No ‘worst’ tracks section this week. The last 7 days has been an endless barrage of bops. The new Charli XCX track didn’t even get a look in, despite being pretty good. Even Twenty One Pilots are on their A game. Other artists featured this week include Justice, St Vincent, Machinedrum, Walter the Producer and Sadistik.
‘Overcompensate’
– Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One
Pilots are one of the most frustrating musical duos around. After rising to
fame with a series of wishy-washy pop reggae tunes, they then surprised
listeners with a bunch of exciting genre-bending bangers on 2018’s Trench
– and then went back to dropping bland pop three years later on Scaled and
Icy. ‘Overcompensate’ seems to thankfully be a return to their experimental
side. The lyrics are full of obscure references and foreign vocabulary, and I feel
I don’t know enough TOP lore to decipher them. But even I can’t make head of
tail of most of what he’s singing/rapping, I’m absolutely loving the musical journey
that this song takes you on with it’s breakbeat opening, sudden tempo change,
catchy soaring chorus and passionate rap verse. Bring on Clancy.
‘Incognito’
– Justice
There’s a lot
of fun stuff going on in this new Justice track. It hits you straight away with
some soulful chords and epic drum fills, and then abruptly dives into a cold
steely electro beat. Funky old-skool samples keep trying to break through, but
the electro synths keep cutting straight back in like a terminator shooting up
a disco. Hyperdrama, the new Justice album, is dropping next month.
‘Broken
Man’ – St Vincent
Every St
Vincent album is a stylistic reinvention. If ‘Broken Man’ is anything to go by,
the singer/guitarist’s seventh album is likely to be an industrial rock record.
The song opens with sparse mechanical percussion and ends with some heavy
RATM-style guitar, while Annie’s vocals get more manic. I’m definitely
intrigued.
‘Zoom’ –
Machinedrum ft. Tinashe
Electronic
producer Machinedrum has teamed up with r&b vocalist Tinashe to serve up
this tasty drum and bass tune, ‘Zoom’. The chords are absolutely heavenly and
Tinashe’s sensual vocals make it sound all the better. It’s set to appear on a new record titled 3FOR82.
The guest credits on the Bandcamp tracklist, which include Duckwrth and Mick
Jenkins, already have me excited as to what’s to come.
‘Pamplemousse’
– Walter The Producer
No, it’s not
an FKA Twigs cover. ‘Pamplemousse’ is a psychedelic indie track from
Massachusetts artist Walter The Producer (it turns out his real name isn’t Walter
but Reid, however you’ll be satisfied to know that he does produce his own
music). The hazy guitars and vocal harmonies have a nostalgic quality that
remind me of Empire of the Sun or Foster The People. TikTok, blow this man up.
‘Pigs
Blood’ – Sadistik ft. Father
This is one
grimy beat, which is exactly what I was hoping for with a track called ‘Pigs Blood’.
The beat is the work of ‘pirate hip hop’ producer Maulskull. Alternative rappers
Sadistik and Father take turns to drop verses over the top. I’m digging the
Carrie-inspired wordplay: ‘open carry towards a cop/pig's blood on your prom
dress’.