A revolving cast of contributors showcase some of the best new music releases from the past week.
Tinashe feat. Young Thug – ‘Party Favors’
New from Tinashe is ‘Party Favours’ and the message of the song is simple: If you invite Tinashe to your party she will bring you party favours! Tinashe’s party favours in this instance, are primarily chemical, perhaps also sexual (just what is her “special juice”?), and she herself has already imbibed: “I’ve been tripping, hella blue dream / Breathe into me, you know / Inhale, exhale, I'm so dizzy.” Common fodder perhaps, yet with its layered, complex beat courtesy of Boi-1da, and tense, almost spooky atmosphere, ‘Party Favors’ evokes the kind of weird, romantic intoxication described in the song.
A heavily autotuned verse from Young Thug adds to the eerie, uncanny effect, yet the song belongs to Tinashe. With her sweet, feminine voice used to haunting effect, the juxtaposition of this softness with the hardness of the beat and content is captivating, and the sound is reminiscent of her more avant-garde peer FKA twigs.
Released ahead of her forthcoming album Joyride, ‘Party Favors’ demonstrates a darker, sexier side to Tinashe and bodes well for her steady rise as one of the most interesting and subversive women working in hip hop right now. – Katie Parker
Empress Of – ‘Standard’
This week Lorely Rodriguez released her debut album as Empress Of and it’s a self-assured collection of songs with slick production and diary-entry lyrics. The mix of RnB, pop, electronica and a raw lyrical honesty has placed her on a pedestal with the likes of Austra and FKA twigs.
The newest single ‘Standard’ is a slow jam that opens with the line “I’ve been living below the standard / With a hunger that feeds the fire”, which has been suggested is a response to her experiences living in Brooklyn, NYC. Her voice cuts through the bouncy beats and a good pair of headphones reveals the bass that carries the song, giving it weight.
As the New York Times recently suggested, there has been a wave of young female musicians over the past few years who are breaking the mould of what it means to be a popstar, spending hours honing their songwriting craft and singing of their own lived experiences. They're in control and Empress Of's ability to combine vulnerability with pop perfection means we'll likely see her album on plenty of Best Of 2015 lists. – Ellen Falconer
Mac Miller feat. Lil B – ‘Time Flies’
GO:OD AM marks Mac Millers third studio album, but his first major label release. Often criticised for his work, Miller has experienced first-hand the perils of achieving fame at an early age. It’s not often that younger musicians mature the way Miller has and come out of the other side of it better off.
‘Time Flies’ featuring Lil B is the sixth track from GO:OD AM, featuring a bobbing laid-back bass drum beat with the occasional flittering of woodwind instruments and horns. Over the top, Mac explains how he’s back and better than ever, doing so well in fact that he has been “murderin’ the game / almost out of victims.” Between verses the Based God himself preaches what feels like a sermon, or almost small series of motivational speeches interlocking with Miller.
This isn’t the dark Miller we had for last year’s mixtape Faces, but it also isn’t happy go lucky kid who smashed the charts with frat-rap hits like ‘Donald Trump’ and ‘Senior Skip Day’. This is a Mac Miller that seemingly stands triumphant and more steadfast than ever. – Joshua Thomas
The Libertines – ‘You’re My Waterloo’
In 2004 the biggest surprise about The Libertines split was that it took so long. Their intense brand of chaos and bondage seem most common in one-album bands like Wu Lyf or the Sex Pistols. Although this has deservedly built the majority of their legacy, it would be unfair to allow rambunctiousness to completely define it. Frontmen Peter Doherty and Carl Barat made passionate music that celebrated friendship and romance.
‘You’re My Waterloo’, from their new album Anthems for Doomed Youth, revives the highlights of The Libertines’ first run. The track opens with piano, and while that may sometimes seem like a shallow attempt at maturity, here it lends a genuine depth. Doherty’s voice has never been good, in fact it’s always sounded kind of bloated. However when he sings, and it is most obvious here, he gets lost in a daze of festivities. He touches on history, typically Albion but here the allusion of Waterloo. It manages to give him a freedom that exceeds his abilities. Yet, it remains earnest and not showy.
It helps that each song on their third album is so well produced. Gone is the unfiltered randomness of Up the Bracket or the screech of The Libertines, as truly great as those albums were. Anthems for Doomed Youth is cohesive and defined. The production on ‘You’re My Waterloo’ in particular, really lets us hear the effects of the rich instrumentation present.
It was always a rabbit from his hat that Doherty especially could pull out these broken love songs. On ‘Radio America’, he and his frail guitar mourned and later when he wasn’t a libertine, he showed chivalry on ‘I Love You but You’re Green’. The band was never this polished though; breaking-up was the best thing Carl and Peter ever did. – Alex Lyall
Cosmic Rays - Yeah, Cool
Yeah, Cool is an EP best described as pop music for an apocalypse - there’s something depressing, futuristic, and yet relentlessly catchy about it. Upbeat lethargy best characterises the tone.
Cosmic Rays is the new project of Scotdrakula frontman Matt Neumann, which sees the Melbourne-based musician fuse deep, warped vocals with moody musical accompaniment. ‘Do Nothing Twist’, which introduces the EP, has a dizzy rhythm, unfaltering drums, and echoey, sinister vocals - it’s a dark and aptly named take on swing music.
Meanwhile, ‘Splitsville USA’ is overlaid with hopeful flutters of light melodic bursts. There’s a slight Neil Young twang to Neumann’s warped vocals which merge and entwine themselves with pained guitar noises. The base creates a great contrast to the guitar solo which sequels irreverently against the backdrop of swirling gale static.
Standout track ‘Teen Bank Robbers on Heroin’ takes a complex concept and executes it with excellent musicianship. Rocking an irreverent Americana sound, the music pulsates an optimistic swing rhythm, but also contains a prevalent undercurrent of urgency and chaos. This song pushes at pop song constructs, bouncing ideas off tight structure.
The EP has a vivid, engaging sound which plays with a variety of different ideas. Like a David Lynchified Bruce Springsteen, Yeah, Cool is appealing, well-constructed and refreshing. - Elizabeth Beattie
What's your song of the week? Tell us about it in the comments section.