I single out the singles that made the biggest impression on
me. This week Boots gets brilliantly bizarre, Deafheaven get darker and ditch
the daintiness and Carly Rae Jepsen cuts the cuteness settling sadly for cookie
cut crap.
THE BEST:
'Aquaria' - Boots ft. Angel Deradoorian
To a backdrop of jittery dark electronic sounds American
producer/singer delivers this creepy yet alluring new song. Squelching bass and
industrial clicks weave in and out of one another whilst Boots shifts from
semi-rapping to groovy singing. I picture a handsome psychopath seducing his
prey whilst listening to this. Cali rock singer Angel Deradoorian offers some brief
female guest vocals.
'Brought
to the Water' - Deafheaven
I find it very hard to feel happy when someone’s screaming
at me. Deafheaven’s cheery approach to black metal on their last album Sunbather didn’t click very well with
me for that reason – I need a bit of anger and gloom to accompany my shrieks
and blast beats, otherwise it’s as confusing as watching Freddie Krueger in a
rom com. This new track thankfully seems to be less happy and more in keeping
with the evil metal spirit I’m used to. Eerie church bells kick off the track
followed by a series of melancholy riffs. Admittedly, the mood turns happy
half-way through the track, but contrasted against the gloomy opening it gives
the band’s happier sound a new dimension.
'Juniper' - Amanda X
Philly all-female rock trio serve up this ode to unrequited
love. Sour guitar melodies and an old worn production style reminiscent of The
Cranberries adds to the tortured vibe of the song. Its an aesthetic that has me
hyped for their upcoming EP, Hundreds and
Thousands.
Listen to the track here over at Stereogum.
THE WORST:
'Watch Me' - Silento
Stop deliberately using slang that nobody understands! What
the hell is a nae nae and why would I want to break my legs? I can’t dance to
these instructions if I don’t understand any of them, and yes, I’m too ignorant
to want to understand them.
'Your Type' - Carly Rae Jepsen
‘Call me Maybe’ and
‘I Really like you’ were both cute, but now the sugariness is starting wear off
and Carly Rae Jepsen is starting to sound like a stale second-rate Taylor Swift.
'Flodgin' - King Louie
His squeaky vocal inflections remind me of how my voice
sounded when I was going through puberty, and I’d rather forget about that awkward
phase in my life, as would we all.