EVERY single time that this turbulent yet beautiful planet turns on its axis, it will be commemorated with a fresh deluge of new music that is there to provide colour and levity to our day-to-day lives. Given the sheer amount of it that is unveiled across the globe, it is only natural that some of it is likely to bypass you as you attempt to juggle the more pressing matters alongside your zeal for discovering the latest composition that lifts you above the mundane and into an altered state. With TTV being a bastion of the newest sounds and prospects to thunderously arrive on music’s vast landscape, we’ve tried to alleviate the auditory fear of missing out with the latest edition of New Music Radar.
Friendly Fires- Love Like Waves
After years in what seemed to be verging on an indefinite hiatus, the gloriously tropical sound of Friendly Fires has finally returned to us and it’s underwent a few renovations for the modern sphere. Every bit as immersive and shimmering as you remember but with more overt forays into the world of synth pop than the albums that aided their emergence, ‘Love Like Waves’ sees the group ingratiate themselves into the era of Disclosure and Years & Years without compromising on their euphoric choruses or mental affinity for warmer climes. Catch Friendly Fires at TRNSMT Festival this summer alongside The Killers, CHVRCHES and more on Sunday 8th July.
Gallus- Nice
With each passing week, the localised catalogue of bonafide rock ‘n’ roll stompers that Glasgow has to offer expands and this seven day period has seen a particularly striking offering arrive in the form of Gallus’ debut single ‘Nice’
A rollicking and boisterous ode to the reckless abandon that serves as a calling card of youth, their first fully fledged release sees the band intertwine the dissonance of murky post punk purveyors such as Eagulls and Protomartyr with the whip-smart charm that gave the mid-2000’s indie boom such vitality. Neither a glorification or condemnation of the lifestyle that so many burgeoning creatives find themselves ensnared by, ‘Nice’ is the turbulent sound of a band that is well aware of its pitfalls and could do without the sanctimonous lectures from a society that perpetuates the need for substance-fuelled escapism. Produced by the now omnipresent team of Chris Marshall and Johnny Madden, Gallus’ opening volley is brimming with tenacity and a vehement desire to assert themselves among the persistently growing pack.
Set to support The Dunts at their hotly anticipated Stereo show this evening, their newly announced performance will give any converts wth the chance to see what other decadent delights reside in their catalogue.
Cosmo Sheldrake- Pliocene
A multi-faceted musician that harbours untapered creativity in his every composition, Cosmo Sheldrake’s The Much Much How How And I is sure to be one of the more nuanced and fruitfully beguiling records to emerge over the course of April. Released today, an early standout has emerged in the form of the plaintive ‘Pliocene.’ Built around starkly rendered vocals and a succession of minimalistic yet in no way ambient movements that allow for the formation of a vivid and uncertain world within its just shy of four minute running time, it’s forward-thinking pop for those that wish to engage their brains rather than be placated with the tired tropes of the past.
Saba & Chance The Rapper- Logout
When Chicago natives Saba and Chance The Rapper initially collaborated on the latter’s ‘Angels’ from the luscious Coloring Book, it became all too clear that there was a special alchemy at work that would likely be revisited over the course of their careers. With Saba finally following up his prosperous The Bucket List Project with new LP Care For Me, intrigue around their latest team-up ‘Logout’ was palpable and entirely justified upon its arrival. A cautionary tale that sees the pair trade verses centred around the concept of the pitfalls of a world that is saturated by social media and the significance assigned to its unattainable standards of life & beauty, it’s precisely the sort of track that could usher in the rise of Saba into the stratospheric level of his fiercely independent ally.
Beta Waves- Let It Out
After exploding into our consciousness with the resolutely creative sound of ‘I Think I’m Melting’, Dundee’s Beta Waves have evidently remained focused on expanding their horizons with their transcendent new single ‘Let It Out.’ Unencumbered with any desire to confine their sound into a preordained niche or pigeonhole, the duo’s new offering eschews any template and instead opts for a blank canvas upon which they deliver an enticingly rhythmic track that allows for their tangential mindset to dabble with meandering psychedelia and cerebral synth pop within a single bar of one another. A prospect that is brimming with potential in a land where Django Django and Man Of Moon were given free reign to blossom in a similarly unconstrained manner, their future remains as bright and vivid as the enveloping sonic journeys that they construct.
Kacey Musgraves- Oh, What A World
There’s a common thread in the admirers of Kacey Musgrave’s splendorous new LP Golden Hour in that many of them would normally turn their nose up at the country genre as a rule of thumb. However, this record is as good as a testimony as any for casting aside preconceptions in order to listen with a receptive mind. A collection of tracks that are penned with a candidness and self-awareness that is hard to come by, the hazy profundities and realisations of ‘Oh, What A World’ will expand your mind in the same manner as the plants that she so affectionately refers to in its first verse.
Johnny Marr- The Tracers
Bonafide guitar music royalty by this point, it is heartening to know that Johnny Marr remains stridently unwilling to rest on his laurels. A precursor to his third full length album, his new single ‘The Tracers’ contains more bravado and exuberance than many of the romantically ‘hungry’ artists that would seek to emulate his storied career. Brimming with propulsive percussion, icy synths and riotous guitar interplay that culminates in one of his most incendiary records in years, we could well be in for a treat on new record Call The Comet if this fleeting preview is anything to go by.
Scholesy- ‘Nights’
Hailing from Dundee, the artist lesser known as Callum Rennet may not match the preordained aesthetics that would make him a viable candidate for a hot prospect amid Scotland’s budding hip-hop community but the verificaiton is all there in auditory form. Set to be released ahead of a whirlwind jaunt around Scotland next week, TTV are happy to provide you with the first look at his debut single ‘Nights.’
A hybrid of the once irrepressible cloud rap sound that was made famous by A$AP Rocky and Clams Casino alongside the trap-infused swagger of burgeoning superstars such as Lil Uzi Vert and Rich The Kid, Scholesy’s first offering portrays him as a conflicted soul that’s trying to reconcile with the many opposing facets of his life. An introspective look at both hope and despair in equal measure, ‘Nights’ simultaneously demonstrates his prodigious ear for gripping production but his candid lyricism that holds a mirror up to the listener and implores them to heed its sentiments and take a look at themselves.
Dermot Kennedy- Couldn’t Tell
Exemplary of his rugged and invigorating vocals, Dublin’s Dermot Kennedy has provided another engrossing demonstration of his immeasurable talent on his new mixtape with Mike Dean. Comprised of both new material and previously aired offerings, any doubts about his depth and conceivabl longevity are easily dispelled upon gripping ballads such as ‘Couldn’t Tell’ and ‘An Evening I Will Not Forget/Furthest Thing.’ Catch Dermot Kennedy at TRNSMT Festival this summer on the King Tut’s Powered by Utilita Stage in Glasgow.
A$AP Rocky- A$AP Forever
With detractors and naysayers expressing concerns about his commitment to hip-hop as he continued to become embroiled with the trappings of the celebrity lifestyle, A$Ap Rocky has thorougly reasserted himself on the ethereal sound of ‘A$AP Forever.’ Consumed by volatility and a quest for dominance that harks back to the Rocky that brought his Harlem collective to the mainstream, the contrast between his declarative and unrestrained lyricism and the tranqulity of Moby’s ‘Porcelain’ upon which the beat is built makes for a fully-fledged hip-hop milestone in waiting.
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