Although a rounded 70% of all music ever made is probably bad*, we have sorted through and found some of the best new music that came out this week so you don’t have to go anywhere near it. Listen below:
*not based on any facts
Holiday Ghosts – In My Head
A perfect ode to the stresses and mundanity of modern life, and the dreams of doing something bigger. “It feels like something’s going wrong in my head, I tried to fix it with a bottle of red,” begins the song, before taking us on a journey of self-examination and weariness over beautifully light guitars. The kind of song which, in its openness, reminds the listener that you’re not alone.
Laronge – Third and Indiana
One part pure pop, one part Bon Iver, this new one from Bristol duo Laronge will definitely grab your attention. The verses have the glitching, pulsating production of Justin Vernon’s contributions to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but the chorus takes the song to a whole new level. It’s a soaring, exciting offering from the pair.
Weaves – #53
This first cut from the Toronto band’s new album Wide Open calms down the often-haywire guitars of their first album, refining their sound to something more direct. Instrumentally, everything pushes in the same direction, building a place from which vocalist Jasmyn Burke can deliver one of her most impassioned performances yet.
Bully – Feel the Same
Clocking in at under 2 minutes, it’s obvious without even listening that Bully have lost none of their urgency since their last album Feels Like. Inertia is the track’s driving theme, from the repetitive introduction to Alicia Bognanno’s distinctive vocal sighing “Cut my hair I feel the same, masturbate I feel the same”. Bonus points for the line about feeding a dog.
Factory Seconds – We Live on the Crest of a Wave
Combining dreamy surf guitars and reverb drenched 80’s drums is always a good move, and on ‘We Live on the Crest of a Wave’, London band Factory Seconds nail it. Stretching just over 6 minutes long, the songs many parts bleed into each other, moving from the smoothness of new romanticism to the harshness of shoegaze, slowly but surely. It’s a confident, beautiful effort, and a song to thoroughly absorb yourself in.
FUR – Not Enough
One of the best films of all time is Grease. That’s just a fact. And one of the best bits of Grease is the stonking ‘Beauty School Drop Out’. Again, fact. In new single ‘Not Enough’, FUR take pointers from this shimmering, heartbroken, 60’s indebted sound, creating a angsty classic with a modern palette.
Check it out on DIY right now
Brockhampton – Gummy
LA-based hip hop collective Brockhampton released their stunning mixtape Saturation back in June and are now, ridiculously, gearing up to release its follow up. ‘Gummy’ shows no sign of the group slowing down or running out of quality; from the moment Kevin Absract’s infectious verse comes in you’ll be hooked.
The Dolce Vita – Brand New Bathroom
One of our ones to watch from a few months ago are back again with another carefree, retro-tinged banger. A baggy-as-hell bassline and shimmering synths combine to sound like an old Chapterhouse b-side, whilst the energetic Small Faces-esque vocals come from behind a layer of haze, cryptically painting pictures. The whole track feels like you’re slowly falling backwards through a kaleidoscope, lazily bathing in colour.
Baby in Vain – Low Life
Off the Danish trio’s new album, ‘Low Life’ started out a lot heavier than it is now. You can still hear the harshness there, but in its final form - as a woozy, melting slow burner - it is far more effective. Whilst the crunching guitars build, slowly but surely, the vocals bite more and more, before finally crescendoing fantastically.
bdrmm – Happy
After stirring up excitement in Hull, bdrmm has set his sights on the rest of the world with his new EP ‘Yucky’, and ‘Happy’ is the pick of the bunch. With dreamy synths, you could mistake it for another lackadaisical bedroom pop song, but the driving drums and guitars give it a stadium feel, the kind of song that fills any space it inhabits. An uplifting, driving piece of guitar-pop.
Check back next week for more hot tracks.
