AS the collective malaise begins to shift and everyone prepares to hurl themselves into the furore of the year ahead, the uncontainable creativity that resides within the hearts and minds of the world’s artists has sprang back into action and we’re once again awash with exhilarating new music to enjoy.
Featuring the latest excerpts from promising homegrown talent to engrossing projects that were conjured up hundreds of miles away, here’s our picks for the essential new tracks of the week.
Walt Disco-Dream Girl #2
As their confidence and reputation continues to expand, Walt Disco have augmented the many reasons why there’s a palpable buzz around them with new single ‘Dream Girl #2.’ Inspired by the melancholic and sickly sweet pop of the 50’s yet aligned with a distinct feeling of unhinged fragility that provides the composition with an engrossing atmosphere, their latest offering sees James Potter turn up his vocal affectations to theatrical levels and the result makes for a wonderfully macabre piece of pop that recalls Nick Cave at his most vaudevillian.
Let’s Eat Grandma- Hot Pink
As if their debut album didn’t already attest to their penchant for extravagantly nuanced and forward-thinking pop enough, the duo known as Let’s Eat Grandma have now teamed up with PC Music figurehead SOPHIE for the fascinating ‘Hot Pink.’ A masterclass in melding the abrasive and exuberant with remarkable results, their first track since last year’s I, Gemini’s fusion of both dark and light astutely mirrors its lyrical concerns of embracing the intertwined relationship between masculinity and femininity.
Fiskur- You Know Me So Well
The brainchild of Glasgow’s Ross Clark, Fiskur has proven himself to be among the nation’s most joyously unpredictable artists in recent memory. After earning a spot on our ones to watch for 2018, Clark has supplemented the physical release of FISKUR VOL 1 on cassette with the plaintively beautiful ‘You Know Me So Well.’ Built around dark, brooding electronica that fills the middle ground between The Haxan Cloak, Forest Swords and Mogwai, this latest single continues the interpersonal excavation of ‘I Become Silver’ and ‘Too Slow Too Far’ whilst demonstrating the disdain for notions of any confines of genre or scene that have been a hallmark of his output thus far.
Dommengang- Lovely Place
Hailing from LA, the blistering sophomore album from Dommengang has transported us from the dreariness of wintery Scotland and into a space-age reimagining of California that demands repeated visits. Among the many standouts on their latest full-length, the all-consuming desert rock stomp of ‘Lovely Place’ encapsulates why this band; having refined their sound in order to sharpen some of its more dull edges, could very well be the next forward-thinking rock ‘n’ roll band to make their way overground and into the mainstream consciousness.
Fenne Lily
After confirming plans for her debut album, Bristol newcomer Fenne Lily has shared its devastatingly beautiful title track ‘On Hold’.
With a voice that is soft and alluring in equal measure, the young singer-songwriter delivers her evocative lyrics over a Mac DeMarco-like jangle and melancholic guitar lines. Behind the delicate folk-tinged melodies though lies a fire in her belly; “a sadness fuelled by fury” she says which comes after a painful break-up.
Demonstrating her genre fluidity, it’s a beautiful insight into the upcoming album which is due to arrive on 6th April. The singer arrives in Glasgow as part of a small UK tour to play Stereo on 13th April.
James Blake- If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead
Among the most magnetic and mesmeric singer/songwriters of the modern era, James Blake has delved back into his Burial-inspired roots with new single ‘If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead. Disorienting and bewildering in the best way possible, Blake’s latest work is an austere tapestry of lowkey beats and impenetrable layered vocals that is nothing short of trailblazing in intent. Set to support Kendrick Lamar at his hotly anticipated The SSE Hydro show next week, anyone that’s unfamiliar with this borderline otherworldly artist should promptly acquiant themselves and make it on time for his slot.
