Welcome to the 35th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Mark Moody, Matt the Raven, Scotty Dransfield, and Stephen Humpries helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 20 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 10.
Issue 73 is out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 10 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory: “Afterlife”
This week, Sharon Van Ettenannounced a new album written and recorded with her backing band, The Attachment Theory, and they have shared its first single, “Afterlife,” via a music video. They have also announced some EU and UK tour dates. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory is due out February 7, 2025 via Jagjaguwar. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates, here.
The Attachment Theory is Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals). While they have previously backed Van Etten on some of her solo work, this was the first time that the singer/songwriter/guitarist wrote and recorded an album in full collaboration with the band.
“For the first time in my life I asked the band if we could just jam. Words that have never come out of my mouth—ever! But I loved all the sounds we were getting. I was curious—what would happen?” says Van Etten in a press release. “In an hour we wrote two songs that ended up becoming ‘I Can’t Imagine’ and ‘Southern Life.’”
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory was recorded at The Church, Eurythmics’ former studio in London, and was produced by Marta Salogni (Björk, Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Mica Levi).
Susu Laroche directed the “Afterlife” video, which features footage of the band debuting some of the album’s songs in London’s iconic 100 Club during the recording of the album.
“Sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes you feel stuck,” Van Etten says of fully collaborating with her band on the album. “It’s like every day feels a little different—just being at peace with whatever you’re feeling and whoever you are and how you relate to people in that moment. If I can just keep a sense of openness while knowing that my feelings change every day, that is all I can do right now. That and try to be the best person I can be while letting other people be who they are and not taking it personally and just being. I’m not there, but I’m trying to be there every day.”
Earlier this week, Soccer Mommy, the musical project of Nashville songwriter Sophie Allison, unveiled her latest single, “Abigail,” as a final teaser before the release of her highly anticipated album Evergreen, which came out today. The dreamy track, inspired by the video game Stardew Valley, is a love letter to Allison’s in-game wife, Abigail, accompanied by a nostalgic, ConcernedApe-inspired music video that shows Allison’s avatar trying to win over her beloved.
“Abigail” follows earlier singles “Driver,” and the more acoustic-led “Lost” and “M,” contributing to the evolving soundscape of Evergreen.
Allison explained her vision for Evergreen, saying, “I wanted it to feel like you’re laying outside, eyes closed, the sun is on you, and you can feel the warmth and flowers and trees.” She hopes the album can offer listeners a sense of peace and renewal, even in darker times. By Andy Von Pip
3. Momma: “Ohio All the Time”
This week, Brooklyn-based band Momma shared a new song, “Ohio All the Time.” The single is out now via Polyvinyl/Lucky Number.
Momma is Etta Friedman (songwriter/vocalist/guitarist), Allegra Weingarten (songwriter/vocalist/guitarist), Aron Kobayashi Ritch (producer/bassist), and Preston Fulks (drummer).
They collectively had this to say about the new song in a press release: “We wrote it about a summer when we were on tour, and it felt like everything in our lives changed within a one-month span. We wanted the video to capture that youthful feeling, like the world is brand new and everything is ahead of you. We went upstate to our friend’s house near Hudson to film, and just spent the whole day goofing off and running around.”
Austin, Texas four-piece Good Looks released a new album, Lived Here For a While, in June via Keeled Scales. This week they shared two new songs, “Damage Control” and “Chase Your Demons Out.” We liked them both, but “Chase Your Demons Out” won out to make the main list, while “Damage Control” makes the honorable mentions list further below.
Frontman Tyler Jordan had this to say about “Damage Control” in a press release: “I wrote this song in two parts—the first during a rough patch in the relationship, and the second after we finally broke up. I was listening to a lot of Big Star when I started writing, and you can definitely hear their influence in the chord progression. It’s not the most gracious breakup song, but it’s a photo of a feeling and a moment in time.”
“Chase Your Demons Out” was written close to the release of the band’s 2022-released debut album, Bummer Year, and, as a press release puts it, the song “explores the group’s feeling of knowing they are older than most of their indie rock peers releasing a debut album.”
Jordan adds: “That gave us some distinct advantages in being ready for the road ahead. This song is about standing on the edge of the future, feeling prepared for a moment you’ve been working toward your whole life.”
The British band World News are releasing a new EP, Mindsnap, on November 14 via Pie & Mash Records. This week they shared another song from it, “Junkie,” which has a Stone Roses flavor to it. Previously the EP’s title track also made our Songs of the Week list. By Mark Redfern
6. Great Grandpa: “Doom”
7. Anna B Savage: “Agnes” (Feat. Anna Mieke)
8. Ezra Furman and Alex Walton: “Tie Me to the Train Tracks”
9. Darkside: “Graucha Max”
10. Cameron Winter: “Vines”
Honorable Mentions:
These songs almost made the Top 10.
Amyl and The Sniffers: “Jerkin’”
Good Looks: “Damage Control”
HotWax: “She’s Got a Problem”
jasmine.4.t: “Elephant”
Manic Street Preachers: “Hiding in Plain Sight”
Romy & Sampha: “I’m On Your Team”
Skeleten: “Viagra”
total tommy: “SPIDER”
Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 10 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions:
10 Best Songs of the Week: Ducks Ltd., Haley Heynderickx, Confidence Man, Heartworms, and More
Oct 18, 2024
Welcome to the 34th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Mark Moody, Matt the Raven, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 20 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 10.
Issue 73 is out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 10 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Ducks Ltd.: “Grim Symmetry”
Toronto-based duo Ducks Ltd. released a new album, Harm’s Way, in February via Carpark. This week they shared a new song, “Grim Symmetry,” that was recorded during the Harm’s Way sessions but didn’t end up on the album. It features backing harmonies from Julia Steiner (of Ratboys) and Margaret McCarthy (of Moontype).
“Grim Symmetry” follows “When You’re Outside,” another new song the band shared in May that was also recorded during the Harm’s Way sessions.
Ducks Ltd. is Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis.
“This is actually one of our older songs,” explains guitarist/vocalist McGreevy in a press release. “We wrote it early on in the Modern Fiction writing process, and the demo was a favorite among the people we shared those with, but we didn’t quite get it right when we tried to record it for that album. We always liked it though, so we kept it around and tried it again when we were tracking Harm’s Way. It didn’t end up quite fitting the vibe of the album, but we did manage to get it to where we wanted it to be, so it’s exciting to finally share it.”
McGreevy had this to say about the rest of the tracks on the album in a previous press release: “They’re songs about struggling. About watching people I care for suffer, and trying to figure out how to be there for them. And about the strain of living in the world when it feels like it’s ready to collapse.”
Portland, Oregon’s Hayley Heynderickx is releasing her sophomore album, Seed of a Seed, on November 1 via Mama Bird. This week she released another single from the album, “Gemini.”
While no quote from Heynderickx on “Gemini” was provided, a press release describes the meaning behind the song in greater detail: “‘Gemini’ is about imperfection, letting oneself understand and accept that there is no immutable beginning but one long, winding, journey full of mistakes. More importantly is the revelations that the deepest learning, and potential for growth, comes through the process of failure. Acceptance and growth churn under Heynderickx’s deft fingerpicking, at once melancholic and resolute. ‘Gemini’ is a reminder that every day is a new day, and that new day is ripe with potential.”
Heynderickx’s core band on the album was Daniel Rossi on drums, Denzel Mendoza on trombone, and Matthew Holmes on electric and upright bass. The album also features electric guitarist William Seiji Marsh and Caleigh Drane on cello.
The album is due out digitally on November 1, with a physical release scheduled for December 6. By Mark Redfern
3. Confidence Man: “Sicko”
This week, Confidence Man, the Australian electro-pop mavericks, now based in London, released “Sicko,” the latest single from their third album 3 AM (LA LA LA), which came out today via Casablanca. While known for their high-octane, dance-infused sound, “Sicko” embraces a more subtle ‘90s indie-dance crossover vibe, a little less frenetic than much of the album but still unhinged and unmistakably Confidence Man.
The single arrives alongside a stunning black-and-white video that almost resembles what might happen if you tried to make a musical based on Reservoir Dogs and Trainspotting—stylish, edgy with a gritty film noir sensibility and laced with a dark, twisted sense of humor.
Fronted by Sugar Bones (Aidan Moore) and Janet Planet (Grace Stephenson), and backed by masked musicians Clarence McGuffie (Sam Hales) and Reggie Goodchild (Lewis Stephenson), Confidence Man are set to scale new heights with 3 AM (LA LA LA) as they continue to evolve their sound. Talking about the album, Sugar Bones says, “It’s 3am, it’s never not 3am, and we party all the time.” Janet Planet adds, “It’s hard. It’s fast. It’s basically Muhammad Ali, and your ears are everyone he ever boxed.” By Andy Von Pip
4. Heartworms: “Warplane”
This week, South London artist Heartworms (aka JoJo Orme) announced her debut album Glutton for Punishment, which will be released on February 7, 2025 via Speedy Wunderground. Alongside the album announcement, she shared her new single “Warplane,” accompanied by a video directed by Gilbert Trejo.
“Warplane” showcases Heartworms’ passion for military history, with lyrics that paint a vivid picture of an air battle. She explains, “The opening lyrics set the scene of a dogfight in the air while civilians are witnessing it take shape. My imagination is always out of my control, and my love of Spitfires even more so, so I couldn’t help but make this about a spitfire pilot.”
Heartworms dedicates the song to William Gibson Gordon, a Spitfire pilot who was killed in action at the age of 20, adding, “The song ends how I imagine his falling Spitfire sounds to me, like an angel losing its extraordinary wings.”
Produced by longtime collaborator Dan Carey, Glutton for Punishment broadens Heartworms’ sound, combining post-punk with more melodic, pop-oriented influences. “With my EP, people kind of pigeonholed me into post-punk,” she says. “I was like, ‘Cool, I can do that, but I can also do way more’—I can do post-punk, but I can also be poppy and catchy, and this album represents that. I think people might be surprised when they hear it.”
Discussing the album’s themes, Heartworms reflects: “I’ve been chastised my whole life; made to feel as if I didn’t belong, punished for not fitting into a perfect image of how a growing woman should be. When you’re told something enough times you start to believe it. I often find myself locked into an unhealthy cycle of craving harsh discipline, greedy for the familiarity it brings but terrified of the consequences—better the devil you know. But this album doesn’t just reflect my own experiences; it reflects those of the people in my life and the stories of others that I think need to be heard.”
Read our 2023 Heartworms interview HERE. By Andy Von Pip
5. Father John Misty: “She Cleans Up”
Father John Misty (aka Josh Tillman) is releasing a new album, Mahashmashana, on November 22 worldwide via Sub Pop. This week he shared another new song from it, “She Cleans Up,” and announced some new tour dates. Destroyer will be the support act on the tour. Check out the song and tour dates here.
When the album was announced Father John Misty shared a new song from it, the near-seven-minute long “Screamland,” via a music video. The song featured Alan Sparhawk from Low on guitar and was one of our Songs of the Week.
14 Best Songs of the Week: Ela Minus, Kassie Krut, The Weather Station, Lauren Mayberry, and More
Oct 04, 2024
Welcome to the 32nd Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Mark Moody, Marina Malin, Matt the Raven, Scotty Dransfield, and Stephen Humphries helped me decide what should make the list. It was a very strong week for new tracks, so we considered over 30 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 14.
Issue 73 is out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 14 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Ela Minus: “BROKEN”
This week, Colombian artist Ela Minus officially announced her upcoming album, DIA, set for release on January 17, 2025, via Domino. The announcement came with the launch of her new single and music video, “BROKEN.”
Following her acclaimed 2020 debut, acts of rebellion, DIA represents a significant evolution in Ela’s oeuvre. The album blends innovative production techniques with a more profound sense of self-reflection, moving beyond the intimate energy of her debut to explore broader themes. After spending three years crafting snippets of songs across Colombia, Mexico, and various locations in North America and Europe, Ela recognized the need for greater honesty in her lyrics.
The album’s lead track, “ABRIR MONTE,” introduces DIA with lush tones that evoke the idea of opening new paths. Ela describes the phrase as a common expression in her homeland, symbolizing exploration and growth. The single “BROKEN” follows, featuring vibrant synthesizers and a danceable beat while addressing themes of suffering and resilience. Ela comments, “I started writing this thinking I was perfectly fine and finished writing knowing I was not.” By Andy Von Pip
2. Kassie Krut: “Reckless”
Kassie Krut is a newish band and this week they announced that they have signed to Fire Talk and they also released a new single, “Reckless,” via a music video. The trio features former members of Palm, Mothers, and Body Meat. Guy Kozak directed the “Reckless” video.
Kassie Krut started out as a solo project for former Palm member Kasra Kurt, but grew into a full fledged band also featuring Eve Alpert (also of Palm) and Matt Anderegg (Mothers, Body Meat). Palm was a Philadelphia math-rock band that disbanded in 2023.
Krut had this to say about the single in a press release: “‘Reckless’ is an exercise in restraint. We challenged ourselves to write a song with one bass note, one drum beat and just a couple simple chords. Sometimes we experience self-doubt so it was fun to create a tougher version of ourselves—someone who’s fast and mean—as well as playing with the misconception that Kassie is an individual and not a band. Also our project name is a little strange so we took the opportunity to spell it out for the listener.”
The “Reckless” video was filmed in part at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kozak had this to say about directing the video: “The idea of a museum visit came early on, as did the idea of the name spelled out with hands and signage. I like that the track works as a sort of introduction to the band, and I wanted the video to work in a similar way. I love this song!”By Mark Redfern
3. The Weather Station: “Neon Signs”
This week, The Weather Station (the project of Toronto-based singer/songwriter Tamara Lindeman) announced a new album, Humanhood, and shared its first single, “Neon Signs.”Humanhood is due out January 17, 2025 via Fat Possum. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork and some upcoming UK and EU tour dates here.
Lindeman co-directed the “Neon Signs” video with Jared Raab.
“I wrote ‘Neon Signs’ at a moment of feeling confused, upside down, at that moment when even desire falls away, and dissociation cuts you loose from a story that while wrong, still held things together,” Lindeman says in a press release. “The song came with multiple strands entwined; the way that something that is not true seems to have more energetic intensity than something that is, the confusion of being bombarded with advertising at a moment of climate emergency, the confusion of relationships where coercion is wrapped in the language of love. Ultimately though, isn’t it all the same feeling?”
Linderman co-produced Humanhood with Marcus Paquin, recording it in the fall of 2023 at Canterbury Music Company. The main backing band on the album is drummer Kieran Adams, keyboardist Ben Boye, percussionist Philippe Melanson, reed-and-wind specialist Karen Ng, and bassist Ben Whiteley. The album also features Sam Amidon, James Elkington, and Joseph Shabason. Joseph Lorge mixed the album.
Earlier this week, Lauren Mayberry, singer with Scottish electro-pop trio CHVRCHES, announced her debut solo album, Vicious Creature, and shared a new song from it, “Something in the Air.” The exact release date for the album has yet to be announced, only that it will be out later this year on Island. The tracklist and cover artwork also have yet to be shared.
“‘Something in the Air’ is a song that really came out of nowhere,” explains Mayberry in a press release. “I was in London finishing another song with my friend, co-writer and producer Dan McDougall. We were taking a break in the shared kitchen in the studio complex when a pretty iconic British musician, who I won’t throw under the bus here, came in and started making conversation about electricity, 5G and how it’s making us all sick. Dan and I went for a walk around the block before going back to the studio and were unpacking those theories, and why people want to believe them—and the chorus lyric just appeared.”
A press release describes the album in greater detail: “Vicious Creature is both a startling new era in Lauren Mayberry’s artistry, and the culmination of two decades of the band life that came before. Across its songs she writes about sexuality and empowerment from a profoundly personal perspective for the very first time, reconnecting with the icons of her youth in Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, and Kathleen Hanna, and with the influence of ’90s British girl groups like All Saints and Sugababes.”
Mayberry’s debut solo single, “Are You Awake?,” was released in September 2024 and was one of our Songs of the Week. Then in October 2024 she shared her second solo single, “Shame,” which also made an appearance on our Songs of the Week list. In March she released her third solo single, “Change Shapes.” There’s no word yet if these songs are included on Vicious Creature.
CHVRCHES are signed to Island in America and EMI in England. The band’s last album was 2021’s Screen Violence, which came out via Glassnote.
Mayberry was one of the artists on the cover of our 20th Anniversary Issue in which she was interviewed about Screen Violence. Buy the issue from us directly here.
Cutouts is the band’s third album and the quick follow-up to Walls of Eyes, which came out in January. In fact, Cutouts was recorded during the same period as Wall of Eyes. It was recorded in Oxford and at Abbey Road Studios in London. The album features string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra. Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke painted the album’s cover artwork while making the album.
Bartees Strange has announced a new album, Horror, and shared a new song from it, “Sober,” via a music video. Horror is due out February 14 via 4AD. Below check out “Sober,” followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork.
Strange produced “Sober” with Jack Antonoff, Yves Rothman, and Lawrence Rothman. He had this to say about it in a press release: “This song is about falling short in a relationship, over and over and drinking because of it. I think this is something a lot of people can probably relate to. Being in love, but not being the best at showing it or feeling successful within it. And being afraid that this is something you’ll always deal with because you never really saw a better example of how love works.”
Strange first worked on the album with Yves and Lawrence Rothman, before finishing it with Antonoff after he worked with Antonoff’s band Bleachers.
A press release says the album is about “facing your fears and becoming feared.”
The press release adds: “Strange was raised on fear. His family told scary stories to teach life lessons, and at an early age, he started watching scary movies to practice being strong. The world can be a terrifying place, and for a young, queer, Black person in rural America, that terror can be visceral. Horror is an album about facing those fears and growing to become someone to be feared.”
Strange further elaborates: “In a way I think I made this record to reach out to people who may feel afraid of things in their lives too. For me it’s love, locations, cosmic bad luck, or that feeling of doom that I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember. I think that it’s easier to navigate the horrors and strangeness of life once you realize that everyone around you feels the same. This album is just me trying to connect. I’m trying to shrink the size of the world. I’m trying to feel close—so I’m less afraid.”
Horror includes “Lie 95,” a new song that Strange released in July.
Strange first garnered attention for covering a string of The National tracks, including on Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of National covers released in 2020 on Brassland, a label run by members of the band. He was born in Ipswich, England, but grew up in Mustang, a largely the white and conservative rural town outside Oklahoma City, before launching his music career in Washington, D.C. In between he also worked in the Obama administration.
10 Best Songs of the Week: The WAEVE, Mogwai, Deep Sea Diver, Father John Misty, and More
Sep 20, 2024
Welcome to the 30th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Marina Mallin, Matt the Raven, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 30 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 10.
Issue 73 is out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 10 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
There are two album tracks not previously released as singles that we loved and wanted to include on this week’s Songs of the Week list, with the epic near-eight-minute long song “Druantia” being our favorite. “Song For Eliza May” is also below at #3.
The band shared the album’s title track, “City Lights,” in May. It was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced in June, they shared its second single, “You Saw,” via a music video. It was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its third single, “Broken Boys,” along with a live performance video for the song. “Broken Boys” was #1 on our Songs of the Week list.
As with their debut album, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Foals, HAIM) produced City Lights. As with their last album, the album features Coxon on saxophone, among other instruments.
Coxon and Dougall first met backstage at a charity concert in London in 2020 and soon the idea was hatched for them to collaborate.
“I didn’t know when I was going to work again or try writing again until Rose came out and said, ‘How about we try writing together?’” says Coxon in a press release.
“When I listen to the first album, I can hear me and Graham getting to know each other through making the record,” says Dougall.
They not only hit off musically, but romantically, falling in love and having a baby daughter together, Eliza, who was born in August 2022.
“The band had an identity this time around so we had a little bit more of a framework to know how we might operate,” says Dougall of the differences between recording to the two albums. “But obviously, the circumstances were quite different.”
Dougall was also one of the artists on the cover of our special 20th Anniversary print issue, where you can read an exclusive interview with her.
2. Mogwai: “God Gets You Back”
This week, Scotland’s Mogwai shared a new song, “God Gets You Back,” and announced a 2025 world tour. The single is out now via Temporary Residence Ltd. and Rock Action. Hand Held Cine Club (Justin and James Lockey) directed the video.
John Congleton produced the song. In a press release the band’s Barry Burns says that he felt the song “needed some melody or vocals, but I couldn’t come up with the lyrics so I asked my 7-year-old daughter to make some up, and she did and I sang them.”
Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite had this to say about the tour dates: “We are immensely excited about heading out on our first worldwide tour since the pandemic. We’re going to some brilliant places and can’t wait to perform our new songs.”
The WAEVE’s other album track we loved, “Song For Eliza May,” is an ode to the couple’s daughter.
Dougall says she was initially reluctant to write songs about her daughter. “I was really resistant for a while to even consider referencing it,” she says. “But actually, when I realized that I could use that experience to explore bigger themes—watching what’s happening in the news, all these terrible atrocities and the world falling apart. And in tandem with that, thinking about how life evolves and how my own sense of self has developed. It became a really good vehicle for the songwriting process.”
4. Deep Sea Diver: “Billboard Heart”
Yesterday, Deep Sea Diver (the band led by Jessica Dobson) shared a new song, “Billboard Heart,” via a music video. It’s the band’s first single for Sub Pop, which have just announced that they’ve signed Deep Sea Diver. It is the first taste of a new album, which is due out in early 2025.
Deep Sea Diver is singer and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Dobson, drummer Peter Mansen (also Dobson’s partner), and keyboardist Elliot Jackson. Dobson and Mansen directed the “Billboard Heart” video with cinematographer Tyler Kalberg.
Dobson had this to say about the song in a press release: “‘Billboard Heart’ is a song that felt like a strange transmission, a new emotion, and a spirit-filled dream when it came. It is my nod to the simplicity of my favorite Tom Petty songs and to my love for Wim Wenders’ film Paris, Texas. The feeling of standing in the lonesome desert, embracing every particle of yourself, even the ones that are hard to look at, and fighting for your spirit to move through this world without entanglement. It is about being present and embracing the future while wholeheartedly letting go of any amount of control that I think I have in this life. ‘Billboard Heart’ is both a longing for something that may not exist and a place where I can be free.”
Dobson has previously also performed in The Shins and in Beck’s band.
5. Father John Misty: “Screamland”
This week, Father John Misty (aka Josh Tillman) announced a new album, Mahashmashana, and shared a new song from it, the near-seven-minute long “Screamland,” via a music video. The song features Alan Sparhawk from Low on guitar. Mahashmashana is due out November 22 worldwide via Sub Pop (except for the UK and Europe, where it’s a Bella Union release). Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as Father John Misty’s upcoming tour dates, including some newly announced UK and EU shows, here.
Tillman produced Mahashmashana with Drew Erickson and Jonathan Wilson executive produced the album.
Estefania Kröl directed the “Screamland” video and had this to say about it in the press release: “The video is a visual journey through the depths of ‘Screamland,’ capturing the essence of both the music and the artists. Father John Misty blends seamlessly into the scene, becoming a part of the city, a living echo of ‘Screamland.’”
16 Best Songs of the Week: Michael Kiwanuka, Future Islands, Soccer Mommy, MJ Lenderman, and More
Sep 13, 2024
Welcome to the 29th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Jim Scott, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 50 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 16.
This week’s Songs of the Week covers the last two weeks. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because we were too busy announcing our new print issue.
Issue 73 is out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last two weeks, we have picked the 12 best the last 14 days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Michael Kiwanuka: “Lowdown (part i)” and “Lowdown (part ii)”
Small Changes is Kiwanuka’s fourth album and the long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s Kiwanuka, which won the 2020 Mercury Prize and was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album.
Danger Mouse and Inflo produced the album, as they did with Kiwanuka’s last two albums.
A press release says “Glimpse” focuses on “a family home burning down and coming to terms with the physical and emotional losses and coming to terms with the erasure of a collective history.”
Read our review of People Who Aren’t There Anymorehere.
Future Islands co-produced People Who Aren’t There Anymore with Steve Wright, who also mixed the album with Chris Coady. Future Islands is Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming), and Michael Lowry (drums).
People Who Aren’t There Anymore includes three previously shared singles. “Peach” was released in 2021. “King of Sweden” came out in 2022 and the band performed it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Deep in the Night” was shared in August via a music video and it was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced they shared another new song from it, “The Tower,” via a music video. “The Tower” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then in November they shared another song from it, “The Fight,” via an animated music video (it was also one of our Songs of the Week). In January they shared the album’s final pre-release single, “Say Goodbye,” via an animated music video. Then they shared a video for “The Thief” and performed “The Tower” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
This week, Soccer Mommy, the indie project of Nashville-based singer/songwriter Sophie Allison, released a new single titled “Driver” from her forthcoming album, Evergreen, set to drop on October 25th via Loma Vista Recordings. “Driver” showcases a rockier side of Soccer Mommy, blending addictive melodies with lyrics that explore Allison’s characteristic introspection and emotional complexity. The song reflects on flaws and the acceptance of them within a relationship, adding a cheeky twist to the theme.
Allison’s new album marks a return to more organic production, highlighting her songwriting talents. Written in the wake of a personal loss, Evergreen features a stripped-back, honest approach, reminiscent of her earlier work. By Andy Von Pip
4. MJ Lenderman: “Wristwatch”
Last week North Carolina singer/songwriter and musician, MJ Lenderman released a new album, Manning Fireworks, via ANTI-. Earlier in that week he shared one final single from the album, “Wristwatch.”
Read our review of Manning Fireworks here. By Mark Redfern
My Method Actor is Yanya’s third album and follows her 2022 album, PAINLESS, and her 2019 debut album, Miss Universe, (both released on ATO).
Yanya worked on the album with her regular creative partner, Wilma Archer, in isolation. “This is the most intense album, in that respect,” Yanya said in a previous press release. “Because it’s only been us two. We didn’t let anyone else into the bubble.”
When writing this album, Yanya was grappling with hitting her late 20s and dealing with the pressures of being an established musician. “For me, writing is definitely problem solving—in the way they say that dreaming is like problem solving,” she said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds good. That looks good. That makes sense.’ But you don’t really know why. You’re kind of using that part of your creative brain that doesn’t have to make sense.”
Welcome to the 25th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week’s list covers the last week. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Marina Mallin, Matt the Raven, Scotty Dransfield, and Stephen Humphires helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 30 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 12.
Recently we announced our new print issue, The ’90s Issue, featuring The Cardigans and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth on the covers. Buy it from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 12 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Magdalena Bay: “Tunnel Vision”
Los Angeles-based electro-pop duo Magdalena Bay (aka Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin) are releasing a new album, Imaginal Disk, on August 23 via Mom + Pop. This week they shared its third single, “Tunnel Vision.” It’s a slow-burner that builds to an epic conclusion.
The band collectively had this to say about the song in a press release: “Artificial intelligence won’t approximate humanity until it learns how to hate itself.”
Imaginal Disk is the band’s sophomore full-length album and follows 2023’s mini mix vol. 3, a surprise-released a seven-song EP and an accompanying short film that featured videos for every song. The EP’s “Wandering Eyes” made our Songs of the Week list.
In 2021, Magdalena Bay released their debut album, Mercurial World, which was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2021 and several songs from the album were featured on our Top 130 Songs of 2021 list. Then in 2022 they released a deluxe edition of the album that included several bonus tracks and remixes incorporated into the main tracklist of the original album, presenting a completely different listening experience.
Read our interview with Magdalena Bay on Mercurial World here. By Mark Redfern
2. Soccer Mommy: “M”
This week, Soccer Mommy (aka Sophie Allison) announced her new album, Evergreen, and shared its new single “M,” which follows the previously-released album opener “Lost.”Evergreen is due out October 25 on Loma Vista. “M” arrives with a music video directed by Anna Pollack. Find the tracklist and cover art for Evergreen, along with Soccer Mommy’s upcoming tour dates here.
Allison’s music has always been a candid and vulnerable reflection on her life. Her sound came out of the bedroom-to-Bandcamp arc where as a teenager, Allison would post her plaintive songs as demos. Overtime, she would experiment with her sound and production. Her most recent album Sometimes, Forever (2022), grappled with profound loss. The songwriting was raw and relatable. Forthcoming Evergreen is an 11-track exploration of life’s moments without attaching personal opinions to them, allowing lyrics and emotions to speak for themselves.
Allison recorded the album at Atlanta’s Maze Studios with producer Ben H. Allen III (Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Youth Lagoon, Belle and Sebastian).
This week, London’s High Vis announced their new album, Guided Tour, which will be released on October 18 on Dais. In celebration of the announcement, High Vis shared the album’s lead single, “Mind’s a Lie,” which arrives in a video directed by Martina Pastory and stars movement artist Sem Osian. Find High Vis’ tour dates and the tracklist and cover art for Guided Tourhere.
Of the single, High Vis’ vocalist Graham Sayle said this in a press release: “I wanted to look at how quickly negative habits can take control when you lack a positive or constructive outlet for your energy. While the language of mental health provision has found fertile ground in the churn of social media, access to essential services has been decimated by the indifference of successive Tory governments. Further division has been stoked through governmental rhetoric and media scapegoating. Without adequate support in times of crisis, life can quickly spiral into an angry and isolated existence.”
The album includes the previously released single, “Mob DLA.” By Marina Malin
4. Father John Misty: “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All”
Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said to Crawl is a collection of songs taken from his five albums: Fear Fun (2012), I Love You, Honeybear (2015), the Grammy-nominated Pure Comedy (2017), God’s Favorite Customer (2018), and Chloë and The Next 20th Century (2022). By Marina Malin
Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There For Me is a project that processes burnout, the music industry, and heartbreak through the poetry of band leader Dana Margolin. She had this to say in a press release: “Almost all the songs started out as poems.” She had learned that a songwriter can hide behind the tricks of the music: “in a poem though, you can’t hide.”
Margolin reflects on the record being a creative breakthrough: “It feels like the first time we’ve made something. It captured something about our friendship as a band and the way that we have learnt to play together. It’s taught me so much. Following your gut to the nth point, trusting your friends and their loyalty, trusting yourself to be able to fight with people properly and still come back together. How I want to live is how I want to make records, because making records is my life because my work is my play is my job is my life. It all ties together in this thing, and there are ways to do this that might not kill me.”
Of the record, Margolin adds: “A lot of this album is about a more frenetic and desperate kind of love. It is about completely losing my sense of self in one relationship, and the deep residue of insecurity and pain that lingered and clouded a new relationship.”
Of today’s single, Margolin said this: “‘Sick of the Blues’ is about being heartbroken and taking back some joy, remembering that you’re the source of your own happiness, not someone else, even when you’re hurt and left with a hole in your heart. After being messed around enough, you just want to take back control. I just wanted to let it go, stop letting it consume me. I wanted simplicity, to have fun and remember everything good that could possibly happen. To love wholly, to not take anything too seriously. To have fun with my friends, to remove the tunnel vision and fall in love with my life again.”
This week, London-based dreampop duo deary shared a new single “Selene,” which was produced alongside Iggy B (of Spiritualized) and features Simon Scott (of Slowdive) on drums. “Selene” arrives with a video directed by Liam Beazley (aka Limb). Find deary’s tour dates here.
The new track is deary’s second release since their debut EP; the first was last month’s “The Moth” which became one of our Songs of the Week.
In a press release, singer Dottie said this of the single: “‘Selene’ is associated with the moon and re-birth. Our new material is all about transition and metamorphosis. I have a desire to return to a part of myself that I’ve lost or to discover the one buried deep under anxiety and shame. I look to ‘Selene’ to guide the way.”
Other half of deary, Ben Easton added: “We drafted Simon in on drumming duties and he provided a solid foundation which allowed the song to play out above him. Sonically, we allowed ourselves more space to build the instrumentation of the track, not to throw in vocals where they weren’t needed and let the song transcend on its own. I think it’s one of the best things we’ve written together.”
Of the video, Easton said: “The video for ‘Selene’ was always intended to follow on from ‘The Moth.’ We wanted to place the title character in a different setting to the woods but still trapped by her surroundings. It’s been fun to explore different aesthetic influences with Liam, like Twin Peaks and The Lighthouse, continuing a natural gravitation towards a more gothic horror style.” By Marina Malin
7. Foxing: “Greyhound”
Of Foxing’s 13-year career, this week they announced their self-titled fifth album Foxing, due out September 13 on the band’s own label, Grand Paradise. They also shared the triumphant eight-minute long lead single “Greyhound,” which arrives with an amusing video. Find the album details and Foxing’s tour dates here.
The quartet is made up of Conor Murphy (vocals), Eric Hudson (guitar), Jon Hellwig (drums), and Brett Torence (bass). This past weekend they supposedly held a press conference in their hometown St Louis to announce their new album. The video was shot at the conference. Although in reality, no such press conference probably happened, but it makes for a funny video, as the band sits bored staring at a room filled with empty chairs and no journalists while their epic and emotive new single blares. By Marina Malin and Mark Redfern
8. MJ Lenderman: “Joker Lips”
This week, North Carolina singer/songwriter and musician, MJ Lenderman released another song from his forthcoming album, Manning Fireworks, which is due for release on September 6 via ANTI-. This week’s new track is called “Joker Lips,” which follows the release of “She’s Leaving You” and “Rudolph.” Find MJ Lenderman tour dates here.
Manning Fireworks follows his 2023 live album, And the Wind (Live and Loose!), 2022’s Boat Songs, 2021’s Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, and 2019’s MJ Lenderman. The album was recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios during any offtime Lenderman had from touring (he’s also a member of the band Wednesday). Co-produced with Alex Farrar, the instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Lenderman. The album will be his fourth full-length album, but his studio debut for ANTI-.By Marina Malin
9. Haley Heynderickx: “Seed of a Seed”
Earlier this week, Portland, Oregon’s Hayley Heynderickx released her first new song since the release of her debut record, I Need to Start a Garden (2018).“Seed of a Seed” is out on her hometown label Mama Bird Recording Co. This new single arrives with a music video directed by Evan Benally Atwood and features Jared Dancler, Katherin Rose, Evan Benallly Atwood, and Heynderickx. Find Heyderickx’s tour dates here.
Of the single, Heynderickx said this in a press release: “I first sent a demo of ‘Seed of a Seed’ to my friend Tré Burt and he loved it. For three years he kept asking me if I’d finished the ‘better better’ song. It felt like a throwaway song to me, at first. It’s so simple, but I didn’t realize how much angst I’d woven into it: a desire for simplicity, and how far away that felt. It seems I accidentally pressed my story—the last four years of my life—into a tiny little tune and I love it now, too.” By Marina Malin
10. Goat: “Ouroboros”
Sweden’s experimental psych-rock band, Goat, announced their third album earlier this week. It’s simply titled Goat and it will be released on October 11 via Rocket Recordings. In honor of the announcement, Goat has shared the lead single “Ouroboros” with a video. Find the cover art and tracklist for Goat, alongside Goat’s tour dates here.
Of the single, Goat explains “Ouroboros” as “The cycle of rebirth means the refinement of the soul. An evolution in which we slowly find our direction. Our own rhythm.”
Goat follows behind their 2023 Medicine, 2022 Oh Death, 2016 Requiem, 2014 Commune, and 2012 World Music. By Marina Malin
11. Lael Neale: “Electricity”
Lael Neale shared a brand new song, “Electricity,” this week via a self-directed music video. Find her upcoming tour dates here.
Neale wrote and composed “Electricity,” which was produced and arranged by longtime creative collaborator Guy Blakeslee. The video features cinematography by Chance Gray, with choreography by Sandi Denton and a performance by the Rated Z Dancers.
Neale had this to say about the song in a press release: “I wrote the song during an ice storm a couple of winters ago that caused a five-day power outage while I was living on my family’s farm in Virginia. I experienced intense withdrawal from all these things we’ve come to depend on so heavily in our modern life—like lighting, heat, refrigeration, and entertainment. I felt a range of sensations from utter emptiness to complete liberation. I realized we’re essentially electrified beings now, but through unplugging entirely we have a chance to gain a new perspective and reset ourselves.”
This week, Pom Pom Squad (the project led by Mia Berrin) announced their new album, Mirror Stars Moving Without Me, which will be released on October 25 via City Slang. Ahead of the release, they share their new song “Spinning,” with a video directed by Berrin, and Benjamin Lieber. Find details of Mirror Stars Moving Without Me here.
In a press release, Berrin had said this on the single: “The song represents a moment when I was learning to cope with painful memories of the past and how they’ve shaped my future. In accepting them, I’ve been able to find more freedom and forgiveness within myself.”
Of the video, she adds: “A lot of the lyrics on the album have to do with watching/analyzing yourself, so I knew I wanted to create a surveillance room setup for something. It turned out to be a really fun home-base for the ‘Spinning’ video.”
Of the inspiration behind the record, Berrin says: “I took a lot of inspiration from my younger self on this album. I wanted to get back in touch with my creative roots. After hitting a particularly rough bout of writer’s block, I challenged myself to make a playlist of my all-time favorite songs from childhood to adulthood. It was healing in a way I didn’t expect! Before we went into the studio I made my bandmates and Cody do the same, then we all listened to each other’s and had a long conversation about them. Through the sessions for Mirror we were all pulling references from our collective playlists more than anything else.”
Prior to today’s album announcement, just last month Pom Pom Squad released the album opener “Downhill,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week. By Marina Malin.
Honorable Mentions:
These songs almost made the Top 12.
Kate Bollinger: “What’s This About (La La La La)”
Caribou: “Volume”
Crows: “Vision of Me”
The Hard Quartet: “Earth Hater”
illuminati hotties: “The L”
Jade Hairpins: “My Feet On Your Ground”
Jamie xx: “All You Children” (Feat. The Avalanches)
Nap Eyes: “Passageway”
Oceanator: “Drift Away”
OK Cowgirl: “Our Love”
Public Service Broadcasting: “The South Atlantic” (Feat. This Is the Kit)
Thala: “1st of the year”
Wishy: “Just Like Sunday”
Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 12 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions:
Welcome to the 24th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week’s list covers the last week. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Marina Mallin, Matt the Raven, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 20 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 12.
Recently we announced our new print issue, The ’90s Issue, featuring The Cardigans and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth on the covers. Buy it from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 12 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Hinds: “Superstar”
Madrid-based band Hinds are releasing a new album, VIVA HINDS, on September 6 via Lucky Number. This week they have shared another song from it, “Superstar,” via a self-directed video.
VIVA HINDS is the band’s first album since becoming a duo again. Hinds were founded by co-vocalists and co-guitarists Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote in 2011, but for most of their career they’ve been a four-piece. Ade Martin and Amber Grimbergen left the band in 2022, returning them to a duo.
The band collectively had this to say about the new single in a press release: “‘Superstar’ talks about the disappointment and the pain you feel when someone you love deeply, disappears with no explanation. You feel worthless, you start thinking you never really knew that person and you question your shared past, and if what you remember really happened. It’s hard to let people go but writing this song helped. People need closure, and this song is ours.”
VIVA HINDS features “Coffee,” a new song the band shared in February. When the album was announced, they shared another new song from it, “Boom Boom Back,” which features Beck and was one of our Songs of the Week. They also announced some North American tour dates. Then they shared another song from it, “En Forma,” which is their first-ever Spanish language single.
Pete Robertson (The Vaccines, beabadoobee) produced the album, which was mixed by Caesar Edmunds (The Killers, Wet Leg) and engineered by Tom Roach. It was recorded in rural France.
“This isn’t a rational album, this is made with emotions, in no specific order,” Cosials says in a press release. “We never sat down to think what we should write about, we sat down to write about what we were going through. We didn’t choose a ‘new look,’ we didn’t wanna pretend to be mature, or appear as a more sophisticated band. To me it is cohesive, but it’s not a fairy tale or a brainy narrative. It’s heart-driven.”
Of keeping the band going despite the line-up change and other challenges (the pandemic, no label), Cosials says: “We started the band because we are so safe and comfortable with each other. Our relationship is unbreakable. This connection between us hasn’t changed since the very beginning. We still finish each other’s ideas, laugh at each other’s jokes and rhyme each other’s lines. Maintaining that enthusiasm for music and for Hinds through the years may seem extremely difficult to find, but it’s something that only can happen with your very best friend.”
London-based artist Naima Bock is releasing a new album, Below a Massive Dark Land, on September 27 via Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. This week she shared another new song from it, “Gentle,” via a music video.
Bock had this to say about “Gentle” and its video in a press release: “I’ve lived with this song for a couple of years. It’s a kind of copy and paste of different sections of my life, each verse is a different version of myself or situation I was in. None of them link in reality, but they fit together in this song, which leaves me with a sense of union and satisfaction. I would like to allow for the listener to take the lyrics in whatever way is relevant to them. I can say it’s my favorite song to play and one of my favorite songs that I’ve written. It means a lot to me.”
Ellie Wintour and Sophie Lincoln directed the video and collectively had this to say: “Our jumping off point for the video began with the lyrics ‘You want me to be gentle, fragile, you want me to stay young. I pray that I stay gentle, fragile, I pray that I stay.’ We developed Naima a character playing on femininity as facade, but also her sense of easygoing style. In using two-dimensional substitutes for three-dimensional objects – mixing worlds of the real and make-believe – we tried to play on the song’s themes of expectation, assigned roles, and conformity.”
Below a Massive Dark Land is Bock’s second album, the follow-up to 2022’s debut album, Giant Palm. Jack Osborne and Joe Jones produced the album, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton and Bock. It was recorded at The Crypt in north London. By Mark Redfern
September’s reissue of Lux Prima arrives with a 7-inch of “Super Breath” on the A-side and a cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” on the B-side. The reissue will also have a 16-page booklet highlighting the four-day communal listening experience, “Encounter with Lux Prima.”
Brooklyn-based psych-rock quintet GIFT are releasing a new album, Illuminator, on August 23 via Captured Tracks. This week they shared its third single, “Light Runner,” via a music video directed by the band’s TJ Freda.
GIFT features vocalist/guitarist TJ Freda, multi-instrumentalists Jessica Gurewitz and Justin Hrabovsky, drummer Gabe Camarano, and bassist Kallan Campbell.
Freda had this to say about “Light Runner” and its video in a press release: “The album and song ‘Ray of Light’ by Madonna was a massive inspiration while recording Illuminator—I wanted to pay homage to the brilliant music video directed by one of my favorite directors Jonas Åkerlund. ‘Light Runner’ celebrates the triumph of emerging from a dark time while acknowledging the transformative power of overcoming it. It’s a testament to the euphoria of personal achievement.In 2023, during our first European tour, we were enthralled by the origins of ’90s UK bands like Primal Scream, Massive Attack, and Oasis. Following a show in Glasgow, the promoters treated us to an underground Jungle/DnB rave, blowing our minds wide open.”
Illuminator is the band’s sophomore album and first for Captured Tracks. It follows their 2022 debut, Momentary Presence, released via Dedstrange. The album includes “Wish Me Away,” a new song GIFT shared in April via a music video. “Wish Me Away” was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced they shared its second single, “Going In Circles,” via a music video. It was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its third single, “Later,” via a music video. “Later” was again one of our Songs of the Week.
Of the new album as a whole, Freda says: “We had a lot more confidence going in. The main goal was to take a big swing, embrace the pop sounds we love and clear the mist and clouds surrounding the last record to make it a lot punchier.” By Mark Redfern
In a press release, Peel Dream Magazine’s Joe Stevens had this to say: “‘Wish You Well’ is a song about the animality that we are all hardwird with, and how it can bring out the worst in us. Instinct drives some people to be ruthlessly competitive, Rose Main Reading Room deals a lot with this juncture of the civilized and natural world. I wrote this song as a statement, like, freeing myself from the influence of people who’ve pushed me around at different points in my life. In the music video, Olivia and I are portraying people who secretly try to undermine others. Everyone’s behavior is juxtaposed with these brutally violent scenes from nature, as well as all of this DNA and celluar imagery to establish this idea that it’s completely elemental. We shot this video with an awesome filmmaker who goes by Otium, and got to play around with all these different performance setups in front of a cyclorama wall in downtown LA.” By Marina Malin
In a press release, Peel Dream Magazine’s Joe Stevens had this to say: “‘Wish You Well’ is a song about the animality that we are all hardwird with, and how it can bring out the worst in us. Instinct drives some people to be ruthlessly competitive, Rose Main Reading Room deals a lot with this juncture of the civilized and natural world. I wrote this song as a statement, like, freeing myself from the influence of people who’ve pushed me around at different points in my life. In the music video, Olivia and I are portraying people who secretly try to undermine others. Everyone’s behavior is juxtaposed with these brutally violent scenes from nature, as well as all of this DNA and celluar imagery to establish this idea that it’s completely elemental. We shot this video with an awesome filmmaker who goes by Otium, and got to play around with all these different performance setups in front of a cyclorama wall in downtown LA.” By Marina Malin
6. Why Bonnie: “Rhyme or Reason”
Why Bonnie (the project of Blair Howerton) is releasing a new album, Wish on the Bone, on August 30 via Fire Talk. This week, she shared another new song from it, “Rhyme or Reason,” and also announced some new tour dates. Find her tour dates here.
A press release describes the inspiration behind “Rhyme or Reason” in greater detail, saying that it “is about regenerating a sense of hope after the loss of Howerton’s brother, which happened just as she was beginning to come into her own as a songwriter. To cope, she wrote song after song, built a catalog despite her suffering, and in doing so, developed a new relationship to spirituality, one that she defines on ‘Rhyme or Reason.’”
Howerton adds: “‘Rhyme or Reason’ is about coming to terms with the impermanence of life and how that’s scary but also really beautiful.”
Why Bonnie released her debut album, 90 in November, in 2022 via Keeled Scales. In 2023 she shared a brand new single, “Apple Tree,” which isn’t featured on the new album. Previously the project was presented more as a band, but now it seems to be more of a solo enterprise.
“I’ve changed since that album, and I trust that I’ll probably continue to change,” Howerton says of the years since her debut. “Maybe I won’t be the same person entirely two years from now.”
The new album also features Howerton’s regular bandmates Chance Williams, and Josh Malett. She co-produced the album with Jonathan Schenke. “We were trying on musical hats,” says Howerton. “There’s still some country on this record, but I wasn’t thinking about sticking to one thing. Personal experience of learning to be bolder and more assertive and trusting myself has carried over into my music.”
She adds: “These songs were written out of hope for a better future. I’m not naïve, the world is fucked up, but I think you can radically accept that while still believing it’s possible to change things.”
The song was inspired by the poem “Dark Night of the Soul” by the Spanish 16th-century poet St. John of the Cross.
Cave further explains in a press release: “‘Long Dark Night’ is inspired by one of the greatest and most powerful poems of conversion ever written. Ultimately, though, it’s a beautiful country tune. It feels like a sweet companion to the song, ‘Wild God.’”
Previously Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds shared the album’s first single, title track “Wild God,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its second single, “Frogs,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week.
Wild God is Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ 18th studio album and is the follow-up to 2019’s acclaimed Ghosteen, which was #3 on our Top 100 Albums of 2019 list.
Cave and bandmate Warren Ellis produced the album, which was mixed by David Fridmann. Cave started writing the album on New Year’s Day 2023 and there were recording sessions at Miraval Studios in Provence, France and Soundtree Studios in London, England. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are Cave, Ellis, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Jim Sclavunos, and George Vjestica. The album also features Colin Greenwood of Radiohead (who contributes bass) and Luis Almau (on nylon string guitar and acoustic guitar).
“I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me,” Cave said in a previous press release. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”
Cave added: “Wild God…there’s no fucking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.”
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis recently scored the new Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black. Two albums for the film were released, its soundtrack and its score album. In April, Cave and Ellis shared “Song For Amy,” which is found on both albums. By Mark Redfern
8. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE: “SOMETHING’S ENDING” and “I’VE BEEN EVIL”
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE are releasing a new album, YOU’LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING, on August 23 on Saddle Creek. This week, they released two new songs from it, “SOMETHING’S ENDING” and “I’VE BEEN EVIL,” which follow the release of the album’s lead single, “LET THE VIRGIN DRIVE.” The two songs arrive in a double video directed by Kelsea Dakota Larson. Since the songs very much blend together, we are considering them as part of one entry on this week’s list. Find SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE’s tour dates here.
Larson had this to say about the video in a press release: “My collaborator and spouse Jim and I have been waiting for the right project to film here in rural Appalachia since we moved a few years ago, when we heard these new tracks, we knew this was the right one. We took the titles literally, and wanted to highlight the darkness that can be right under your nose in a beautiful little mountain town, or anywhere really, while outsiders carry on.”By Marina Malin
Larson had this to say about the video in a press release: “My collaborator and spouse Jim and I have been waiting for the right project to film here in rural Appalachia since we moved a few years ago, when we heard these new tracks, we knew this was the right one. We took the titles literally, and wanted to highlight the darkness that can be right under your nose in a beautiful little mountain town, or anywhere really, while outsiders carry on.”By Marina Malin
9. Sunflower Bean: “Shake”
This week, New York trio Sunflower Bean announced their first self-produced and recorded EP, Shake. They also shared its lead track—which is also the title track—“Shake.” The EP will be released on September 27 via Lucky number. Find the album details and Sunflower Bean’s tour dates here.
In collaboration with rising director Issac Roberts, Sunflower Bean will release a 14-minute performance based video for each track that interprets a natural element such as earth, wind, water, fire, and metal. Today’s title track and lead single “Shake” is an interpretation of earth. Watch the video below.
Sunflower Bean is vocalist and bassist Julia Cumming (she/her), guitarist and vocalist Nick Kivlen (he/him), and drummer Olive Faber (she/they).
Featuring Sunflower Bean’s most unapologetically grunge music yet, the band had this to say of their EP in a press release: “Shake was inspired by our first years as a DIY band, the spirit that birthed us and gave us the chance to have this enduring journey together. We wrote, recorded, engineered, and produced these songs so nothing was filtered through anyone else’s idea of us. We always felt like rock and roll was a feeling, not a sound. But sometimes there is no subverting it or explaining it. We’re now offering it exactly as it occurred to us.”
Austin’s Being Dead is an unpredictable group of multi-instrumentalist best friends who this week have shared their new single, “Van Goes,” which follows the release of “Firefighters” from their forthcoming album EELS.EELS will be Being Dead’s second studio album and is set for release on September 27 via Bayonet. The new track arrives with a music video. Find Being Dead’s tour dates here.
Today’s moody track “Van Goes” opens in obscurity, with the spoken word lines: “I’m not trying to be rude or any of that—this is for your own good and I’m not going to be traumatized because you want to be dumb.”
In a press release, the band added this on their music video: “Our goal is simple. When you die and your life flashes before your eyes we’d like this video to be included in the reel. (Or at least lay a blueprint for how yours might be). Fast and furious is one’s life when betrayed. And in a flash, your whole life before you: everyone you’ve ever known, everything you’ve been brave enough to feel—extinguished in a twinkle of clarity.” By Marina Malin
In a press release, the band added this on their music video: “Our goal is simple. When you die and your life flashes before your eyes we’d like this video to be included in the reel. (Or at least lay a blueprint for how yours might be). Fast and furious is one’s life when betrayed. And in a flash, your whole life before you: everyone you’ve ever known, everything you’ve been brave enough to feel—extinguished in a twinkle of clarity.” By Marina Malin
11. Tess Parks: “Koalas”
This week, London-based singer/songwriter Tess Parks announced her third solo album, Pomegranate, and shared its lead single “Koalas” (which features Molly Lewis). Pomegranate will be released on October 25 via Fuzz Club and Hand Drawn Dracula.
Pomegranate was recorded between London, Toronto, and Los Angeles as Parks collaborates with long-term band members Ruari Meehan and engineer Mikko Gordon. Pomegranate follows Parks’ 2022 album, And Those Who Were Seen Dancing.
Of the new track, Parks said this in a press release: “In November 2020, Ruari was in London and I was in Toronto and he sent me the music for ‘Koalas.’ At this point, we hadn’t seen each other in over a year. It would be another year before we saw each other again. I was suffering from severe PTSD at this point in my life, and to be honest, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the song properly until early February. When I finally did—it was one of those moments when you hear a song and you know it’s going to be one of your favorite, most cherished songs for your whole life. It’s the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.
“Ruari sending me this song instigated the making of this album—a daily back and forth correspondence where he would send me music and I would sing some words over it and then he would sing other ideas back to me. It was a true lifeline at what felt like the end of the world. I don’t know who I would be without these songs, this song particularly, and waking up everyday looking forward to what he was going to send me next.”
Pomegranate is a record that explores pain, resilience, and hope. Parks adds this on the record: “Look—there’s so much tragedy happening in the world right now. It’s so easy to feel helpless. It feels self-indulgent to be someone singing at all from their own perspective. But if anything, this album is a gift of love, our contribution to the world of something beautiful that we made amongst so much pain. It’s our message of empowerment to keep going even when life feels unliveable and unjust—having faith that this moment will pass if you can find a way to just breathe into the next moment. Believing that the future could possibly be really bright… knowing that sharing your light really does have a butterfly effect, even in a small way within your community and your family and friends, you are capable of making a greater impact than you understand.
“I went through a long period of feeling like I never wanted to make music again. What is the point of singing? Everything is pointless. I was taking refuge making paintings, sitting in silence for hours. There was a lot of processing to do. I am so grateful that I was given the encouragement to continue creating with sound, and that’s what Ruari has done for me. It seems only right to give back that encouragement to others.” By Marina Malin
“I went through a long period of feeling like I never wanted to make music again. What is the point of singing? Everything is pointless. I was taking refuge making paintings, sitting in silence for hours. There was a lot of processing to do. I am so grateful that I was given the encouragement to continue creating with sound, and that’s what Ruari has done for me. It seems only right to give back that encouragement to others.” By Marina Malin
12. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: “Disgust”
Melbourne-based psych-rock group King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are releasing a new album, Flight b741, on August 8 via the band’s own p(doom) label. This week they shared its second single, “Hog Calling Contest,” as well as a making of the album video entitled Oink Oink Flight b741: The Making of….
The band collectively had this to say about “Hog Calling Contest” in a press release: “While recording Flight b741, we occasionally had these ultra inspired tune-up/warm-up jams. Of course, we were never actually recording during these moments though. Lost to time. Except one time; this time. We learnt to record these moments; ‘Daily Blues’ came together this way too. But ‘Hog Calling Contest’ retains a unique unhinged-ness that only comes when you’re fooling around with your mates and you don’t think you’re being recorded. Happy in mud!”
Guy Tyzack directed Oink Oink Flight b741: The Making of…, shooting it on 16mm film, which only allowed for about five minutes of film per day. Tyzack had this to say in a press release: “We were tasked with capturing the band make an album from scratch in two weeks, they purposefully didn’t prepare much for the recordings so it was very difficult for me to plan what to film. I just knew they’d be in one room and three of them might drop out at any moment because they were expecting babies. The room looked brown and boring so I painted it like the sky to match the theme of the album in one 17hr stretch with three friends and a slab of mids.”
Flight b741 is the prolific band’s 26th album. It was first announced on their social media channels. Then they shared the album’s first single, “Le Risque,” via a music video. “Le Risque” was one of our Songs of the Week.
This time King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard wanted to make a “no concept” album. “We wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut,’” says frontman Stu Mackenzie in a press release, “just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.”
Mackenzie adds: “This is our most collaborative record—the collaboration was occurring in the room, it was free, and everyone was bringing in songs and ideas. And we wanted to have as many lead vocalists as we could, and to pass the mic, like, ‘This is my part, my idea, I’m gonna sing it and then I’m gonna pass the mic along to you and you can do your thing.’ The whole record is built around that. We ended up doing a lot of backing vocals and extra recording, everyone in a room around a couple of microphones, just to give it that feel.”
That collaborative spirit also extended to the lyrics. “We had broad themes for every song, and for the bigger picture of the album as a whole,” says Mackenzie, “but once the mic was passed it was all up to the person who was singing. These songs weren’t written in isolation – someone would write their verse, sing it for the demo, and that would inspire the next person’s part. So we were riffing off each other. Lyrically, it’s all pretty introspective—we’re having a lot of fun, but we’re often singing about some pretty heavy shit, and probably hitting on some deeper, more universal themes than usual. It’s not a sci-fi record, it’s about life and stuff.”
Summing up Flight b741, Mackenzie says: “The record is like a really fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun.” By Mark Redfern
Honorable Mentions:
These songs almost made the Top 12.
Chinese American Bear: “Yummy Yummy Yummy (好吃好吃)”
Efterklang: “To a New Day”
Man / Woman / Chainsaw: “Ode to Clio”
My Brightest Diamond: “Have You Ever Seen An Angel”
Pixies: “Chicken”
Seefeel: “Sky Hooks”
Thurston Moore: “New In Town”
Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 12 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions:
12 Best Songs of the Week: Bright Eyes, GIFT, MJ Lenderman, The WAEVE, and More
Jun 28, 2024
Welcome to the 21st Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Mark Moody, Matt the Raven, and Scott Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We seriously considered over 25 songs this week and narrowed it down to a Top 12.
Recently we announced our new print issue, The ’90s Issue, featuring The Cardigans and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth on the covers. Buy it from us directly here.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 12 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Bright Eyes: “Bells and Whistles”
This week, Bright Eyes announced a new album, Five Dice, All Threes, and shared its first single, “Bells and Whistles.” They also announced some tour dates. Five Dice, All Threes features Cat Power and The National’s Matt Berninger and is due out September 20 via Dead Oceans. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates, here.
The band self-produced the new album, which was recorded at ARC, in Omaha, Nebraska, the studio run by Mogis and Oberst.
Oberst had this to say about “Bells and Whistles” in a press release: “This is a song about the many little details in life that can seem insignificant or frivolous or temporary at the time but eventually end up forming your destiny. And it’s also kind of a whistle while you work scenario.” By Mark Redfern
2. GIFT: “Later”
Brooklyn-based psych-rock quintet GIFT are releasing a new album, Illuminator, on August 23 via Captured Tracks. This week they shared its third single, “Later,” via a music video.
GIFT features vocalist/guitarist TJ Freda, multi-instrumentalists Jessica Gurewitz and Justin Hrabovsky, drummer Gabe Camarano, and bassist Kallan Campbell.
Gurewitz and Freda co-wrote “Later.” Freda had this to say about it in a press release: “While writing Illuminator I found myself clinging to intense emotions, reluctant to release them. ‘Later’ stands out as one of the darkest songs I’ve made. Making it was cathartic, diving into darker themes. The song explores surrendering to the overwhelming sensation of life slipping away before my eyes.”
Illuminator is the band’s sophomore album and first for Captured Tracks. It follows their 2022 debut, Momentary Presence, released via Dedstrange. The album includes “Wish Me Away,” a new song GIFT shared in April via a music video. “Wish Me Away” was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced they shared its second single, “Going In Circles,” via a music video. It was also one of our Songs of the Week.
Of the new album as a whole, Freda says: “We had a lot more confidence going in. The main goal was to take a big swing, embrace the pop sounds we love and clear the mist and clouds surrounding the last record to make it a lot punchier.” By Mark Redfern
3. MJ Lenderman: “She’s Leaving You”
This week, North Carolina singer/songwriter and musician, MJ Lenderman announced a new album, Manning Fireworks, which is due for release on September 6 via ANTI-. He also released the album’s first single, “She’s Leaving You,” with a video. Find the Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum-directed music video below. Find Manning Fireworks’ tracklist and cover art, with MJ Lenderman tour dates, here.
Manning Fireworks follows his 2023 live album, And the Wind (Live and Loose!), 2022’s Boat Songs, 2021’s Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, and 2019’s MJ Lenderman. The album was recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios during any offtime Lenderman had from touring (he’s also a member of the band Wednesday). Co-produced with Alex Farrar, the instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Lenderman. The album will be his fourth full-length album, but his studio debut for ANTI-. ByMarina Malin
4. The WAEVE: “You Saw”
This week, The WAEVE—aka Rose Elinor Dougall and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon—announced a new album, City Lights, and shared its second single, “You Saw,” via a music video. City Lights is due out September 20 via Transgressive. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork here.
As with their debut album, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Foals, HAIM) produced City Lights. As with their last album, the album features Coxon on saxophone, among other instruments.
Coxon and Dougall first met backstage at a charity concert in London in 2020 and soon the idea was hatched for them to collaborate.
“I didn’t know when I was going to work again or try writing again until Rose came out and said, ‘How about we try writing together?’” says Coxon in a press release.
“When I listen to the first album, I can hear me and Graham getting to know each other through making the record,” says Dougall.
They not only hit off musically, but romantically, falling in love and having a baby daughter together, Eliza, who was born in August 2022.
“The band had an identity this time around so we had a little bit more of a framework to know how we might operate,” says Dougall of the differences between recording to the two albums. “But obviously, the circumstances were quite different.”
Dougall says she was initially reluctant to write songs about her daughter. “I was really resistant for a while to even consider referencing it,” she says. “But actually, when I realized that I could use that experience to explore bigger themes—watching what’s happening in the news, all these terrible atrocities and the world falling apart. And in tandem with that, thinking about how life evolves and how my own sense of self has developed. It became a really good vehicle for the songwriting process.”
The album’s “Song For Eliza May” is an ode to their daughter.
“The first record was a way of escaping the constrictions of what was going on in the world,” continues Dougall. “I think this one was a way of railing against the more domestic constraints that we had. That’s partly where some of the urgency of some of the songs come from.”
“This album is definitely more neurotic and more grumpy—and that comes from me!” says Coxon. “I’ve always liked to be pretty straightforward about feelings, whether they’re ugly or beautiful, and I’ve always approached sound in the same way. I don’t always think that sound needs to be comfortable to listen to. That dynamic of putting discomfort next to something that is really lovely is something that I’ve always been interested in.”
Dougall and Coxon collectively had this to say about the new single: “‘You Saw’ is a song about acknowledging how seemingly tiny decisions can have a seismic impact on the course of one’s life, how sometimes it feels like the way things turn out are predestined. It’s about reconciling a past version with the new version of one’s self and being grateful for how things work out. It’s built around a rhythmic string line to reflect the sense of propulsive forward motion.”
Coxon’s last solo album was 2012’s A+E, but he’s kept busy with soundtrack work, including releasing two albums of songs and score from the acclaimed TV show The End of the F***ing World and his 2021 score to the comic book Superstate. His memoir, Verse, Chorus, Monster!, got a U.S. release last year via Faber Books. Blur also released a new album last year, The Ballad of Darren. By Mark Redfern
5. Peel Dream Magazine: “Lie in the Gutter”
This week, Peel Dream Magazine announced their fourth full length album, Rose Main Reading Room. The album is due to be released on September 4 on Topshelf. They also shared the lead single, “Lie in the Gutter.” Find their tour dates and Rose Main Reading Room’s tracklist and cover artwork here.
Rose Main Reading Room follows their 2022 release of Pad (one of its singles, “Hiding Out,” was chosen for one of our Songs of the Week.
In a press release, Peel Dream Magazine’s Joe Stevens had this to say of the new single and video: “This video is cut from footage we filmed on a few different tours between the fall of 2023 and Spring of 2024, and I love it because it captures the amazing feeling and energy that those trips had. There’s cameos from bands we were touring with like Chastity Belt and Gift, and friends like Simi Sohota from Healing Potpourri. A lot of it was shot in the Pacific Northwest and features some hikes we got to take among the dense green forests up there. I wanted to capture that stuff because this theme of ‘the natural world’ has been jostling around my my brain for awhile and is a big part of the album. The song is meant to be a very simple statement about finding joy and wonder in life despite whatever may be on your mind. The phrase it’s taken from is the trite but sweet Oscar Wilde quote ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’” ByMarina Malin
6. Party Dozen: “The Big Man Upstairs”
This week, Sydney-based musical duo Party Dozen, consisting of saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist Jonathan Boulet, announced their forthcoming album, Crime in Australia. The album, set for release on September 6th via Temporary Residence Ltd., follows their critically acclaimed 2022 album, The Real Work.
The lead single, “The Big Man Upstairs,” diverges from their characteristically frenetic sound, offering a softer, melodic exploration. The accompanying video delves into the tumultuous political landscape of Queensland during the reign of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, highlighting the power of music and activism in the face of corruption.
Party Dozen wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed the album entirely in their Marrickville studio, drawing inspiration from the area’s history as a notorious crime hub. The album is said to be split into two distinct halves, one showcasing a more accessible sound, the other venturing into their signature chaotic experimentation.
Boulet explains: “Marrickville in the 1960s-70s was a notorious crime hot spot. If a car was stolen, or someone was missing, they’d look for them in Marrickville. Since then, the area has been highly gentrified and slowly the once grimy industrial warehouse lined streets are being swapped for monstrous apartment blocks with palm trees.
We began without any theme in mind, just the beginnings of some song ideas. As we were discovering the songs for this album, each song felt more and more at home in an old cop tv series soundtrack. The Crime theme quickly became apparent. The record feels split into two contrasting sides: The first half is ‘order’, being as listenable as Party Dozen has ever been. Each song is law-abiding and dignified in its own place. The second half is ‘disorder,’ becoming more unlawful, unhinged, louder and noisier.” ByAndy Von Pip
7. Pom Pom Squad: “Downhill”
This week, Brooklyn’s post-grunge project Pom Pom Squad shared their new single “Downhill” on City Slang which is their first release since their 2021 album, Death of a Cheerleader.
Frontwoman Mia Berrin had this to say on writing their new single: “In my everyday life, I’m pretty reserved and shy so it’s odd, even to me, that I feel this pull to be on stage—to put my music out and open myself up to everything that comes with that. When I was writing ‘Downhill’ I was thinking a lot about the push-pull between those opposing sides of my personality. Sometimes being ambitious feels like being self-destructive and I wanted to explore the line between the two. Also, it’s been nearly three years since I’ve released anything new so this song feels like my reintroduction to the world. Pom Pom Squad is soooo back, baby!” ByMarina Malin
She also announced some tour dates. Below a Massive Dark Land is due out September 27 via Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. Check out the the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates, here.
Below a Massive Dark Land is Bock’s second album, the follow-up to 2022’s debut album, Giant Palm. Jack Osborne and Joe Jones produced the album, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton and Bock. It was recorded at The Crypt in north London.
Bock had this to say about “Kaley” in a press release: “‘Kaley’ was written whilst staying at a friend’s house in Tucson, or at least it was finished there. It’s about betrayal and the subsequent lack of direction that follows. At the time there was no ‘plan’ or ‘way’ that I had for myself, let alone anyone else.”
Of the other single, she had this to add: “‘Further Away’ was written in Greece whilst trying to learn mini Bouzouki and missing someone.” By Mark Redfern
9. Chinese American Bear: “Heartbreaker”
This week, Seattle-based C-pop duo Chinese American Bear announced a new album, Wah!!!, and shared a new song from it, “Heartbreaker,” via a music video. Wah!!! Is due out October 18 via Moshi Moshi. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover artwork here.
Chinese American Bear are married couple Bryce Barsten and Anne Tong and they sing in both English and Mandarin. While they started the band mainly for fun, the positive reaction to initial singles “Hao Ma” and “Dumpling” led them to be signed to China’s largest indie label, Modern Sky, and also to the British label Moshi Moshi (Girl Ray, Hot Chip, Anna Meredith). This is their first album for Moshi Moshi.
Tong had this to say about “Heartbreaker” in a press release: “We had this loose idea about someone who dreamed of becoming a big music star and then getting their heart broken by it. The verse lyrics are ‘Come and listen. I want to be a big star. Just you wait and see. Shining brightly and happily.’”
Barsten adds: “We’ve always wanted to write a song like ‘Heartbreaker’—this kind of playful, ’60s style, mid tempo heartbreak song. We like the juxtaposition of singing about heartbreak paired with a more playful/upbeat sounding song. Most heartbreak songs are really sad and slow!
“Production-wise, this song was recorded with the cheapest and dingiest sounding instruments we have. Which we love! A semi-broken $100 acoustic guitar tuned to Nashville tuning for that 12-string sound, and an old 1980s Casio CT-310 I got when I was 10 years old. It’s all truly heartbreaking.” By Mark Redfern
Loma consists of Shearwater singer Jonathan Meiburg, alongside Emily Cross (of Cross Record) and Dan Duszynski.
Allison Beondé directed the “Affinity” video and had this to say about it in a press release: “In creating the video for ‘Affinity,’ I wanted to collect quiet moments that explore the experience of inhabiting a body, existing both collectively and simultaneously alone. Capturing people in public spaces embodying their own experience, their own world, while surrounded by others, the song is carried on a rolling rhythm reminiscent of waves—a soft and mysterious ebbing and flowing of time marked by something so elemental to our existence and uniquely capable of eliciting reflection on what it means to be alive.”
How Will I Live Without a Body follows 2020’s Don’t Shy Away. Previously Loma shared the album’s first single, “How It Starts,” via a music video. It was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its second single, “Pink Sky,” via an animated video. “Pink Sky” was also one of our Songs of the Week.
The pandemic found the band living on different continents, with Duszynski in central Texas, Cross in Dorset, England (she’s a UK citizen), and Meiburg in Germany to research a book. Remote sessions didn’t work and an attempt to reconvene in Texas after the pandemic didn’t garner much fruit when it was cut short due to illness.
“We got lost,” says Meiburg in a press release, “and stayed that way.”
“It’s like a demon enters the room whenever we get together,” laments Cross.
Then, at Cross’ suggestion, they gathered in a tiny stone house in England, a house that used to a coffin-maker’s workshop and where Cross works as an end-of-life doula. They turned it into a makeshift studio, with a vocal booth made from a coffin woven from willow branches.
“There was a sense of, well, this is it,” Meiburg says of the stone house sessions. “And when the ice storm swept in I thought: here we go again, even the elements are against us. But sitting in our heavy coats around a little electric radiator, we realized how much we’d missed each other—and that just being together was precious.”
Legendary artist Laurie Anderson offered Loma an opportunity to work with an AI trained on her full body of work. The AI sent the band two poems in the style of Anderson, in response to a photo Meiburg sent from his book-in-progress about Antarctica. “We used parts of them in a few songs,” he says. “And then Dan noticed that one of its lines, ‘How will I live without a body?’ would be a perfect name for the album, since we nearly lost sight of each other in the recording process.”
Anderson gave her blessing for the band to use the title for their new album. “I think she was tickled that her AI doppelganger is running around naming other people’s records,” says Meiburg.
At the end of the day, the band’s resilience paid off.
“Making this record tested us all,” says Duszynski. “I think that feeling was alchemized through the music.”
“Somehow, out of the chaos, we made something that sounds very relaxed,” Cross says.
“I’ve never run a marathon,” she adds. “But I can imagine it’s kind of what that feels like.”
This week, Boston’s Vundabar released a new single, “I Got Cracked,” which is their debut release on Loma Vista. Accompanied by the new track, Vundabar also announced an upcoming North American tour this fall. Find Vundabar’s tour dates here.
Vundabar consists of Brandon Hagen (guitar, vocals), Drew McDonald (drums), and Zack Abramo (bass). Their new track follows Vundabar’s 2022 Devil for the Fire, released on Gawk, and the resurgence of their 2015 song “Alien Blues” which went viral seven years after its release.
“I Got Cracked” is a sonic surrender to grief and dark nights of the soul. Frontman Hagen had this to say on the new track in a press release: “In a six week window that I could only describe as a careening crash landing, a long term relationship of mine imploded, my dad died, and I broke my arm in a hotel while on tour in Europe. One week after that I was at his funeral and the one after that I was recording this song in Los Angeles. I reeled at the connectedness of it all; so much of these intangible fractures now grounded in the very physical break within my body, this physical break then dictating the floatier bits as I made music determined by the limitations of that injury.” ByMarina Malin
12. Bloc Party: “Flirting Again”
This week, Bloc Party shared a new single, “Flirting Again,” before headlining their biggest show to date, sold-out at London’s Crystal Palace Park on July 7. They are also playing Glastonbury this weekend. Find their live dates here.
“‘Flirting Again’ is about being thrust back into the scene and trying to remember how it all works,” says frontman Kele Okereke in a press release. “It’s about trying to appear desirable, whilst at the same time hiding the hurt that defines you. We are all carrying around the various scars that we have accumulated over the years, the heartbreaks that have come to shape how we give love and receive love. This song is about picking yourself up and carrying on.”
The band (Kele Okereke, Louise Bartle, Russell Lissack, and Justin Harris) has stayed busy since their most recent album release, 2022’sAlpha Games. Bloc Party have wrapped up co-headline tour with interpol in Australia and supported Paramore. Earlier this year, they made 2005 single “Two More Years” and Little Thoughts EP available to stream for the first time. These were the initial steps to ensure their entire discography is available to fans.
You can listen to our 2022 podcast interview with Bloc Party’s Kele Okerekehere. ByMarina Malin
Honorable Mentions:
These songs almost made the Top 12.
Bad Moves: “Hallelujah”
Being Dead: “Firefighters”
Bizhiki: “Unbound”
Kim Gordon: “ECRP”
Alex Izenberg: “The Wraith Behind Our Eyes”
Allegra Krieger: “Never Arriving”
Longplayer: “My Dreams of You”
X: “Big Black X”
Xiu Xiu: “Common Loon”
Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 12 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions:
