MEGAN THEE STALLION – ‘HISS’
Even as one of rap's biggest and boldest personalities, Houston superstar, Megan Thee Stallion, dug deep for the bars to hit back at the haters with her swaggering new single. Directly addressing her rivals, a...
"The LA traffic, my lullaby", sings Swimming Bell's Katie Schottland on album standout, 'Take It Easy', taken from her second LP 'Charlie'. Schottland relocated to California from Brooklyn during the pandemic and 'Charlie' is an amalgamation of tracks recorded...
Gossip – ‘Real Power’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVQjzru4Id8
Dance punk meets at the intersection of Beth Ditto’s riot grrrl lyrics which were inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests, and dynamic electronic beats and a disco bass line. “I want real power / Give...
Ariana Grande – ‘yes, and?’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSUa2qW4tc&pp=ygUVYXJpYW5hIGdyYW5kZSB5ZXMgYW5k
Life is fickle. Sometimes, you’re everybody’s favourite pop star on the planet, and sometimes, you’re pop’s public enemy number one (or, at the very least, in the top 10). It’s a flip that Ariana Grande’s...
Sprints - 'Heavy'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1R7hcVwlQE&t=1s
“Do you ever feel like the room is heavy?” Aiming to capture the itchy, unrelenting vibe of a sudden panic attack, ‘Heavy’ by Sprints is surprisingly cathartic, the mark of a band who know how to find...
Stefflon Don – 'Deadly'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4PPcvh_F-M
The brand new sultry Afro-R&B love song weaves Stefflon Don's dynamic patois-infused flow with Victony’s unmistakable vocal to create an insatiable love story, which paints another picture of her forthcoming debut album. The track is rooted...
Abby Roberts – ‘Volatile’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I9ltfnu0Nc
Abby Roberts might explain the backstory behind ‘Volatile’ as “about getting this pent-up anger and frustration that was caused by the reckless behaviour an ex-friend off of my chest”, but the track doesn’t go for the...
‘ORAL’ – BJÖRK, ROSALÍA
This dreamlike collaboration between two of music’s most visceral performers makes a big statement. The song dates back 25 years and was originally inspired by a dancehall beat, coming to light again in 2023 with the...
Gossip – ‘Crazy Again’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E1S596MZjQ
After over a decade, indie-rock trio Gossip have reunited. The song is about being in love and feeling a sense of security. The instrumentation echoes the rollercoaster of feelings that you experience when you’re falling...
Dolly Parton has always been a rock star – even if she hasn’t necessarily felt worthy of that title. We’re not talking the throwing-TVs-out-of-hotel-windows caricature that’s often associated with the moniker, but in the way that she’s an adulation-inspiring, larger-than-life...