Tove Styrke's new video is a riot

Say My Name - the new single from Sweden's Tove Styrke - is far and away my most-played single of the moment. A playful, bouncy pop number with a killer lyric ("say my name, wear it out like a sweater that you love"). It's everything a pop song should be in 2017.

The video has just "dropped", and it's a hyperactive riot of colour. Here's what she said to me about it in an (unpublished) excerpt from this interview.

"It’s very colourful and we’ve used a lot of tricks – like optic tricks with mirrors. I really love using mirrors, because I can sing into the camera through a mirror, and that way I’m looking at both the audience and also on myself. It’s a self-love , self-appreciation kind of vibe. The video’s going to be so awesome. I can’t wait for people to see it."

Say My Name is currently Greg James' record of the week on Radio 1. Fingers crossed that propels it towards the top 40 - because Tove is a proper pop star in waiting.

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The best and the rest of #NewMusicFriday

It's a fairly quiet week overall, but here are some songs that were released today (or maybe two days ago, depending on the stature of the artist and their willingness to adhere to record industry convention).

1) LCD Soundsystem - Call The Police
It's like NWA never happened.




2) Loote - High Without Your Love
Hailing from New York, Loote are Emma Lov and Jackson Foote (so you can see how they got that name). Their new single is reminiscent of The Chainsmokers, with all traces of douche removed. A lovely little pop song.




3) J Hus - Common Sense
Love, love, love this.




4) Niall Horan - Slow Hand
The Pointer Sisters' prayers have been answered.




5) Sigrid - Fake Friends
Norway's Sigrid Raabe only started writing songs four years ago, when her brother (also a musician) told her he needed a new track for a gig that was taking place 24 hours later. She's a quick learner, though. This caustic call out to two-faced friends is a hugely arresting piece of Scandipop.

FYI: Sigrid's debut EP is out today and you should buy it.




6) Emily Warren - Hurt By You
Emily Warren is The Chainsmokers' secret weapon - the voice behind some of their best hooks, and the writer behind several more. Her debut single is nothing like that, though - a slinky, soulful affair with a cunning twist in the chorus.




7) Hoops - Sun's Out
This is a song that appears to be a lost cassette demo by Echo and the Bunnymen, circa 1985 - but which turns out to be one of several shimmering indie gems on the debut EP by Indiana-based band Hoops. How queer.




8) Haim - Want You Back
Getting better with every listen...




9) TLC - Haters
Declaration of interest: I put £10 towards TLC's new album on Kickstarter, giving me a 0.003% stake in this song. Sounds a bit like Charli XCX at 33rpm, which is neither praise nor a criticism.




10) Halsey - Eyes Closed
Halsey manages to sound both menacing and drowsy at the same time on this track, a sort of "emos with synths" pop dirge. It came as no surprise to learn that The Weeknd was involved in some capacity.

And that's your lot. The Blondie album is out today, as well, and deserves a quick spin even if you have no recollection of Debbie Harry & co in their 1970s heyday.

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A few too many thoughts on Haim's comeback single, Want You Back

HAIM ARE BACK!

Which is a bit like when Haim came back last week, only this time they've brought along a proper single instead of an intense studio "jam".

So, what does Want You Back have in store? Well, first of all, it sounds irrefutably like Haim. There's no mistaking this for the new Katy Perry or something "featuring" Ellie Goulding. It's all stuttering funk and starlight harmonies - but for a sparse song, it's very busy and you'll need a few listens before your brain focuses on the actual song elements.

Admittedly, I first heard the song on a crappy radio while building a Hot Wheels track for my son - which is probably not the scenario the band intended, but which equally serves as a good litmus test. This is not an immediate, grab you by the balls, radio smash. But after sitting down and paying attention to the song on "proper" speakers and a set of headphones, I'm hooked.

For those of you who need more guidance before hitting the play button, I've made a list.

PRO: Copious use of handclaps
CON: Could do with more handclaps

PRO: Fluttering, Lindsey Buckingham-style arpeggio
CON: Too much Tusk, not enough Rumours

PRO: Este's funkatronic slap bass
CON: Being unable to see Este's bass-face on the audio stream

PRO: The lyric, "I'll take the fall and the fault in us"
CON: Actually, all the lyrics are pretty good

PRO: Impeccable, interlocking vocals
CON: Too "busy" for daytime radio?

PRO: Not a cover of the Jackson 5 song
CON: Not a cover of the Bananarama song

PRO: Sounds like eight songs at once
CON: Sounds like eight songs at once

Hope that clears everything up.

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Video: Paramore - Told You So

Paramore's new album After Laughter - announced out of the blue a fortnight ago - is shaping up to be a cracker. Lead single Hard Times is the best pop song about utter misery since Dancing On My Own (the original, obvs), zigging and zagging all over the chart with its new wavey guitar riffs and staccato vocal chops.

The latest single, Told You So, picks up where that left off. OK, the chorus might not be as ridden with earworms but it's a solid B+.

It premiered earlier today on Beats 1, where lead singer Hayley Williams explained it had been a tricky song to write.

"That was one of the first pieces of music that Taylor [York - guitarist] sent me," she told Zane Lowe.

"I had a little thumb-drive, and I would just drive around listening to it, and especially back and forth from Taylor's house. And I would sing little rhythmic things to myself. They didn't make sense. There were no words. But this is one that really intimidated me because I was like, 'I have all these melody ideas because there's no so much melody going on and so much rhythm going on. It's so inspiring. But how am I going to fit what I feel into that?' It took a minute."

The video - which is a huge dollop of fun - was directed by drummer Zac Farro, basing it on the car journeys the band took to and from recording sessions last year.

"Zac noticed that my anxiety and overall state was just a lot more peaceful on those drives," Hayley Williams told The FADER, "and mentioned to me that it made him happy to see me rest for a moment. It means a lot that they conceptualised a video around a passing moment we had as friends."

Awwwww.

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Lena Dunham directs the video for Bleachers' Don't Take The Money

Here's the moment Lorde, Lena Dunham and cult comedy Arrested Development collide, and it's rather wonderful.

Dunham has directed the video for Bleachers' new single, Don't Take The Money, in which Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development's Maeby Fünke), presides over frontman Jack Antonoff’s wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, Lorde pops up on backing vocals and there's an... erm, unexpected guest.

If that's not enough star power for you, Antonoff recently shared another new song, Hate That You Know Me, which is a duet with Carly Rae Jepsen.

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Three weeks off - what did I miss?

Huge apaologies for the (latest) break in blog posts. It was a double whammy of work deadlines leading into a family holiday. But I'm back once again like the "renegade master" ("tired father of two"). And here's a round-up of what I listened to in the break.

Paramore - Hard Times
Paramore have really been through the wringer - with an ever-changing line-up and all sorts of legal demands from former members. It got so bad they nearly packed it all in: "Two years ago I asked Taylor (York, guitarist) if we could start a new band," Hayley Williams told The Guardian. "I was so sick of this crap. I said we should just try something new, give it a new name."

But, as she's done many times before, Williams clung on and turned the bad times into a rollicking radio hit. The aptly-named Hard Times takes its cues from Talking Heads and Blondie, all clipped guitar lines and arch vocal stylings. It is an utter triumph.





Lana Del Rey ft The Weekend - Lust For Life
Of course, in Lana Del Rey's world, "lust for life" translates as "drifting woozily over a moonlit graveyard" but what a song. What. A. Song.





Katy Perry - Bon Appetit
Plans for Katy Perry's political album have been shelved in favour of this ode to oral sex.






Kendrick Lamar - DNA
Kendrick's new album, DAMN FULL STOP, doesn't move me in quite the same way as To Pimp A Butterfly - its lyrical and musical introspection makes it a much tougher listen. But DNA is a standout, with Mike Will Made-It's starkly simplistic beats focusing your attention on Kendrick's densely-layered lyrics.

The video, in which he takes possession of Don Cheadle's body, is also worth watching.





Goldfrapp - Systemagic
The lyrics are some old bollocks about the moon - but the song is vintage Goldfrapp, with Alison's ethereal vocals the chocolate sprinkles on Will Gregory's synth cappuccino. (Sorry, I'm all out of metaphors).





Ardyn - Together
Ardyn are twin brother and sister Rob and Katy Pearson, who hail from Gloucestershire. Their new single was written in a caravan on a keyboard purchased from Lidl; and it's messy tangle of strummed guitar and dark-pop harmonies is an absolute delight.





Haim - Right Now
Haim's comeback song is very emphatically not a single (that comes next week, fact fans), which is a relief as Right Now feels very much like track nine on a 10-track album. Great video, though.






Tove Styrke - Say My Name
Tove Styrke's second album, Kiddo, was my favourite record of 2015 - and now she's back, with a typically quirky take on Swedish pop. Her girl power lyrics have transmuted into something altogether more sex-obsessed, but her wayward lyrics are still superb: "Say my name - wear it out like a sweater."





Dua Lipa ft Miguel - Lost In Your Light
A steamy banger, in which Dua and Miguel tussle over lyrics like "let me ride in your love all night". Phwoar.




Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times
According to Cameron Crowe's Rolling Stone profile of Sir Harry Stylesworth, this song is written from the perspective of a mother who, while in labour, is told she will die if her baby is to survive, which is quite a thematic departure from, say, Best Song Ever.

I'm still ambivalent about the song. Depending on my mood, it's either a brave attempt to write a power ballad that mixes the best bits of Life On Mars and Purple Rain, or a Stereophonics cast-off that outstays its welcome.




Royal Blood - Lights Out
This is going to KICK OFF at the Pyramid Stage come June.




Kygo ft Ellie Goulding - First Time
Yet another midtempo EDM song that wimps out at the chorus. Note to producers: A squiggly synth line is no substitute for a melody, and we're onto your trick now.




Ride - All I Want
I wasn't expecting much from the Ride reunion. The Stone Roses aside, I was never that keen on shoegaze indie; and Andy Bell's stint in Beady Eye didn't exactly set the world alight. But this is, somehow, rather brilliant.




Ibibio Sound Machine - The Chant
Fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine smash together West African funk and British electro-pop in a way that will make your jelly shake right off its plate. The Chant has just been added to the 6 Music playlist, and rightly so.



DNCE ft Nicki Minaj - Kissing Strangers
Ridiculous. Good. But not ridiculously good.

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