Friday, 19 August 2022

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 19/08/2022: Universed, PinkPantheress, Meat Wave and more...

The new PinkPantheress and Sam Gellaitry collab is a banger. Other artists featured this week include Universed, Meat Wave, Slo Cheetah, As Loud As A Mouse and Bella Poarch.

THE BEST:

‘MISS YOU’ – Universed

Universed is the exciting project of California singer/producer/musician Christina Lord. ‘MISS YOU’ comes off of her new EP HAZY – it features dreamy reverb-slathered vocals and some really inventive production made up of twinkly keys, fat synth bass and fun percussion (I love that clickety woodblock snare, and the addition of the live drums is a nice touch). It’s definitely made me want to give the whole EP a listen.

‘Picture In My Mind’ – PinkPantheress & Sam Gellaitry

I’ve been following Scottish producer Sam Gellaitry for a decade now and I’m so glad to see my boy finally getting the recognition he deserves. This track sees him teaming up with London pop singer PinkPantheress, who skyrocketed to fame last year after several of her songs went viral on TikTok. The warm uptempo beat is gorgeous, and it really pairs well with PinkPantheress’s alluring silky voice. Sam’s vocals during the chorus sound fantastic too.

‘What Would You Like Me To Do’ – Meat Wave

Surf’s up! It’s time to ride the meat wave. This is the Chicago rock band’s third single this year. It features an addictive driving bassline and constantly transforming guitar riffs that give it a jam session feel. Along with Chat Pile and Turnstile, I feel like these guys are really livening up the US rock scene. The band are dropping an album titled Malign Hex in October.

‘White Knights’ – Slo Cheetah

I am addicted to this chorus - the angelic harmonised delivery of ‘whi-i-i-i-ite kniiiights’ slaps. The chugging riffs aren’t bad either. I’m even enjoying the simple music video, which contains some pretty extreme fish eye lens usage. The northern rock trio are definitely a band to watch.

‘Reptiles’ – As Loud As A Mouse

This is the second single I’ve featured on the blog from Reading rock duo As Loud As A Mouse. It’s another wild indie/punk anthem that yet again has animal-themed lyrics – this time inspired by reptiles at the zoo. Because we’ve all looked at a crocodile and thought: ‘yeah, reminds me of my ex’.  

THE WORST:

‘No Man’s Land’ - Bella Poarch ft. Grimes

These TikTok hits are all starting to sound so formulaic. Add some music box twinkles to make it sound like a nursery rhyme and some sweary viola lyrics about how much you hate men, and voila! Even the Grimes feature doesn’t redeem it (the ‘cunt crusades’ line made me cringe).