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?

Tweet

The first music video recorded with Google Glass and other songs you may have missed

A semi-regular round-up of songs that didn't fit elsewhere on the blog. Oddities, scraps, previews and noteworthy new bands all end up here. It's like the dumper, but with a higher quality threshold.

1) Wallpaper - Last Call
California's Ricky Reed is no stranger to gimmicks: For a start, he's really called Eric Frederic. Then there are his deliberately irritating song titles - #STUPiDFACEDD; BEST FUCKING SONG EVERRR, etc.

For his new single, he's nabbed a pair of Google Glasses and filmed a live performance from a festival show in Phoenix, Arizona. If you avoid motion sickness, it's fascinating to see "through the performer's eyes". I suspect this will become a regular feature of live videos for a year or so, before the Google headset goes the way of the Sinclair C5.



2) Kings Of Leon - Super Soaker
Just ahead of their V Festival headline slot, Kings Of Leon unleash the first single from their sixth album. Muscular and melodic, it's a return to form after 2010's perplexing Come Around Sundown. NB: Contains bass solo.



3) Mutya Keisha Siobhan - Flatline (lyric video)
And so it continues... MKS's promo campaign has all the momentum of a sloth on rohypnol. This week, they announced their new album won't be out until 2014. Why? What's left to do? How long are the sleeve notes going to be? Are they playing a weird musical game of chicken with Beyonce?

WHO KNOWS but Flatline is still incredible. And now it has a lyric video to tide you over until the actual video, which will in turn tide you over for the single release, the second single, the X Factor performance, the album poster campaign, the glossy magazine cover, the iTunes album stream, the YouTube teaser video and, maybe, the eventual album release.

By which time, MKS will be in cryogenic storage,



4) Pond - Xanman
Aussie band Pond are signed to the same label as Tame Impala and, on this evidence, you can see why. Xanman is kaleidoscopic psychedelia with riffs that crunch like celery. It's throwback without being derivative. And, yes, the video is supposed to look this crappy.




5) Demi Lovato - Made In The USA
This doesn't scale the heights of Demi's all-conquering Heart Attack but as follow-up singles go, it's not bad. Aside from the lyrics. They're fucking awful. "When I'm cold you're there like a sweater". Sheesh.




6) Dornik - Something About You
Dornik Leigh is Jessie J's drummer. If you've seen her live, he generally comes to the front of the stage once a night to duet with her on Valentine - at which points all the girls go all swoonsome and weak at the knees.

Dornik's debut solo track shares some of Jessie's late-night DNA, with a splash of water from Frank' Ocean. Due out on PMR Records (home to Jessie and Disclosure) next month, it's quite the thing.




7) Karmin - Acapella
US duo Karmin became notorious for the YouTube covers - especially their version of Chris Brown's Look At Me Now, which got them noticed by Ellen DeGeneres and Ryan Seacrest. If you haven't seen it, it's great fun, as 27-year-old Amy Heidmann buzzes through Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes' rapid-fire raps. Here's the link.

Long story short - they're signed to Epic, they've had a big hit in the US with a Katy Perry-esque "banger" called Brokenhearted, and A Capella is their new single, featuring the sage advice: "Never ever go dutch at the buffet".

If you've seen their old YouTube videos, this is hugely rewarding and full of charm. If you haven't you're going to think they're like The Ting Tings, only more annoying.

That's this week's selection... Keep coming back for more.

Tweet