There’s a dystopian theme to several of the tracks this week. Artists featured include James Blake, Squid, Clipping, Saint Joshua, Ecce Shnak and Mark Zuckerberg & T-pain…
THE BEST:
‘Like The
End’ – James Blake
James Blake songs are typically haunting. But this takes haunting to the next level. While many songs about the end of the world envisage it at a future threat, ‘Like The End’ suggests that we might already be living through it. ‘As I separate my cardboard/ set my tax aside to fund another war/ my spirit wakes up asking/ if we’re spending what we can’t afford’. That’s three threats to humanity – climate change, war and economic collapse – alluded to in the first four lines. Released just after the US election result, I get the sense the threat of political collapse might be on Blake’s mind too. Meanwhile, the scarily-realistic use of AI in the music video points towards another another threat. Clearly humanity is facing quite a few threats. Can we overcome them all? Given we’ve made little progress to overcome any of them, is an apocalypse inevitable? Are we already marching towards it with not hope of turning back? Some cheery food for thought.
‘Crispy
Skin’ – Squid
Speaking of
food for thought, this new Squid track is themed around cannibalism. It’s another
song with an apocalyptic theme – the lyrics are based off of the novel Tender Is The Flesh, which is set in a dystopia where eating human flesh has
become the norm. Like many Squid songs, it’s deliciously chaotic. There are multiple
layers of squirming instrumentation and the time signature appears to be in
12/4. And yet the driving drum beat holds it all together. It’s over 6 minutes,
but has left me hungry for more.
‘Keep
Pushing’ – clipping.
The upcoming
album from experimental hip hop group Clipping will reportedly be
cyberpunk-themed. This is the second single we’ve heard from the album, and
it’s a blast. The beat features a gurgling techno riff that’s joined by
beautiful strings at the end. Daveed Diggs meanwhile pens some witty penis bars:
‘Ain’t gotta sell the soft, give the work an erection/and gotta get it off
or end up in correction/get it to every jerk in the section’.
‘Nasty/
(En) Amor’ – Saint Joshua
‘Nasty/ (En)
Amor’ appears to be two tracks in one. It begins as a slinky sex anthem with a
seductive chorus and some heavenly synth chords that have a Duckworth vibe. Then
we get a beat change and we’re teased with a brief Frank-Ocean-flavoured love
song than ends abruptly with emergency sirens. It comes off the UK R&B
singer’s new album Self-(En)titled – which, based off of this playful song,
is a record I need to hear!
‘Jeremy,
Utilitarian Sadboy’ – Ecce Shnak
‘Chamber
punk’ is this instalment’s Weird Genre Of The Week (I’m tempted to make this an
actual segment on my blog). Never did I think I would hear classical choirs mixed
with shouty vocals and mathy hardcore riffs. And somehow it all gels. The
lyrics explore the life of Jeremy Bentham – the founder of utilitarianism, who
I am just learning was taxidermized when he died, and who’s poorly-preserved severed head was stolen by students and allegedly used as a football as a prank (and you thought today’s
YouTubers took pranks too far!). It’s a thrillingly wild song with a fittingly
wild video (the slo-mo skateboard jump fail got a good chuckle out of me). The
NYC band will be dropping an EP titled Shadows Grow Fangs early next
year.
THE WORST:
‘Get Low’ –
Mark Zuckerberg & T-Pain
Nothing surprises me anymore. Even an autotuned cover of ‘Get Low’ by Mark Zuckerberg and T-Pain. After all, we’ve already an EDM track titled ‘Don’t Doubt Your Vibe’ from Elon Musk. And there was that song about corn that Bill Gates lip-synced. What next? Warren Buffet teaming up with Charli XCX for a new remix? A Hawk-Tuah-themed polka song from Jeff Bezos? I should find it endearing. But I’m tired of it already. I’m tired of them trying to convince us they’re goofy and relatable. No more silly songs from billionaires please.