This last fortnight has been full of musical surprises including a new Kanye track (the first since his antisemetic Twitter tirade) and a new Andre 3000 album consisting entirely of flute instrumentals. There have been a bunch of singles that I've loved this week - including some big names and some lesser known names. Artists featured this week include Dizzee Rascal, Danny Brown, Darryl Kissick, Humm and Dog Door.
THE
BEST:
‘How
Did I Get So Calm’ – Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee
Rascal’s raps used to be so angry. Now he’s dropping songs about staying calm
and settling down – and somehow, they’re still bangers. It helps that his flow
is still tight as a drum and that he’s still delivering filthy basslines. Props
to whoever produced this, because it's mental.
‘Jenn’s
Terrific Vacation’ – Danny Brown
‘Jenn’s
Terrific Vacation’ is themed around gentrification (I love how the title reads
like a gentrified version of the word ‘gentrification’). It’s set to a
deliberately disorientating beat with some intense drumming and uncomfortable
whispered ‘what you gonna do’s. The subject matter feels pretty serious
for Danny Brown, but it’s still got an unhinged energy that keeps it fun. Hopefully,
I’ll get round to reviewing his new album Quaranta before the year is
up (I've got a lot of music to catch up on!).
‘Not
Myself’ – Darryl Kissick
Here’s
one from my email submissions. It’s the work of Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Darryl
Kissick and comes off a new supernatural-themed album titled Goodbye Patterns,
which contains songs about werewolves, aliens, time loops and alternate
dimensions. I’ve got a hunch based off of the lyrics and the video that this
song is werewolf-themed. It features some unsettling piano chords and an oddly
soothing vocal delivery that gives the whole track a sense of uneasiness.
‘Danced
Alone (Who I am when I’m in love) – Humm
This
beautiful breakup single comes from Bath-based folk duo Humm. The melancholy
guitars hooked me straight away. They’re paired with some enchanting vocals, which have a Joni Mitchell vibe to them with a slight hint of Kate Bush.
‘Cover Up Contest’ – Dog Door
‘Cover Up Contest’ is the debut single from Dog Door, a transatlantic duo made up of Oakland-based
Oliver Girdler and London-based Jamie Cameron. It’s a psychedelic slacker rock song
with nostalgic guitars and keys, and soothing lo-fi weary vocals that - to quote
the song - keep ‘cracking up/ not too
much, but enough’. The trippy climax of the song is also pretty fun.
THE
WORST:
‘Vultures’
– Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign ft. Bump J & Lil Durk
‘How
I’m anti-Semitic? I just fucked a Jewish bitch’. Oh, we’re pulling that
card, are we? There are too many questionable lines in this song for me (was the Columbine pun necessary?). The
beat gets quite pretty towards the end though.