Friday 4 February 2022

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 04/02/2022: Arlo Parks, Meshuggah, Benny the Butcher and more...

This week I take a look at the new singles from Arlo Parks, Meshuggah, Benny the Butcher (& J Cole), Bambara, Peach Luffe... oh, and Kid Rock too.

 THE BEST:

‘Softly’ – Arlo Parks

Arlo Parks dropped her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams last year (which I still haven’t got around to listening to) and she’s already following it up with new material. This new single from the UK singer features a nostalgic piano-driven instrumental and an infectious chorus. I’m loving the surreal visuals too.

‘The Abysmal Eye’ – Meshuggah

Swedish metal band Meshuggah have been putting out unrelentingly heavy tracks for over 30 years now and they show no signs of calming down any time soon. ‘The Abysmal Eye’ features a chaotic riff made up of machine gun ‘brrrrrs’ and string bending ‘woos’ (yes, they’re the technical terms). As with many Meshuggah tracks, it’s polyrhythmic but surprisingly headbangable thanks to those steady 4/4 cymbals. The drumming is typically insane (especially when those rolling snares come in) and it’s got me pretty excited to hear their upcoming album Immutable.

‘Johnny P’s Caddy’ - Benny the Butcher & J Cole

I’ve been meaning to check out Benny the Butcher for yonks. The J Cole guest feature finally pushed me to give him a listen. All in all, I’m loving what I’m hearing. Benny sounds hungry and he’s sporting lots of clever rhymes. Cole meanwhile never disappoints with his wordplay: ‘Eureka, Einstein on the brink of the theory of relativity/ Really, no MC equal, feel me’.

‘Birds’ – Bambara

New York rock band Bambara deliver some compellingly gritty imagery in this new track ‘Birds’. There are Boeings trailing flames and skidding Firebirds. They even make falling asleep sound violent: ‘we crashed on the train’. Paired with semi-snarled crooning vocal tone and moody guitars, the track keeps you on the edge of your seat. They’re definitely a band to watch. Love On My Mind, their new LP, is dropping later this month.

‘Beyond’ – Peach Luffe

Toronto quartet Peach Luffe continue to meld sunny synths and groovy guitars with wistful lyrics (in the case, fuelled by the end of a long term relationship and a battle to gain permanent residency in Canada). The descending ‘beyooo-oo-oo-oond’ in the chorus is stuck in my head and I love the feelgood music video with its sunsets and fish. The track comes off the band’s latest EP Beyond.

THE WORST:

‘We The People’ – Kid Rock

I don’t even know where to start. This might even be worse than ‘Don’t Tell Me How To Live’. I got a good laugh out of it though.