Here comes the Tracks of the Week, blowing through you like a hurricane. You’ve got to be here now for these choice slices of the magic pie of pop. It’s gonna be okaaaaaay!
BATTS – All That I Need
BATTS is Melbourne producer and songwriter Tanya Batt, her gorgeous new single plunges you into a swirling world of wonder, all is full of love: as synths spiral and her breathy tone invests every note “All that I need / right here, right now,” she exclaims on the chorus and it’s a rush. With shades of Jane Weaver, Goldfrapp and Charlotte Gainsbourg but sounding like she’s building her own world, this is magisterial.
She says “All That I Need” is about a beautiful trip; whether it be with psychedelics, love or a crazy life experience. It’s about being with someone you love, and that being all that you need in that moment in time.”
Where her AMP-nominated debut album The Grand Tour (2019) was a concept album about NASA’s Voyager mission, forthcoming new record The Nightline sees Tanya cover more earthly issues such as grief, chronic illness, love and mental illness. It’s heavily influenced by the 70’s and 90’s with BATTS citing the main intention was to make a record her late father-in-law would have loved.
The Nightline will be out 14th Nov on Mistletone. It follows her collaboration with Sharon Van Etten earlier this year, “Blue“. (Bill Cummings)
Working Men’s Club – Cut
Working Men’s Club have released their new single ‘Cut’ taken from their second album Fear Fear. At almost 7 minutes it’s a light blast of electronica perfect for summer vibes but still with that edge we expect from Working Men’s Club. The keyboards dominate here and the rhythm soon worms its way into your brain. The electric guitar moves into centre stage as the track progresses. It breaks free of the rhythm towards the end, as if unshackled.
The band led by Sydney Minsky-Sargeant appear more comfortable in their own skin on the second album and ‘Cut’ is an example of that. This is light and breezy, and that’s not a criticism. Lyrically too it appears that there is a realisation that life is for living, and to make the most of it. Its such an upbeat, positive track which bounces along beautifully and before you know it the seven minutes are up and you think “How?”
“All the time it’s just running around my soul,
You gotta give it, gotta take it, gotta break it, gotta make it” (Julia Mason)
Witch Fever – I Saw You Dancing
Manchester’s Witch Fever release new single ‘I Saw You Dancing’, from their debut album Congregation set for release on 21 October.
Opening with a slow ominous bass, the track has a foreboding atmosphere throughout. The haunting vocals of Amy Walpole are dripping with emotion, frustration and intensity. The themes of the track are based on Amy’s experiences in the charismatic church she grew up in, and feeling watched by men as a teenage girl. Music provides a huge pressure release and the heavy music is the perfect. The soundscape is full of tension and that bass throughout never lets it slip.
Amy expands further on the track: “This is a song on the album that we’re really excited about as really it’s the first time we’ve written and allowed a song to have space and time to breathe! We’ve been so used to writing quick thrashy tunes it was fun to experiment and write slower ones for the album. We really love the drone of the guitar, the rattle of the bass and the reverb on the snare drum, as well as the vocals being a little more relaxed and expressive”.
For the video Witch Fever worked with director Sam O’Leary to create a horror style mini-movie, using a handheld camera to play with the theme of voyeurism explored in the lyrics. (Julia Mason)
Humour – Alive and Well
Humour live together in Glasgow and formed across the 2021 lockdowns, writing and recording their material at home, with the music intended as a backdrop to front man Andreas Christodoulidis’ lyrics. They signed with So Young Records whose roster includes Vlure, Been Stellar and Lime Garden and now release their second single ‘Alive and Well’.
It begins as an erratic off-kilter track with a nod to hardcore, yet a bass which gives it a framework and holds it all together. There is a wild feral element to the vocals at the beginning. A midtrack gasp for breath, literally, then launches into an electrifying second half which slowly quietens down as if calming towards the end before its immediate sharp finish.
Andreas had the following to say about how the song came together: “’Alive and Well’ came together quite suddenly after a prolonged period of trying to make it work. Jack and Ross had written the bones of the song, and showed it to me with the music in a more or less complete form. They sent me a voice note in which they were muttering along to the music, saying things like ‘I was so confused, I couldn’t understand it. Everyone’s pissed off at me’, and I could hear laughing, and didn’t think they were that serious about those being the lyrics”.
“Jack then suggested that I scream the lyrics as loudly as I could, which sounded right for the song when I did. I wanted the vocal to sound like somebody drunk and feeling sorry for themselves. I then wrote the lyrics to the chorus, which are loosely about getting away from a place and a feeling, but sensing that you won’t ever manage to.” (Julia Mason)
False Heads – Haunted Houses
False Heads are a London-based three piece rock/punk band, consisting of Luke Griffiths (vocals/guitar), Jake Elliott (bass) and Barney Nash (drums/vocals). They have released their new single ‘Haunted Houses’. Featuring Frank Turner, this is a thunderous track. Pounding drums and thrashing guitars you just cannot sit still while listening to it. The verse may be a little calmer but those choruses are full of scratchy reverb and simply gets faster and faster as the track progresses. Taken from their new album Sick Moon which is set for release on 30 September, it’s a blast which played live will no doubt result in a sweaty messy moshpit.
Luke uses the rage and anger felt at the political system and pours it into the music and lyrics. Hence the fury that is produced. On previous single ‘Thick Skin’ he said “’ It’s about how much I fucking hate the current political discourse. To me, politics seems to be completely and utterly middle-class from left to right — class has been seemingly removed from a lot of left-wing politics. It’s also about social media politics. That kind of rage and vitriol is some form of lashing out for mental health problems and it’s like a form of addictive behaviour. I understand this, dealing with depression and having a history of drug abuse, and I understand how difficult it is to not let that rage inside you come out in vicious ways. But I just feel like social media has allowed a million different forms of religion, nationalism and tribalism to be completely normalised. Our brains are rotting and there is no hope, and every time I feel like there is I’m stung again.” (Julia Mason)
DEADLETTER – Binge
There is a fascination around learning the creation of music, and none more so than when songs come together very quickly or even through an initial ‘mistake’. DEADLETTER wrote their new single ‘Binge’ in less than 25 minutes, which is astonishing considering its mix of complexity, its subject matter, its hooks and its dance friendly quirkiness. It follows on from previous singles ‘Hero’, ‘Pop Culture Connoisseur’, and ‘Fit For Work’.
Born in Yorkshire, now South London based, DEADLETTER are on the Nice Swan Records label and produce music that is post-punk, pointed in its commentary, and yet perfect for the moshpit. ‘Binge’ is no exception, and it’s no surprise it quickly found itself part of their live set. Playing on the “Life’s a bitch (and then you die)” idiom, it’s a hypnotic track led by the earnest vocals of lead singer Zac Lawrence.
On the track Zac shares the following: “’Binge’ was written in no more than 25 minutes during rehearsals for a tour in January. Using our usual formula of “drumbeat, bassline, lyrics, seasoning” it was quickly realised that we had to include it in our coming live shows and record it without further ado. Sometimes the energy of a track’s just there, you don’t have to think about it for a year”.
“Hearing the word Binge, we may initially be drawn to a very specific image or thought of a person or a habit, however when we take a closer look at society it can be realised that bingeing is inherent within our behaviour as human beings. Whether it be something as mundane as collecting stamps, or devotion of your existence to a deity, we are all bingers through and through and, ultimately, life is one long binge.” (Julia Mason)
bigfatbig – Shut Up
Sunderland duo slacker-pop newcomers bigfatbig have announced their arrival with debut EP lead single ‘Shut Up!’, via Daemon T.V., Du Blonde’s indie label. What an explosive track this is, direct, to the point, but with a slice of humour. Having a dig at those full of their own self-importance, talking at you as if you know nothing. It made me smile. The first 20 seconds suggest this song will be gentle and unassuming, and then it kicks in and lets loose with crystal clear vocals and full of fizzing energy.
“I’m not even being nasty, it is just reality
The more you talk, The less I listen
You really think you’re something
But you’re just clinging
Onto false hope that the rest of us could use
I wish I could take up space in the same way that you do“.
Speaking ahead of their upcoming release, vocalist Robyn Walker and guitarist Katie Ryall added: “Writing ‘Shut Up!’ was a hugely cathartic process for us both. We both come from very working class backgrounds meaning we have to be extremely resourceful in every asset of band-life. Although that doesn’t make us any less talented or worthy, it does often make it harder for us to succeed in this industry, despite giving everything we have (financially and emotionally). The lyrics are a reflection of that frustration and though they might sound a little harsh or to-the-point at first, for us it’s a matter of ‘if you don’t laugh you’ll cry’ – we just mostly try not to take ourselves too seriously so it’s all tongue-in-cheek”.
bigfatbig will be on an extensive UK tour alongside pop-punk specialists Martha. I know they won’t be boring….. (Julia Mason)
