Our music recommendations: What we’re listening to this week, from IDLES to Adrianne Lenker
Is your playlist in need of refreshment? We have some suggestions.
IDLES – Grace
Bristol punks IDLES have just announced a massive headline show at Ally Pally this time next year; accordingly latest single Grace is suitably arena-baiting, conjuring enough brooding atmosphere and pummelling drums to command one of London’s biggest live spaces.
Adrianne Lenker - Ruined
Big Thief’s vocalist has one of the most haunting voices in contemporary indie, and on the spellbinding Ruined it crackles and soars like a fizzing firework. The song, which explores heartache and obsession, paves the way to a new solo album, out at some point next year.
horsegiirL - Wish
This mysterious masked singer claims that she was discovered by Whitney Horston as a young foal whinnying away in a stable; as you may well gather from this biography, her music also flirts with similarly ridiculous levels of absurdity. Who knew combining a Eurotrash interpolation of Wham!’s Last Christmas with unsettlingly sexual lyrics about Santa could make for such a festive bop?
NNAMDÏ - Going Crazy
American-Nigerian experimenter Nnamdi Ogbonnaya consistantly makes incredibly fun music, and the wonky, syrupy slow-trap of Going Crazy - which features his IRL niece and nephews on backing vocals - is no exception.
Tyla - Truth or Dare
After the South African star smashed multiple records with Water - one of the biggest break-out pop moments of this year -Truth or Dare trades in raunch to wave goodbye to being messed about: “would you still want me if I didn’t have it all,” she shrugs, “you could’ve had it with me, but instead you gave it up”
Nadine Shah - Twenty Things
The drums are so hollowly brutal that they seem to roar on Shah’s latest - an incendiary song that explores the strong connections she formed with a number of people while in recovery.
Yard Act - Petroleum
After narrowly missing out on a number one record with their debut, Leeds post-punks Yard Act are gearing up for its successor Where's My Utopia? -and the cartoonish spikiness of Petroleum serves as another early glimpse.
Wallace - Good Morning
As well as ticking off the bucket list item of playing Berghain for the first time, Jimmy Wallace also picked this week to release his album Red, Yellow, Black on the Tokyo-based nu-disco label Mule Musiq. The chugging, syncopated house of Good Morning is one of many highlights.
Snõõper – Company Car
An electro-punk steamer about twisting company benefits into yet more fuel for racing around town being hedonistic trouble-makers, this chaotic cut from the Nashville band - signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records - is a whole heap of fun.
Björk and Rosalía - Oral
Björk just happened to find this song lying around and semi-forgotten from the late Nineties, as you do. Now, though, she’s enlisted the Spanish singer Rosalía and in-demand electronic producer Sega Bodega to transform it into an ethereal, dancehall-laced protest song against the Icelandic salmon fishing industry.
Miso Extra - 2nd Floor
Born in Hong Kong, raised in Japan and now based in London, Miso Extra’s name puns on the racism she’s experienced in the UK; and this dual language solo project transforms her into an anime superhero. An eerie and cavernous break-up song, her latest single recalls early Grimes.
Kali Uchis - Labios Mordidos (ft. Karol G)
An early glimpse at Kali Uchis’ upcoming Spanish language album Orquídeas, Labios Mordidos (meaning: bitten lips) sees the Tyler, The Creator and Gorillaz collaborator teaming up with Colombian singer Karol G and interpolating retro dance hooks into this syncopated banger.
English Teacher - Mastermind Specialism
Growing out of spiky, sinister, Slint-styled guitars, Mastermind Specialism sees the Leeds band slowing things down and reflecting on feeling directionless – packed with their usually offbeat lyricism it namechecks everyone from the Tiger Who Came To Tea to Doctor Who.
Lucy Deakin - Wish You Were Dead
Manchester’s rising star Lucy Deakin has been teasing her loyal fanbase with her latest track, a play on t.A.T.u’s 2002 banger All The Things She Said, for weeks now, making good use of the nostalgic appeal of the sample. This also marks a departure from her original bedroom pop roots, and leads her into an edgier, grittier direction.
Sterling Press - Doorbell
Though they formed in London, rock band Sterling Press have made a bold statement by leaving the capital, jumping instead into the vibrant music circuit of the north-west. The confidence gained from sell out shows in Liverpool and Manchester oozes out of their latest offering - a swaggering, searing track that echoes the earlier material of Britpop legends Blur.
Oscar #Worldpeace - Gets Like Dat (feat. Bawo)
Multi-talented Tottenham rapper Oscar #Worldpeace returns with a new release, taking on production duties and vocals on the track, and enlisting west London MC Bawo as a guest star. The low-tempo, bass-heavy track explores resilience, with the two pals trading bars of self-determination over oscillating melodies.
Eliza Rose x Calvin Harris - Body Moving
A link-up between two dominant forces in dance music was always going to produce floor-filling results, so it’s no surprise that chart-toppers Eliza Rose and Calvin Harris completely nail the brief. The bouncy track, well equipped with horns and funky melodies, feels like a fiery explosion of summer. A welcome gift for a chilly, soggy capital.
Dua Lipa - Houdini
Dua Lipa has been busy teasing a brand new era of music with social media blackouts and cryptic snaps - and now that Houdini is finally here, it lives up to the hype. Produced by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, and go-to pop maestro Danny L Harle, it’s an explosion of Eighties synth-heaven, with a touch of psychedelia and Dua Lipa’s firmly established disco aesthetic. The result is an instantly catchy dance-pop banger, featuring one of Lipa’s finest vocal performances.
Peggy Gou & Lenny Kravitz - I Believe In Love Again
Following the continued success of her trance-inspired hit (It Goes Like) Nanana, it’s hard to imagine Peggy Gou slowing things down, but with her latest track, equipped with a Lenny Kraviz feature, the in-demand DJ and producer lowers the tempo for a chic, Nineties-inspired runway-ready effort that rings echoes of Nightcrawlers’ 1992 classic Push The Feeling On.
Mazza x Aitch x Potter Payper - Murdaside Remix
Liverpool rapper Mazza L20 had already picked up huge buzz on his original hard-hitting Murdaside track, which went viral on TikTok - amassing over 18m views on the platform, and 3.5m total streams. While the street stomper has already done numbers on its own, it now benefits from a remix, which includes two of UK rap’s leading names, Aitch and Potter Payper, who each provide a verse on the energetic track, giving it a new lease of life.
Logic1000 - Self To Blame (feat. Kayla Blackmon)
Berlin-based Logic1000 has been gaining traction since her bass-heavy 2021 banger What You Like with Malaysian-Irish artist yunè pinku was released, and now, following her freshly announced debut album Mother, due March 22, Logic1000 gives us a taste of what’s to come by dropping her lead single, equipped with bouncy, melodic house production and vocals from rising artist Kayla Blackmon.
Sharon Van Etten - Close To You
New Apple TV+ period drama The Buccaneers steers clear of reimagining contemporary songs with clunking harpsichords (praise be). Instead, they’ve tasked Warpaint’s resident drummer-producer extraordinaire Stella Mozgawa with assembling a dream team of soundtrack collaborators - and Sharon Van Etten’s contribution is a glimmering, indie-rock highlight. It’s co-written with the Aussie singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, and The Last Shadow Puppets’ Zach Dawes.
Porij - You Should Know Me
Spacey stabs of synth, chugging cosmic house and a hefty great euphoric bit of screaming to boot - this new one from dance-pop four-piece Porij (yes, they’re named after the breakfast dish) ticks all the big dancefloor banger boxes. Produced by David Wrench - who released the first ever Welsh-language acid house record, ever, before producing everyone from The xx and Frank Ocean to Caribou and Arlo Parks - it’s their first release since signing to Play It Again Sam.
The Last Dinner Party - On Your Side
You’ve all heard the idiom, right? You wait months and months for a buzz-band who you can only catch live at scrappy London venues to release a single, and then four belters, a full-blown headline tour, a Jools Holland telly debut, and news of a debut album all come along in rapid succession. One of The Last Dinner Party’s live staples, On Your Side doesn’t disappoint as a studio recording, and at times, Abigail Morris’ soaring, raw-hewn vocal has a hint of Kate Bush about it.
The Beatles - Now and Then
Come again?! A new single, from The Beatles?! Rest assured, you’re not hallucinating: with the help of some cutting edge new technology (technically a kind of AI, but not the evil sort) to complete an old, John Lennon-written demo which had previously proven impossible to finish, they’re back with what’s being billed as a final single. Unsurprisingly, it’s a stunning piece of songwriting, and hearing a present-day McCartney dueting with past Lennon makes for truly moving stuff.
Taylor Swift - Say Don't Go
Taylor Swift's quest to re-record her first six albums in order to reclaim ownership after her original masters were bought without her blessing, and 1989 is the latest to get the Taylor's Version treatment. Of the remake's five unreleased new tracks, Say Don’t Go shines through - the slow-building song turns into an explosion of synth-pop perfection; a well-placed addition to what was an already well-crafted crossover album, a departure from the country sounds that made Swift famous, venturing into retro-leaning synth-pop.
Black Honey - Lemonade
Four-piece indie band Black Honey return with their first single since their third album A Fistful of Peaches, released in March this year. With a raging guitar opener and thumping drums, the band launch into their latest stomper, a riotous acceptance that when life gives you lemons, you can’t always make lemonade.
Yunè Pinku - Killing Bee
London-based singer and producer Yunè Pinku releases her latest track, a high-octane, bouncy techno track with winding basslines and a two-step instrumental, featuring the singer's distorted vocals. It’s a certified chiming floorfiller that continues the theme of Pinku’s underground dance explorations.
