danced to, it blurs classic old school disco with a more contemporary edge of afro-rock and electronica, and tells a story of a failing and difficult relationship despite the upbeat nature of it. The blend of instrumentations and production works perfectly, and builds to a rousing big brass finale.
Fever Ray – To the Moon and Back
The long awaited return of Fever Ray! New album Plunge dropped in without fanfare in October, and this lead single gave a glimpse of what was to come. Her debut eponymous album is one of my top five albums ever – a haunting atmospheric record that literally drapes itself onto you. This is altogether closer to her work with The Knife, frenetic and colourful, bracingly so on first listen. It’s a provocative track, erotic and energetic, which is fearlessly unapologetic about Karin Dreijer expressing her sexuality and queerness, and the immense pleasure that brings for her. She’s more willing to expose herself here, ditching all the vocal effects and pitch-shifting that previously disguised her voice.
Beck – Up All Night
Beck is one of my all-time musical heroes so it’s always a pleasure to have him back, especially with the return of upbeat playful Beck. His new album Colors is his unashamed out-and-out pop record and with that he mostly succeeds. Lyrically it disappointingly lacks so much of the distinctive ramshackle poetry that made his earlier work unique. And at first, I wasn’t sure if this isn’t at all removed from the plain pop of something like Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling, which I’ve got to admit I find irritating. But each time I heard that goddamn soaring chorus, it slowly won me over. Beck’s here proving he can make pop songs like the best of them, and still retaining a lot of his inimitable style.
Extra Mentions – Pins – Serve the Rich; Boxed In – Pushing On; Noga Erez – Noisy; LCD Soundsystem – Tonite; Mary Epworth – Me Swimming; Arcade Fire – Put Your Money on Me; Tom Williams – Everyone Needs a Home; Beth Ditto – Fire; Moses Sumney – Lonely World; Joan as Police Woman – Warning Bell; Thundercat – Friend Zone; Childish Gambino – Redbone; St Vincent – New York; My Baby – Cosmic Radio; Floating Point – Ratio; Hannah Peel – All That Matters; Vessels – Mobilise; Ghostpoet – Freakshow; Elbow – Magnificent (She Says)
Musings from a Darkened Room 