NO WORST TRACKS THIS WEEK. I’m feeling in a good mood this week, so it’s all bops and no flops. Artists featured this week include Kelela, Alvvays, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Emily Breeze, Scott is Okay and Biig Piig.
‘Washed Away’ – Kelela
These synth chords gave me serious shivers. I was not ready
for them. I expected some percussion to come in, but it doesn’t. Instead, the track
dedicates its running time to showing off r&b vocalist Kelela’s stunning
voice while the haunting synths continue to loop. The visuals are also epic.
‘Very Online Guy’ – Alvvays
Canadian indie band Alvvays deliver this new lo-fi experimental
synthpop track ‘Very Online Guy’ accompanied by a fittingly retro pixelated
video. They’ve really slathered on the reverb this time – so much so that I can
barely make out the lyrics (which is possibly a good thing. As a very online
guy, I don’t want to feel called out). The woozy overlapped vocals around the 1
minute mark are super trippy and had me wondering if I’d accidentally opened
two tabs.
‘Never Seen You Dance’ - Totally Enormous Extinct
Dinosaurs
‘Never Seen You Dance’ will make you want to dance regardless
of who is watching. The groovy bass and rolling pianos are too good to resist. You
never quite know what to expect with a new TEED track, but it’s almost always a
banger.
‘Ordinary Life’ – Emily Breeze
‘Ordinary Life’ is a song about getting older and not achieving
your dreams of stardom, but also accepting that an ordinary life can be just as
rewarding (I’m sure there are many celebrities that yearn for an ordinary life).
At the same time, it’s a song about not giving up on dreams just because you’re
no longer young. There aren’t enough songs about this subject matter - at least
not done this well. As someone who’s just turned 30, it’s comforting and
inspiring. Fingers crossed, this is Emily’s time to shine.
‘2042’ – Scott is Okay
‘2042’ is pretty much the opposite of the track above. It’s
a song about looking to the future and wrestling with the fear of not ‘making
it’. In this case, it seems to be the fear of ending up single, but there are other
fears that could also apply. The slightly glitchy electronica makes it all the
more captivating.
‘Kerosene’ – Biig Piig
Irish singer/rapper Biig Piig certainly knows how to pick a
fun beat. In this case, it’s a simple but infectious serving of funky house. Like
her previous singles, it contains a signature mix of smooth breathy whisper-singing
and choppy pitch-shifted vocal edits.