A showcase of some of the best new music releases from the past week.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone (Silicon Rework)’
For the Silicon rework of ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’, Kody Nielson goes weird on his bro’s psych-pop treasure of a song, swapping out the bedroom-funk vibes for something a whole lot more skittish. Along with Ruban’s remix of ‘Cellphone’, the track will be available on a limited edition 7” this April.
Purple Pilgrims – ‘Thru Evry Cell’
Daydreamy avant-garde duo Purple Pilgrims (sisters Valentine and Clementine Nixon) have just released ‘Thru Evry Cell’, the first single from their upcoming debut album Eternal Delight. It’s gentle, understated and tinged with just a tiny bit of darkness. Perfect to get lost in.
Tinashe feat. Juicy J – ‘Energy’
From Tinashe’s forthcoming second album Joyride comes ‘Energy’, a slinky slow-burning number courtesy of super-producer Mike WiLL Made-It. Come for the downright sultriness, stay for Juicy J’s absurdly comic punchlines. In case you missed it, the up-and-coming R&B star heads back our way this May for a one-off headline show. Here’s the rundown.
PJ Harvey – ‘The Wheel’
Though unspecific, ‘The Wheel’ sees PJ Harvey set her focus on the consequences of conflict, inspiration for which was drawn from her time spent in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington D.C. over the past four years. “Gathering information from secondary sources felt too far removed for what I was trying to write about. I wanted to smell the air, feel the soil and meet the people of the countries I was fascinated with,” she said recently. Whether that’s an indication of what we can expect from the rest of The Hope Six Demolition Project is still up in the air, but this is a worthy start.
Iggy Pop – ‘Gardenia’
At times, Iggy Pop’s solo career has felt like it will never recover. Good news then that his upcoming album, Post Pop Depression, feels like he’s still got more to give. Recorded in secrecy with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, The Dead Weather’s Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, first single ‘Gardenia’ takes note from The Idiot and Lust For Life, the seminal records Pop made with David Bowie in 1977. Along with ‘Break Into Your Heart’, it seems like we can put those Sum 41 collab days behind us forever.
Dion Lunadon – ‘Com/Broke’
“Com/Broke is about being anti-what’s expected of someone entering their mid-life,” says Dion Lunadon. “Most people mellow out, but I don’t want that. I want to create music that is even more ugly and more real.” For what is his first-ever solo release, the former member of D4/current member of A Place To Bury Strangers says he drew influence from Toy Love, The Gun Club, Gestalt and Supercar for this little nugget of spit-shined rawk. To be honest though, if you had said this was recorded in 2001 or 2016, who would know any better? Maybe that’s the point? Turn it up and decide for yourself.
