Ok, I’ll admit it. It was me. I am the mother of Dave Grohl’s baby. This week’s selection was handpicked by 2 week old baby Dave Grohl Jr. Artists featured include FKA Twigs, Clipping, Mastodon & Lamb of God, Floating Points, Thank, Hello Mary, Good Group Thanks For Coming and Tate McCrae.
THE BEST:
‘Eusexua’
– FKA Twigs
I had to
check, and no – ‘Eusexua’ is not in the Oxford Dictionary. It’s a made-up word, which Twigs defines as: ‘a
sense of oneness, whether experienced through music, intimate connection, or
moments of pure creative flow’. The song is a welcome return to Twigs’ weirder side, opening as an aggressive banger with lots of harsh-glitch out
moments, and then transitioning into a more melodic slow-building section delivered
in her typically fragile breathy tone (with some random ghost wails thrown in
to keep things bizarre). It’s accompanied by a fittingly surreal dance choreography
that starts in a mundane office, but seems to end up on another planet.
‘Run It’ –
Clipping
Experimental
hip hop act Clipping are back with one of their most accessible songs to date.
Aside from the abrasive dial-up-internet-style synth during the chorus, the
beat isn’t too noisy and has an infectious rhythm to it. Daveed Diggs meanwhile
narrates the gritty story of a drug dealer and addict, delivering it at his
usual breakneck speed with typical impressive clarity. I love their noisy
stuff, but this direction is fun too.
‘Floods of
Triton’ – Mastodon & Lamb of God
Iconic metal
bands Mastodon and Lamb of God show no signs of taming their sound. The two
bands have collaborated to deliver this stormy new single ‘Floods of Triton’, which
sees Randy Blythe and Troy Sanders exchanging hostile vocals over choppy riffs.
I get the sense that the guitar solo was written by Mastodon, whereas the
breakdown is very Lamb of God.
‘Fast
Forward’ – Floating Points
Off his brand
new album Cascade, British producer Floating Points delivers this mesmerising
electronic instrumental built around speedy arpeggiated synths that start off
soft and sparkly before becoming hard and bassy. The effect is like riding a
futuristic car along a fast paced city highway (the transition at 4:36 made me
feel like I was entering a sci-fi tunnel).
‘Writing
Out A List Of All The Names Of God’ – Thank
As always, I’ve
been scrambling to keep up with all the submissions in my inbox, and this one’s
title definitely stood out. It’s a wacky noise rock song from Leeds band Thank with
some mean riffs, entertaining rambled vocals and a very loopy breakdown at 1:30.
Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe meanwhile does list some of the different names of God,
including Yahweh and Mambo no.69420666, the latter of which I can’t seem to
find in the Bible, but I’ll take their word for it.
‘Three’ –
Hello Mary
‘Three’ tells
the tale of a young girl named Emita and her pet ox, set to a backdrop of woozy guitars. It
comes to a tumultuous climax with fuzzy guitars and pianos and it’s accompanied
by a charming music video. The single comes off Hello Mary’s new album Emita
Ox.
‘It’s A
Game’ – Good Group Thanks For Coming
THE WORST:
‘It’s OK I’m
Ok’ – Tate McCrae
I really hate this style of singing. It’s like breathy mumbling. I’ve heard similar vocals referred to as ‘cursive singing’ but I’ve never heard it taken to this extreme.