This may well be the last weekly track
roundup of the decade! Stay tuned for many end-of-year and end-of-decade lists…
THE BEST:
‘Cash Machine’ – Oliver Tree
Living meme Oliver Tree delivers
this new fun track centred around frivolous spending. The guitars make it sound
a bit like a Wavves song, but with an EDM-esque drop thrown in. It’s accompanied
by a video of the singer flaunting his excessive wealth with limousines, jet
skis and aquatic jet packs, before being blown up by sea mines (every Oliver
Tree video ends with him dying). It’s like GTA on a lake…
‘Ready To Go’ – Baauer and Channel Tres ft.
Danny Brown
Speaking of GTA, there’s a new
update The Diamond Heist in which rapper Danny Brown has his own radio
station. This new single appears on the in-game radio station and sees Danny collaborating
with producer Baauer and producer/artist Channel Tres. It’s backed by a boisterous
subwoofer-bursting house beat over which Danny spits some wild bars.
‘I Don’t Care’ – The Assist
Walsall band The Assist are back
with another euphoric indie dance rock anthem. Every line in this song is
ridiculously catchy and the groovy guitars are so effortlessly feelgood. It’s interesting how their songs are always so
musically upbeat and yet lyrically seem to centre around feelings of being
trapped (in this case, trapped in a relationship).
‘With You’ – Thirdcurl ft. Casper
Iskov
This moody synthpop track from Danish
producer and multi-instrumentalist Third-Curl has a satisfying build-up that explodes
with some dark synths. In contrast to the song above, its lyrics feel upbeat
and at odds with it’s dark production.
‘W’ – Koffee ft. Gunna
For a long time, I’ve struggled to
get into reggae because I can’t understand the lyrics. Other than the Gunna
verse, this new crossover hit from rising Jamaican star Koffee is still largely
gibberish to me, but I’m in love with the bubbly beat and her hypnotic voice. It’s
just about broke into the UK Top 100 – could Koffee be about to make it big
over here?
THE WORST:
‘Family’ – The Chainsmokers & Kygo
It’s nice to hear musicians
singing about the importance of family around Christmas time, but this song has
all the warmth of a refrigerator (*insert joke about Boris Johnson here*). The
Chainsmokers consistently deliver disappointing drops and forgettable pop hooks.
They’re style of EDM is so watered-down that it has all flavour of saliva.