Songs you may have missed - Saturday style

Sorry for the lack of posts this week - it's been a busy one at work (mostly working on this piece, about the first 1,000 albums to reach number one in the UK). Here's what I missed along the way.

1) Pharrell Williams - Happy
As you may have heard, Pharrell's swinging new song (from the Despicable Me soundtrack) comes with a 24-hour music video. You can see that on 24hoursofhappy.com, or you can watch the TV edit right here. Your choice, but both will bring a big stupid grin to your face.




2) Arcade Fire - Afterlife
If Pharrell made you smile, this might be a bit of a comedown. Beautifully cinematic but eerie with melancholy, Emily Kai Bock's video adds an emotional wallop to Arcade Fire's rumination on life after death.




3) Lizzo - Batches and Cookies
I have no idea what this song is about - but Detroit-via-Houston-via-Minneapolis rapper Lizzo sounds like she's having a lot of fun anyway. Brimming with energy, this is what it would sound like if Nicki Minaj covered Salt-N-Pepa's greatest hits.




4) U2 - Ordinary Love
The first new material from Bono & co in three years, Ordinary Love is taken from the Nelson Mandela biopic Long Road To Freedom. Bono sounds like he's straining for the high notes these days, but there's a rush of nostalgia when The Edge's chiming, reverb-soaked guitar kicks in. The gospel-infused chorus is rather special, too.

The lyric video, unveiled on Facebook on Thursday, is the opening salvo in the band's return. Bassist Adam Clayton recently told Ireland's 98FM: "We're in the studio. We're trying to get these 12 songs absolutely right and get them finished by the end of November, and then we can kind of enjoy Christmas,"




5) Eminem - Stan (Radio 1 Live Lounge)
Eminem turned up for his chat with Zane Lowe after watching Kanye West's bizarre mad-man-at-the-back-of-the-bus performance on the show earlier in the year.

"I was trying to figure out how I was going to top the publicity of yours and Kanye's interview," he said, "so I decided I was gonna walk in here, and just pee on the floor and leave." He then held Zane's gaze with an icy glare for what must have seemed like hours, before he deadpanned: "I'm peeing right now".

The massive, four-part interview is well worth dipping into (here's the link for the first segment) but it was Eminem's performance with a live band at the end that really made it appointment listening. Here's Stan, sounding as fresh as it did 14 (!) years ago.




6) Tinashe - Vulnerable
After waxing lyrical about the new wave of dark&b earlier this week, this song zinged into my inbox. 20-year-old Tinashe is every bit as captivating and seductive as Banks and Solange and her peers. Vulnerable is possibly the sexiest new song you'll hear this week. Although it could do without the "asses" and "bitches" of Travi$ Scott's predictably banal rap.




7) Sophie Ellis Bextor - Young Blood
If you've been watching Strictly, you'll know that Sophie Ellis is turning out to be quite the dancer. Her Argentine Tango literally gave me shivers (admittedly, the heating was up the left that day). But she's also hard at work on the day job, making big old pop songs with PROPER ENUNCIATION.

Her forthcoming new album, Wanderlust, is a real labour of love - written with Ed Harcourt, and eschewing the frothy disco of her earlier records. The first single, Young Blood, is a gorgeous, dramatic ballad aimed right at the top of the Radio 2 playlist. It's the best thing she's done since Groovejet.

And that's your lot. If you're still after something to listen to, I'd really recommend Bret Easton Ellis's first podcast - in which he has a big old chin-wag with Kanye West about movies, lacking maturity and binge-watching Breaking Bad. You can download it here.

Tweet