No ‘worst’ tracks this week. I’m
not feeling in a hateful mood. Tis the season to be jolly.
THE BEST:
‘Posthumous Forgiveness’ – Tame
Impala
The dead can’t apologise. This
latest single from Australian psych pop/rock act Tame Impala explores the
feelings of resentment when someone dies before being able to say sorry for certain
actions. In Kevin Parker’s case, he’s referencing the death of his dad. It starts
off bitter in tone, but after an instrumental break, the whole track shifts to wishing
his father was still alive in spite of everything that happened so that he
could have seen his success. It’s heart-wrenching stuff and I love the way the psychedelic
instrumentation and Kevin’s vocals morphs halfway to symbolise the change of
feelings. All in all, it’s the third in a winning streak of great single from
Tame Impala's upcoming album.
‘STFU!’ – Rina Sawayama
This new energetic single from British-Japanese
singer Rina Sawayama sees her venting her exasperation and calling out all the culturally-insensitive
jerks she’s come across over the years. It’s a satisfying explosion of built-up
frustration. It features a sassy pop hook and some angry verses backed by nu-metal
guitars – a combination of two very different styles that somehow works. As for
the well-acted video, you’ll want to punch the dude in the face.
‘Foolish To Try’ – Mike Baretz
NYC-based musician Mike Baretz releases
this super-smooth downtempo electro-pop track. It’s got some gorgeous synths
and guitars and I love the heartbroken tone of the vocals. It almost feels like
the type of slow-dance music you’d hear at the end of a 70s prom, but
modernised for 2019.
‘California’ – The Great Yawn
There are far too many songs about
California. I didn’t expect a band called The Great Yawn to do anything exciting
with this tired subject matter, but the result is dreamily captivating (and I’m
not talking about the dude’s pecs in the video). The lyrics are about wanting
to escape to California while also acknowledging that the state can just as
easily break people’s dreams. It’s accompanied by some cool southern-state flavoured
guitars (although the band are actually from South Africa).
‘Stupid’ – Ashnikko ft. Yung Baby Tate
I rarely ever discover music
through Radio 1, but that’s exactly where I first heard this song. The bars
and beats are so irresistibly catchy that I couldn’t care less about the lyrics
– which seem to suggest men are useless.
‘Blinding Lights’ – The Weeknd
This is so much better than ‘Heartless’.
Abel’s vocals are so much more soulful when his lyrics aren’t about being a
douchebag and the synths give it a real 80s vibe. IMMA TELL MY KIDS THIS WAS
PRINCE.