This week, Pharrell Williams sings over dark synths and Andy
Lambert sounds like Sam Smith.
THE BEST:
‘Blast Off’ – Gesaffelstein
ft. Pharrell Williams
I wasn’t keen on Gesaffelstein’s recent collaboration with The Weeknd, but this new track with Pharrell has me hooked. The frosty eighties synths work surprisingly
well with Pharrell’s falsettos (I’ve never heard the 'Happy' singer over such dark instrumentation). The production may be a detour from the French producer’s industrial
techno roots, but it’s still authentically gloomy and cinematic. I’ve added it to my
playlist of ‘Songs To Listen To Whilst
Driving At Night With Shades On’.
‘One Punch Man’ – Higher Brothers ft. Denzel Curry
This song is by no means perfect – Ski Mask the Slump God recycles
his verse from another song and the Higher Brothers should probably stick to
rapping in Chinese. Nonetheless, the menacing oriental beat and Denzel’s hi-octane
verse compensate for this, resulting in a mean banger. I’ve added it to my playlist of ‘Songs To Listen To Whilst Cutting Vegetables
For A Stir Fry Using A Katana’.
‘Green’ – Good Days
Having already featured ‘Yellow’ on this blog, it’s now time to hear ‘Green’ – the latest single from NY band Good Days from their exciting project ROYGBIV, which sees the band going through the colour spectrum whilst writing and recording songs under different coloured lighting in order to see the effect on the sound. ‘Green’ has a lush and lively feel as the result of its energetic percussion and layered guitars. I’ve added it to my playlist of ‘Songs To Listen To Whilst Jumping Around My Lawn Dressed Like Kermit The Frog As The Neighbours Watch In Deep Concern’.
‘Pesticide’ – The Gallery
This is the type of loud and gritty mosh-friendly indie rock
that’s been missing recently. The sinister opening riff had me immediately
hooked and I’m loving the explosion from the tense verse to the yelled chorus. I’m
looking forward to hearing more raucous anthems from these Yorkshire lads in
the future and have added this song to my playlist of ‘Songs To Exterminate Pests To If I Was An Exterminator, But I’m Not, Because
I Love All Of God’s Creatures’.
‘Downer Hound’ –
Noisem
Baltimore metal band Noisem are certainly noisy. Everything
has been mixed to sound as loud as possible here from the Slayer-like riffage
to the angry drums whilst still sounding crisp. The band have a new album
coming out called to Cease To Exist – if the tracks are all this loud, I
may need a hearing aid afterwards. This track unfortunately isn’t on
Spotify, but if it was I’d add it to my playlist of ‘Songs To Unblock My Ears’.
THE WORST:
Feel Something - Adam
Lambert
Adam Lambert may have the vocal talent to match Freddie
Mercury, but he certainly doesn’t have the imagination. This solo single sounds
like something Sam Smith would churn out and I struggle to feel any kind of
emotion whilst listening to it. I’ve added it to my playlist of ‘Songs To Listen To When I’ve Ran Out Of
Sleeping Pills’.