The new Tekashi 6ix9ine music video is the fastest YouTube video
to reach 100 million views – but is it any good? Meanwhile, I look at some of the other fantastic tracks of the week...
THE BEST:
‘A Hero’s Death’ – Fontaines D.C.
Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. are dropping a new album this summer and this is our first exciting glimpse of it. Slow-building
descending guitars, vocal oohs and motivational lyrics result in a menacing pep
talk. The lyric ‘life ain’t always empty’ feels particularly relevant -
even if this pandemic has us all trapped indoors, there are ways to still make
the most of this time (I’ve made the most of it by finally getting through the
mountain of music submissions in my inbox!). You can watch the accompanying trippy
video containing Little Finger as a chat show host above.
‘Tried To Tell Me Something’ – Wesley Gonzalez
This legitimately sounds like a forgotten 80s hit. I can
hear elements of David Bowie, Simon Le Bon and Tony Hadley in the crooning vocals.
The synths and sax meanwhile give off Wham and A-ha vibes. I thought I was sick
of eighties pop nostalgia, but this track is so feelgood and so well produced
that I’m left wanting more. Fortunately, we have an album to look forward to in
June titled Appalling Human. If this track and his last single ‘Change’ are
anything to go by, it’s certain to be an electrifying listen.
‘Ellanor’ – Weston Smith
Spacey synths and woozy vocals make up this creative lo-fi track
from Weston Smith. The layers of psychedelic effects and eerie lyrics give it a
slightly creepy edge, along with the creepy artwork (I was half-expecting this
to be a medieval-flavoured black metal track). Fans of this intriguing track
can stream Weston Smith’s new kaleidoscopic album Mirror World here.
‘Who Is The Dreamer?’ – Fried Dough
Toronto band Fried Dough deliver this suspenseful electronic
instrumental from their upcoming album Mad Liquid Space. Layers of
howling synths build upon one another into a satisfying climax, before settling
back into a long hypnotising drone. It reminds me of some of Gesaffelstein’s recent
work, and I could easily picture it as the score to a post-apocalyptic movie.
‘Forever’ – Carly Shea
The production on this pop single from NYC artist Carly Shea
is very fun. It starts with some spry pulsing bass and then launches into some
gorgeous synth swells (accompanied by some splashes of 808 cowbell). As for the
vocals, the souful ooh-oohooh-oohooh hook is absolutely entrancing. It comes
with a dreamy video shot in Amsterdam.
MEH:
‘GOOBA’ – Tekashi 6IX9INE
Given that this video
has broken Youtube records, I thought I ought to comment on it in my weekly
round-up, even if it’s not the best or worst song I’ve heard this week (there were no notably awful tracks this week). The fresh-out-of-jail
Soundcloud rap figurehead is delivering some serious energy in this comeback
single. It’s some of his most shoutiest rapping to date, his flow is pretty tight and there's not a trace of auto-tune. Unfortunately, the beat is
utterly bland (aside from the rapid fire kicks at the beginning, which are
pretty cool). Worse still, he’s clearly not socially isolating (unless those
twerking rainbow chicks live with him, which is plausible given that this dude
probably has the money to make anything happen).