It’s Monday, it’s sunny, Spring has sprung. Listen to some cool new tunes. It’s Tracks of the Week!!
Body Type – Buoyancy
Body Type shared their new single and video ‘Bouyancy’ last week, the latest cut from the Australian acts debut album Everything Is Dangerous But Nothing’s Surprising, out May 20th on Poison City Records (Camp Cope, Cable Ties). ‘Bouyancy‘ scampers in on scorched riffing, twitchy unstoppable percussion and a tangle of melodic vocals and shout alongs, firing off somewhere between the abrasiveness of the Breeders and the artful harmonies of Throwing Muses. ‘If I flow down a sink I wouldn’t want to sink‘ they sing hands clasped together as they circle the drain but with dexterous, visceral delivery and addictive spontaneity. Just about keeping your heads above water and clinging onto a bond with friends when everything is crashing down around you.
Written in the midst of a heatwave, Georgia reveals “Buoyancy started as a playful text message exchange between Annabel and me. In many ways, the song is about grappling with internal inconsistencies and moral ambiguities in an incoherent style. It’s had a few iterations – when I brought it to the group it had more of a slow Big Star spirit. Soph and Annabel made it more angular, more tongue in cheek with the guitar, which further injects the song with distorted meaning. It’s also a personal reminder that when certain things are rendered uncertain those you love are an eternal rudder.” (Bill Cummings)
Breakup Haircut – Out of my Way (I’m not getting on the Nightbus)
Why We Love It: because it could be on a brilliant reboot of American Pie if it was set in London and the protagonists were all women but were punk instead of high school jocks. It is a ferocious slice of pop-punk with humongous drums and lyrics that point out the downside of parties, not least unwanted attention. Principally, they don’t want to be at the party anymore and they need to leave before they have to get the nightbus, but they add a laundry list of things they hate about the party, including needing to puke, playing ‘Never Have I Ever’, how the words in ‘Come on Eileen’ are a bit gross and how someone thinks Morrissey’s Autobiography was funny.
What they say: “I bill this as a song about hating parties, but I don’t actually hate parties. I just hate that I have to deal with the dichotomy of FOMO or being out past midnight and having to spend four hours or £60 (or both) getting home. I have held the belief for a while now that the best amount of people is four or less, so this song is in the spirit of that.”
They’ve signed for the ace Reckless, Yes Records for their debut LP Punk Dancing for Self Defense that is out on Limited CD and Digital on 15th July. (Jim Auton)
elkyn – if you’re still leaving
Why we love it: elkyn is a firm favourite of God Is In The TV. The moniker for Leeds’ rising star Joey Donnelly’s indie-folk musical project, elkyn has produced some consistently great songs over the past couple of years and now we can bring you yet another, ‘if you’re still leaving’, the lead single from his debut album holy spirit social club which was released last Friday on Curation Records.
Speaking about ‘if you’re still leaving’, Joey Donnelly says: “I wrote it for a friend who moved to Switzerland a few years ago, and I still miss him dearly.”
Delivered with elkyn’s characteristic emotional honesty, the song drips with sadness and yearning but once again showcases his ability to craft rich meaning out of such melancholy. (Simon Godley)
Hollie Cook – Full Moon Baby
Why we love it: The British singer Hollie Cook had been a member of the final line-up of the all-female punk pioneers The Slits before embarking upon a solo career that has already produced three excellent albums. A fourth is on its way with her forthcoming new album Happy Hour, due to be released on 24th June via Merge Records.
To celebrate the news about Happy Hour Hollie Cook has just released ‘Full Moon Baby’, the first single to be taken from the album. She says “The song is inspired by new life and, of course, the moon. Two of my closest friends had recently had babies, and I was filled with so much hope and love. Moons and babies both have such a soft, gentle nature to them and fill me with wonder. Also, babies look like tiny moons.”
‘Full Moon Baby’ sees Hollie Cook cement her position as the queen of modern-day lovers rock, a gentler British reggae sub-genre that often focused on romance. Floating over a beautiful, breezy arrangement, Cook’s voice reflects all of the optimism and joy that comes with such new beginnings in life. (Simon Godley)
Tora-i – PBFF
Why we love it: Tora-i (formally known as Tora) released the video for her new single ‘PBFF’ this week. This poignant smoky cut of nu-soul with lithe soulful refrains that spiral like smoke in the air with enveloping atmospheres, it explores the impact of a difficult relationship and the choices you can make in the aftermath. Born from pain, its about learning and perspective. She explains:
“PBFF is about acknowledging the lasting effect that people can have on you & rather than it being a permanent stamp it’s about choosing what to take from them as you move forward. In this video, we wanted to express how emotions that are often thought of as limited to internal shifts can show up physically too” (Bill Cummings)
Blood – Money Worries
Why We Love It: because it smacks you in the face straight away, which is exactly what you want on a Monday morning. Coming on like a Philadelphia Folly Group, all angular guitars and discordant drums. Yet there is suddenly a psychedelic breakdown, all dreamy and woozy.
What They Say: “it finds the Philly sextet slingshotted over an open letter to their landlord. What starts as a clear threat to an obvious albeit deserving villain, soon caves into an acoustic respite, in which the nightmare of financial ruin becomes lullaby”.
It’s a sucker punch of Wilko Johnson axe-wielding, jagged post-punk with a twist.
‘Money Worries’ comes from their new EP, Bye Bye out on Permanent Creeps later this year on a 10″ vinyl and Digital.
November Ultra – Bedroom Walls
Why we love it: Singer-songwriter November Ultra is billed as “France’s latest bedroom pop sensation.” Her new single ‘Bedroom Walls’ is the stunning title track from her forthcoming new album. An intensely intimate and delectable lament that pairs spinetingling jazz flecked vocals that sound so much like they are being sung right down your ear that you can feel her breath on your neck, with the brittle sway of an acoustic waltz. Lovelorn, isolated yet circling your heart. It’s simply sublime.
Her debut album Bedroom Walls, coming on April 8th via Republic Records. (Bill Cummings)
