This Week In Releases: 4/12/2020 (Car Seat Headrest, Bon Iver, Playboi Carti)
There’s been a lot of good music released this week. Here’s some you should check out!
Built To Spill: “Mountain Top” (Daniel Johnston Cover)
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Off the band’s forthcoming LP of Daniel Johnston covers. Frontman Doug Martsch’s boyish lead vocals really lend themselves to Johnston’s famously quasi-naive lyricism, while the instrumental remains fairly true to the original. This is only fitting due to Built To Spill naming Johnston as one of their main influences, and backing him at his last couple of tour dates.
Kid Cudi: “Leader of The Delinquents”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Cudder sees us. Or at least he did when he recorded this track that’s been floating around the internet and in live sets since around 2012. On top of a beat reminiscent of 90s boom-bap style production, Mr. Mescudi waxes poetic on some very familiar themes such as loneliness, adversity, and of course being a figurehead for angsty young people all over the world.
Jamie xx: “Idontknow”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Jamie xx’s first solo release in about five years, ‘Idontknow’ is a sharp departure from his minimal approach to electronic dance music to bring something more likely to induce a riot than a room of people standing in place and nodding their heads to the beat. The track feels very primal in nature, as it is mostly held together by some drums sampled from what sounds like some lost afrobeat gem, which are paired with chant-like vocal samples. Progression-wise, the groove follows a disjointed and disorienting path to the finish; rightfully earning the classification of ‘braindance’.
The Streets: “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Not a collaboration I would’ve expected, though not the most surprising one I’ve seen. This new cut from UK Grime legend The Streets, has an unmistakable chorus sung by none other than Mr. Neo-Psych himself: Kevin Parker. Coming ahead of a new Streets mixtape entitled “None of Us Are Getting Out of This Alive”, the track will be joined by a few more interesting collabs, including one with IDLES. Not quite sure where I stand with this track as of yet, but it’s definitely worth a mention either way.
Car Seat Headrest: “Hollywood”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Easily the best out of the three singles to be released in anticipation for CSH’s new LP, ‘Making A Door Less Open’, the track evokes some early Beck and/or angry Rivers Cuomo vibes; the latter especially manifesting in the chorus that shouts ‘HOLLYWOOD MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE!’. Overall, the tune reads a whole lot like the classic CSH formula with maybe a hint more mainstream appeal with cleaner production and more straightforward songwriting. That guitar lead also slaps pretty hard; just listen, you’ll know the one.
Joji: “Gimme Love”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
New track from the former Pink Guy, Joji’s ‘Gimme Love’ is a multiphased track that begins with a bustling danceable electronic instrumental that progresses into a stripped-back acoustic ballad in the latter half. I say ‘progresses’, but the transition is quite abrupt; although it is quite welcome after the fairly annoying chanting of the song’s title that serves as the chorus. The song’s more lowkey second half, by contrast, contains some genuinely beautiful balladry backed by some finger-plucked guitar chords.
Bon Iver: “Please Don’t Live In Fear”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Justin Vernon returns with his new ‘Bon Iver: Season Five Project’, which will presumably be a handful of tracks written and recorded in isolation during the current pandemic. ‘PDLIF’ is the pilot single off of this project; a saxophone and piano lead ballad from Vernon and his cohorts about the perseverance of human connection. In a post leading up to the single’s release, Vernon stated that “It serves as a subtle reminder that, though apart, we’re never alone; the importance of collaboration and community remains as strong as ever.
Rina Sawayama: “Bad Friend”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
Dropping characteristically as a karaoke video two days prior to the release of Sawayama’s eponymous debut studio album, ‘Bad Friend’ is a rueful dedication to former friends and one-sided fallouts. Set to chillwave-reminiscent production with a vocal manipulated chorus à la Laurie Anderson, the track is an example of Rina’s successful pursuance of yet another musical palette.
Havok: “Fear Campaign”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
While it wouldn’t be telling the truth to state that this track is a reinvention of the thrash-metal wheel, it’s fairly straight shooting to call it a damn good addition to the genre. ‘Fear Campaign’ is Havok’s third single from their upcoming record ‘V’, slated for release in early May. As a band known for energetically technical instrumentals and politically charged lyricism, ‘Fear Campaign’ proves to be no exception, and is definitely worth a listen by any self-respecting thrasher.
Playboi Carti: “@ MEH”
Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube
For his first proper single since 2018’s ‘Die Lit’, Playboi Carti has seen fit to further delay tightening his tenuous grasp on the English language; though we are still here for it. Waxing something resembling poetics in his signature baby flow, Carti employs a beat that is noticeably more intricately produced than most of his recent work. Fans will likely dig it, your parents likely won’t.
Check Out This Week’s Playlist On:
Category: New Music, News, Rotation Adds
Follow Us