Angel Olsen – ‘Big Time’
Angel Olsen has always had a tinge of country to her voice and her music and, on the title track from her upcoming album ‘Big Time’, she goes all-in on that sound. “And I’m living, I’m loving, I’ve loved long before / And I’m loving you big time, I’m loving you more,” she croons over an instrumental made for slow dancing in cowboy boots in a spit-and-sawdust bar. It’s a style that suits her well as she continues to explore new facets of her timeless songwriting.
MUNA – ‘Kind Of Girl’
We might be used to sparkling pop bops from MUNA but on ‘Kind Of Girl’, the latest single from their self-titled album, the trio replace the glitter and gleam with something rootsier and earthier. An ode to the possibility of change and the hope that comes with believing you can treat yourself better, be more open to love and that there’s always room to grow. “I’m not some kind of minor trope / Who’s never gonna change / That’s so derivative,” Katie Gavin sings at one point – amen to that.
Beabadoobee – ‘See You Soon’
“It’s meant to make you feel like you’re tripping on shrooms,” Beabadoobee has explained about ‘See You Soon’, the second taste of her new album ‘Beatopia’. Lush and lightly hazy, it offers a warm and cosy kind of high that doesn’t skimp on the wide-eyed, mind-altering feeling. Written during a period when Bea says she was “making a lot of mistakes”, the track is a gentle and generous concession that to err is to be human and a necessary part of life.
Mxmtoon – ‘Victim Of Nostalgia’
“It’s the panic of growing up / It’s the fear of falling down / And if life ain’t what you want / It don’t come back around,” mxmtoon sighs on the deceptively upbeat ‘Victim Of Nostalgia’. The bright, lightly anthemic single is a nod to society’s bad habit of wishing time away, only to be suddenly in the next chapter of your life and longing you could go back to simpler, more youthful times. As the acclaimed bedroom-pop artist asks on the track: “Will it ever be enough / If I’m a victim of nostalgia?”
Read our interview with Mxmtoon
Lil Cherry – ‘꿈 (feat. Jack Wai)’
‘꿈’, one of the highlights of Korean hip-hop sibling duo Lil Cherry and Goldbudda’s collaborative new album ‘Space Talk’, is a cacophony of sound. Its production is so thick and multifaceted when it first kicks in, it takes a second to release Lil Cherry’s vocals have already begun. This is no bad thing – instead it gives the track the feeling of an intergalactic treasure hunt, its layers revealing a new gem the more you lean in. Listen close and let Cherry’s addictive mantra of “We rock’n’roll, let’s go / We rockin’ ice and gold” burrow its way into your subconscious.
Listen to these and more new tracks on our BRAND NEW playlist
