Kelis returns - and the rest of #NewMusicFriday: 17 March 2017

Here we go again...

1) TCTS - Do It Like Me (ft Kelis & Sage The Gemini)
This is an absolute monster. Kelis, as usual, turns everything she touches to gold.




2) Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson - Symphony
Speaking of Kelis, this lifts the lyrical conceit of her 2010 song ("before you, my whole life was acapella, now a symphony's the only thing to sing") and runs with it. Being Clean Bandit, there are plenty of symphonic strings to hammer the metaphor home.

Not destined to dominate the charts like Rockabye, but a barnstorming pop song nonetheless.




3) Feist - Pleasure
"I was raw and so were the takes," says Feist of her new album, Pleasure. "Our desire was to record that state without guile or go-to's and to pin the songs down with conviction and our straight up human bodies."

It cetainly comes across in this single - which is simultaneously scratchy, lo-fi and utterly thrilling. Like all the best songs, it starts as a lullaby and ends like a riot.




4) Tinashe - Flame
Things haven't really taken off for Kentucky's Tinashe Jorgenson Kachingwe so far - but this song deserves an audience. "Tell me that you've still got a flame for me and we can let it burn," she trills over a discarded Carly Rae Jepsen beat. Recommended.




5) Kasabian - You're In Love With A Psycho
This made me do a big, affectionate chuckle on the tube this morning. The lyrics are deliberately preposterous ("I'm like the taste of macaroni on a seafood stick"???) but it's nice to have Kasabian back.




6) Pond - The Weather
If Kasabian have you in the mood for a bit of psych-rock, this dreamy, kaleidoscopic track from Perth's Pond fits the bill nicely. It will not surprise you to learn it was produced by Tame Impala's Kevin Parker.




7) Mura Masa ft Charli XCX - 1 Night
Neither artist's greatest moment, but a perfectly serviceable indie-pop jam for Side B of your latest mixtape.




8) Fenne Lily - What's Good?
Self-taught songstress Fenne Lily impresses on this achingly beautiful ballad: "Tell me why good things die," she pleads, her vocals quivering over a lonely, plucked guitar. "Stay the night - because I need this more than I knew. More than I'd like to". Heartbreaking.





9) Machine Gun Kelly feat G-Eazy and Kehlani - Good Life
As mindless and insubstantial as the film it soundtracks (Fate of the Furious), this will undoubtedly be a huge hit.




10) Linkin Park - Battle Symphony
I'm still mystified by Linkin Park's attempt to become OneRepublic. I mean, they do it well - but to what end?

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Maggie Rogers, Ed Sheeran and the best of #NewMusicFriday

All you really need to know about this week's New Music Friday is that Maggie Rogers' debut EP, Now That The Light Is Fading, is finally out.

Impossible to describe but irresistible to listen to, it marks the arrival of a major new talent.

Thanks, Pharrell.


Here's the best of the rest:

Ed Sheeran - How Would You Feel (Paean)
"Not a single, but one of my favvvvzzz," Ed tweeted the other day. A swoonsome love song cut from the same stone as Thinking Out Loud, it's so middle of the road it should have white stripes painted on it. But just think - if this isn't a proper single, he must have an even bigger ballad up his sleeve. Cunning bastard.




DJ Khaled ft Beyoncé and Jay Z - Shining
I've never been a fan of DJ Khlaed's beats, but Beyoncé is a pop alchemist and her impeccable phrasing and delivery spins gold from this otherwise average song.




Linkin Park - Heavy (ft Kiiara)
In what can only be a major administrative error at Warner Bros, Linkin Park have just released the new Chainsmokers single.





Kygo ft Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me
I wrote about this yesterday, and it is still worth a listen.




Disciples - On My Mind
Erstwhile Calvin Harris collaborators return with this hooky, vocoder-heavy club track. Slight but effective.




Little Cub - Too Much Love
Ironically, too much love is one thing this song isn't getting - buried, as it is, at the bottom of Spotify and Apple Music's new music playlists. But it's a corking little pop song, set to a whirlpool of synths. Features the incredible lyric: "I'm just a shagger, not a lover of consequence".




Rhys - Last Dance
This will be like catnip to Radio 1.





Take That - Giants
Inspiring. Uplifting. Boring.

There's also new music from Maroon 5 and Future but you needn't put yourself through that.

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Guitars!!!

I never bought into the whole rap metal "scene". Partly because it confused rap with shouting and partly because... well, it was just shit, wasn't it? Limp Bizkit actually called one of their albums Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water. Then, to make sure we weren't confused by the subtle innuendo, they painted a starfish with an anus on the cover. Let's not forget that Limp Bizkit contained five grown men, all of whom must have agreed that this was a good idea.

I think Ben Folds summed up the whole movement best in Rockin' The Suburbs:

Ya'll don't know what it's like
Being male, middle class and white
It gets me real pissed off
And it makes me wanna say 'fuck'

So, it is with a small amount of amazement (and self-disgust) that I discover Linkin Park's new single is quite good. This comes after their previous single was also quite good. Hell may have frozen over. Who knows?

Have a look at the video and tell me what you think, through a not-at-all relevant comparison with everyday food items...

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