New tracks of the week include Pritt, Lava La Rue, Nia Wyn, Boys Noize, Pussy Riot and Alice Glass. Honourable mentions for songs I couldn’t review are Hemlocke Spring’s “sever the blight” and Bring Me The Horizon’s “LosT”.
Notably, the past week has seen more remixes and recreations of old tracks than proper releases. Remixes include Sigala, Jessie Ware and Mae Muller… and there’s a mini-album of stripped back versions of Tove Lo’s ‘Dirt Femme’ tracks.
There’s a new album in town as well. Titled ‘never worry’, it’s by DJ duo Snakehips.
And finally, in this week’s news, Nadya Tolokonnikova of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot delivered a TED Talk to a huge round of applause. The speech, made public on April 26, sees Tolokonnikova heavily criticising Vladimir Putin. The singer recounts her youth spent in Russian prison for protesting against Putin’s oppressive regime through punk music. Famously, in 2012, Nadya performed “Punk Prayer” with her band at a Moscow cathedral; the song begged the Virgin Mary to strike Putin down. This resulted in her and many of the band members’ high profile arrests.
Although Nadya, 33, is free now and lives in the United States, she was recently listed in the Russian Interior Ministry’s database of criminal targets. Nadya continues to play music, make and sell merch, and hold art shows to raise money for NGOs such as Planned Parenthood. Her closing line at the TED2023 speech addressed Putin directly: “When you are in your final hour, praying, know this: that whoever you pray to is on our side. And whoever that is … she will not forgive your crimes against humanity.”
- Alan Walker & Sasha Alex Sloan – Hero
Norwegian producer Alan Walker has teamed up with singer Sasha Alex Sloan, an artist from Boston, U.S., for “Hero”. This electronic track has dance-pop elements which are powered to life by Sloan’s mesmerizingly beautiful voice. What this results in is a moving, almost cinematic experience.
Alan Walker commented on the press release, “This track is about celebrating the very dear people we see as heroes. Recognizing the work they’ve put in to make this world brighter and more resilient. I hope ‘Hero’ inspires our listeners to embrace their inner hero, live openly and love deeply.”
- Nia Wyn – The Grind (feat. Pritt)
Welsh singer Nia Wyn teams up with British-Tamil vocalist Pritt (of “Unnakul Naane” fame) to make an easygoing, jazzy track. The song, “The Grind”, also mixes R&B, funk and neo-soul sounds to make a luxurious, expansive song about relationships, life and everything in between. Wyn has a unique voice, like Duffie, that makes me want to get more familiar with her work. And the talented Pritt’s Carnatic/South Indian-style belting is seamlessly infused in this track to make it naturally enjoyable.
- Isabelle Mettle – Dreamz
Isabelle Mettle is a London-born, now Liverpool-based vocalist. The 20-year old is known to hop from genre to genre (be it R&B, jazz, dance-pop or indie pop), sometimes all in one song, and does it effortlessly.
Mettle’s new double-sided single is “Dreamz”/”What You Did”, although I’d like to focus on single #1 only. “Dreamz” mixes electro-dance pop and groovy bass to make a seductive, light-headed tune. This party-friendly track will get you in the mood for love. I advise you to listen to her entire discography as they’re only 7 songs in total (they’re clean-cut and high in production quality). And although she is young, her highly refined voice and controlled singing give Mettle an appearance of being far more experienced and professional; she is definitely an artist to be taken seriously, and one whose name will be on everybody’s lips very soon. I can’t wait to hear more from this alt-pop songstress.
- Henners – Weakest in the Room
Henry Sinclair, AKA Henners, doesn’t take himself seriously. And this is apparent in his rebellious punk-pop music with exploding guitars and bellowing singing. Messiness and lyrically vulnerability (with themes like “I’m such a loser”) give Henners’ song “Weakest in the Room”, a feeling of being a coming-of-age themed song. The colourful and upbeat tune gives the song a Nickelodeon vibe, as if the song was a lost and recovered piece of media from a scrapped 2005 TV show. But we’re not complaining. It’s funny and a total riot.
- Lava La Rue – Renegade
British artist Lava La Rue brings back her swagger and stylistic bravado with the new single, “Renegade”. The almost “psychedelic”, swirly and explosive tune has distorted guitars. Its lounge pop quality makes the song feel rich, spacey and horny. The harmony and instrumentation may call to mind Arctic Monkeys’ hit song “R U Mine”. La Rue has commented that through this song, they are heading to an exciting, new direction in music.
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- Boys Noize – Chastity (feat. Pussy Riot and Alice Glass)
German producer Boys Noize has been known to make aggressive, and punk-y, electronic music thanks to his often grating samples, ominous synths and dark beats. With his new single, “Chastity”, he brings on board singers Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot and Alice Glass (formerly of Crystal Castles). The synthpop dance track has a thumping bass and hyperpop sounds that will win the artists’ fans over. Lyrically, the track explores the BDSM subculture such as female domination and male submission, more specifically through the kink of male chastity and orgasm control. For Pussy Riot, it is another example of the “hypersexualized feminism” brand that they’ve been known for. But the music is undoubtedly catchy and almost trance-inducing. It certainly grew on me.
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