Friday, 13 November 2020

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 13/11/2020: System of A Down, Foo Fighters, Billie Eilish and more…

A LOT has happened in the last two weeks. Biden has won the US election. The UK has gone back into lockdown. A potential Covid vaccine has been announced. And a plethora of new music has been released. I missed last week’s track roundup, so this week’s selection is a little lengthier to make up for it. NINE TRACKS THIS WEEK. You’re getting spoilt.

THE BEST:

‘Genocidal Humanoidz’ - System of a Down

Nutty metal band System of A Down are back with two new singles – their first new material in almost a decade and a half. The singles take aim at the Nagorno-Karabakh war. ‘Protect the Land’ is being promoted as the main single, but I’m personally digging ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’ a lot more. It’s the hectic and intense stuff they’re typically known for, featuring frantic vocals and a surprise blast beat section that’s practically black metal.

‘Shame Shame’ – Foo Fighters

The Foos’ last two albums have been kinda underwhelming (which is a bit of a shame). But this new single gives me high hopes for their next record. It’s refreshingly different – the eccentric drum beat takes centre stage over the guitars and Grohl refrains from delivering his usual belted chorus. At the same time, it’s still got that authentic Foos sense of melody. I wish the lyrics didn’t remind me of the harrowing walk of shame scene from GOT, but nonetheless I’m still digging it.

‘Sheesh’ – Benee ft. Grimes

Eccentric New Zealand singer Benee has just dropped a new album Hey U X. ‘Snail’ remains my favourite single from the album, but this track ‘Sheesh’ is a close contender. I’m not entirely keen on the auto-tune, but it’s undeniably catchy, the beat is mental and Grimes’ vocal feature is enchantingly ethereal as always.

‘Fresh Paint’ – Andria Piperni

A few weeks ago, I featured Andria Piperni’s heavenly ‘Above the Clouds’ on this blog. The Montreal singer is now back with an equally pretty jazz-tinged new single ‘Fresh Paint’. The pillowy vocals sound fantastic and I love the stomping soulful beat that comes in at the one minute mark (it kinda reminds me of Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’).

‘World Leader’ – Katie Rush

Biden may have won the election, but I think we can all enjoy one last anti-Trump song while he's still in office. Released just before the election, this new track from alt pop singer Katie Rush assesses the sorry state of world leadership while looking hopefully to the future. It features an epic chorus and a pulsing electropop beat produced by Sam Mehran. The track follows spacey single ‘Natural Mystics’ and is set to appear on her upcoming album.  

‘Upside Down’ – Teethe

Teethe is the brand new project from Boone Patrello of Dallas band Crisman. It’s a woozy indie rock track (self-described as Boone as ‘southern slowcore’) that glides dreamily along before dissipating into dissonance. It comes off the band’s new self-titled album, released today.  

‘Not Your Fight’ – Stay Lunar

Earlier this year, I featured Stay Lunar’s stellar single ‘DreamingThat I’m Not In Love’. This new single ‘Not Your Fight’ shares the same distinctly unique sound made up of dreamy vocals, sparkly synths and a racing drum beat. The lyrics are about struggling to help someone with an addiction. The serious subject matter feels like it should be at odds with the upbeat energy of the track and yet it strangely works.

THE WORST:

‘Therefore I Am’ - Billie Eilish

I enjoyed Billie’s debut album a lot, but this new track is bland. It tries to achieve the sass of ‘Bad Guy’, but does so with the sluggish energy of one her depressing songs. The video is also frustrating - she carried that pretzel for half the video and didn't even take a bite out of it. 

‘I Admit It’ – ZHU ft. 24kGoldn

This is a pitiful attempt at a banger. ZHU takes bullet point rapping to new levels of monotony and I was expecting the drop to be more than a single stretched-out bass note.