The football was good on Thursday, wasn’t it?
No. Let’s not do that. Let’s not bring the divisive world of football into this gloriously happy sphere of new music. Instead, let’s start this new week with a journey together through space, clouds, rooftops, and the cold, hard ground of London.
It’ll all make sense on the way, trust me.
M83 – Solitude
More new music from the producer of everyone’s favourite semi-reality TV show theme tune.
Where ‘Do It, Try It’ saw M83 showcase their dancier attributes, ‘Solitude’ shows their cinematic side. Gone are the house-y piano stabs and in their place are long, flowing string parts orchestrated over a whole six-minute time frame – a six-minute time frame that peaks with a keytar (yes, key-tar) solo that sounds like should be in space. Space!
Glorious stuff.
Given the vast differences between the two tracks we’ve heard from M83’s forthcoming album, it’s going to be very interesting to hear how the record pans out and what connects the cinematic and the euro-pop. I can’t wait to hear it.
HOO HAs – This Is The New Me
Bringing us back down to Earth, here’s a band who, much to the delight of Radio X’s John Kennedy, are bringing a little bit of Brit-pop back to the present.
‘This Is The New Me’ draws instant comparisons to Blur’s ‘Park Life’, just in a more sedate almost Elbow-esque fashion. The lyrics are blatantly frank and raw, giving a poetic critique of our constant quest for self-improvement.
Despite coming across in such a retro style, London’s HOO HAs are unique in the modern musical landscape – their down-to-Earth approach to lyrics and music goes against the norm and as such makes them an incredibly fresh and important band in 2016.
sir Was – a Minor Life
Back off the ground and into the clouds, here’s a dreamy number with an utterly gorgeous bagpipe sample (never thought I’d type those words).
sir Was comes from the City Slang label, the same one that houses New Music Monday favourite Gold Panda. It should be no surprise then to find that this is another artist with a keen ear for unorthodox, steamy-warm, electronic sounds – to steal a phrase from Annie Mac, sir Was would be a great musical hot water bottle.
‘A Minor Life’ is such a dreamy tune that the mass of sounds – synths, vocals, bagpipe sample, drum clicks – all seem to swirl together into one big sleepy haze. It’s not even just bagpipes that fall into the unorthodox, the song peaks at a drop midway through where sir Was introduces what sounds like panpipes – who, bar Shakira, would even go near panpipes?!
To conclude, it’s all just gorgeous.
SHEL – Rooftop
Finally landing on a rooftop somewhere in Nashville, here’s a song by SHEL entitled ‘Rooftop’. Do you see what I’ve done here?
Building from being a capella to feature an array of strings and piano parts, via some beatboxing, ‘Rooftop’ is an incredibly playful song. The melody in particular is so infectious it could quite easily stay with you all week.
What do you think of our picks this week? Let us know in the comments below!
