A revolving cast of contributors from the Music 101 and Wireless teams showcase some of the best new music releases from the past week.
The Weeknd - 'Can't Feel My Face'
With a little help from One Direction’s songwriter (Savan Kotecha) and Taylor Swift’s producer (Max Martin), The Weeknd’s newest single sees the RnB singer chase the top spot on the Billboard chart, following the mega success of 50 Shade’s ‘Earned It’.
‘Can’t Feel My Face’ was premiered at the Apple Music announcement yesterday and with lyrics like “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you / but I love it”, the song is about the feelings of ecstasy that come with falling in love. In a change from his usual reverb-heavy style, the vocals are pushed to the top of the mix and the delivery has a Michael Jackson inflection to it, adding to the ‘80s disco/funk feel of the song.
While it’s a little pop-by-the-numbers for The Weeknd (and is exactly why Kotecha and Martin were brought in), its catchiness will only bring him a wider audience, which is well deserved. – Ellen Falconer
Dudley Benson – ‘Muscles’
Dudley Benson wrote that he considers his new song ‘Muscles’ a “bridge” between his album Forest and his upcoming album Zealandia. This perspective might explain why this track is bursting with such stylistic variety, characterising Benson’s evolving releases and signalling the end of his three album musical trilogy.
‘Muscles’ opens with quivering vocals and a lilting soundscape which lurches up a digital stepladder, before evolving into a well-developed musical hook. The song continues to have an ongoing tumultuous quality which displays a beautiful interplay between fragile vocals, strings and confidently placed glitching fragments.
Just when you feel comfortable with the direction of the track, Benson challenges the listener, leading them through a maze of the melodically and rhythmically unsettling and unstable, edged with touches of theatrical quality.
Despite this lack of musical stability, Benson’s vocals draw the different elements together, his voice providing a guide through the unsettling territory the music quivers, wavers, and bounds. – Elizabeth Beattie
Amarafleur – ‘Self Love’
Coloured with French, English and her home language Xhosa, former Wellingtonian, Thandi Ntshinga aka Amarafleur released her latest single 'Self Love' this week, a track that explores the concept of self-awareness and personal development. Packaged and sent to us from her hometown Johannesburg, the vocalist took to her Facebook page to roll out a campaign that asks people what 'Self Love' is to them.
Written to a vibey-mellow groove that drips a strong sense of soul, the track is produced by Wellington’s K*Saba. Ntshinga is unashamedly conscious for her 22 years and she gets it going straight from the opening line: "First world problems can consume the mind of the narrow sister, I have been trying to stop myself from believing the melanin that I have been living with is not important like the attention I have been seeking". It’s definitely local talent worth pushing play for. – Aleyna Martinez
Albert Hammond Jr. – ‘Losing Touch’
After a seven year lull, Albert Hammond Jr. is back. Fresh from their first European show in years, The Strokes guitarist is releasing his third solo LP, Momentary Masters, his first solo project since 2008’s “¿Cómo Te Llama?”
Giving us a taste of the album, Hammond Jr. has released ‘Losing Touch’, a quintessential pop rock tune that displays just how good AHJ can be. He says the new album contains, “the best songs I’ve ever written” – and if ‘Losing Touch’ is anything to go by, he’s definitely on the right track. – Hannah Martin
Caribou – ‘Back Home (The Upbeats Bootleg feat. Voices)’
Caribou gets a nice rework here courtesy of The Upbeats. When left to their own devices, Wellington’s finest duo tend to land on the darker, dirtier, end of the spectrum - but the music they’ve released under the Snake & Wolf alias, plus their collaborative and production work with Shapeshifter, have carved out space for them to showcase their latent pop sensibilities.
The ‘Back Home’ bootleg (appropriately coming to life just ahead of the last Homegrown music festival, hardy har har) also features Voices, the solo moniker of Sam Trevethick. The track happily occupies the magic middle ground that The Upbeats and Shapeshifter have developed in their co-production of ‘Delta’ and last year’s SSXUB EP.
It’s a bootleg rather than a remix, which means it’s primarily an augmentation of the existing song rather than an exercise in ripping the track apart at the stems. (Full disclosure: I had no idea there was a difference until approximately 36 hours ago.) Unlike most remixes, bootlegs are usually not sanctioned by the original artist - although in this case, Caribou has given the nod - and are designed for the express purpose of being integrated into a live set. On this one, full drum ‘n bass action doesn’t kick in until the minute thirty mark, but The Upbeats have upped the ante on tempo and added a few signature sonic flairs in a way that makes them feel completely native to the track.
The Upbeats are currently based in London (busy catering to a hungry European crowd that has consistently welcomed the duo with open arms), but expect a return to Australasia for summer and - with any luck - this track will get dropped into a set or two along the way. Download the bootleg for free at the Bandcamp link above. – Sarin Moddle
Photo: Unknown
As standard with singles releases, with the announcement of ‘Using’ came a statement from the band. These are designed to guide the listener, and tell them what to look out for. Maybe a little rarer, the release put out by Sorority Noise is deeply and extremely personal. It details the singer’s trouble with depression but its main message is that the glorification of mental illness in popular music borders on appropriation. That’s a bold statement; as certainly a large number of celebrated music is inherently sad. In the view of Sorority Noise, this takes away from the struggle that is depression. ‘Using’ is a protest song, and it hopes to challenge listeners about their pre-conceived ideas regarding ‘depression’ music.
Irony and racket seem to be the duopolies of this track. When the guitars aren't thundering, they're plucking and when the vocals aren't screaming, they're tender - noting the not-so successes, like giving up being smoke free. It incorporates the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic we remember from early 90s alt-rock, although it’s hard to recall any Pixies songs with this brand of misery. The chorus of this track is fantastic, without warning everything hits the listener, before ending just as quickly as it started.
The sonic qualities of this track are interesting if not contradictory. It seems that in the press release they've criticised modern-Nirvana sounding bands, yet on this track they go the same way, using the same characteristics. Investigating further however, their Facebook page claims they perform ‘2005-revival’ aka they’re taking after commercial emo bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. The music is proof of that, especially the vocals which have that distinct dramatic flair to them.
Sorority Noise have taken a significantly unique approach to making indie music. Instead of sounding like The Cure, The Smiths or Joy Division, as so many other ‘sad’ bands do, they’ve deliberately picked music that shies away from what music listeners would consider ‘cool’. Nobody thinks 2005 emo is cool, nobody ever has. Sounding like that is exactly what Sorority Noise wants to do. Depression isn’t cool, and they need you to know that. – Alex Lyall
Mouse on the Keys – ‘Leviathan’
Blurring the lines between traditional musical genres, Japan’s Mouse on the Keys combine the traits of classical, jazz and even math-rock music to mould a unique instrumental vessel in which to paint colourful and emotive narratives that are devoid of lyrics.
The band’s latest single ‘Leviathan’, from their upcoming album The Flowers of Romance, is an audio adventure. It’s captivating from start to finish as frantic and anxious segments roll into redemptive sonic epiphanies, chasing itself in circles providing a carefully crafted experience. – Joshua Thomas
What's your pick? Tell us about it in the comments section.
