Friday 13 December 2019

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 13/12/2019: Oliver Tree, Baauer, The Chainsmokers and more...



This may well be the last weekly track roundup of the decade! Stay tuned for many end-of-year and end-of-decade lists…

THE BEST:

‘Cash Machine’ – Oliver Tree


Living meme Oliver Tree delivers this new fun track centred around frivolous spending. The guitars make it sound a bit like a Wavves song, but with an EDM-esque drop thrown in. It’s accompanied by a video of the singer flaunting his excessive wealth with limousines, jet skis and aquatic jet packs, before being blown up by sea mines (every Oliver Tree video ends with him dying). It’s like GTA on a lake…

 ‘Ready To Go’ – Baauer and Channel Tres ft. Danny Brown


Speaking of GTA, there’s a new update The Diamond Heist in which rapper Danny Brown has his own radio station. This new single appears on the in-game radio station and sees Danny collaborating with producer Baauer and producer/artist Channel Tres. It’s backed by a boisterous subwoofer-bursting house beat over which Danny spits some wild bars.

‘I Don’t Care’ – The Assist


Walsall band The Assist are back with another euphoric indie dance rock anthem. Every line in this song is ridiculously catchy and the groovy guitars are so effortlessly feelgood. It’s interesting how their songs are always so musically upbeat and yet lyrically seem to centre around feelings of being trapped (in this case, trapped in a relationship).

‘With You’ – Thirdcurl ft. Casper Iskov



This moody synthpop track from Danish producer and multi-instrumentalist Third-Curl has a satisfying build-up that explodes with some dark synths. In contrast to the song above, its lyrics feel upbeat and at odds with it’s dark production.

 ‘W’ – Koffee ft. Gunna


For a long time, I’ve struggled to get into reggae because I can’t understand the lyrics. Other than the Gunna verse, this new crossover hit from rising Jamaican star Koffee is still largely gibberish to me, but I’m in love with the bubbly beat and her hypnotic voice. It’s just about broke into the UK Top 100 – could Koffee be about to make it big over here?

THE WORST:

‘Family’ – The Chainsmokers & Kygo


It’s nice to hear musicians singing about the importance of family around Christmas time, but this song has all the warmth of a refrigerator (*insert joke about Boris Johnson here*). The Chainsmokers consistently deliver disappointing drops and forgettable pop hooks. They’re style of EDM is so watered-down that it has all flavour of saliva.