Max's Weekly Music Roundup
My ears are tired, my heart is full.
Remember last week when I gave my dumb little spiel about how every week I say there’s so much good music but this week it’s really true. Well folks, it’s the dang spiderman pointing at spiderman meme because holy shit was there so much good music released this week!!! Wow wow wow. I had a DAY on Wednesday, every time I opened Instagram another one of my favorite artists was posting about their new song. It felt overwhelming and also so exciting. And now, I have stewed on each of the following songs and they are ready to be shared, enjoyed, loved, repeated 1000 times before I come back next week to say this same stuff about a new batch of tunes.
What’s New This Week:
wahoo! that’s right it’s my other playlist!! my little baby, I love this one so much, it’s really good and I’m genuinely always listening to it myself. I cannot stop adding to this one, please enjoy today tomorrow and always!!
New additions to MMATOD:
Lean Into Life - Petey
Petey Petey Petey. My god this song. To be frank, that’s my initial thought any time Petey drops a song, but I really do mean it!! Does it strikes a nerve as a twenty something LA transplant from the midwest? Ya, sure. But also it’s just so good and so thoughtful and so well made. The beat feels perfectly Petey and simultaneously nostalgic. Channeling that ‘00s pop-punk teenage angst in the writing and delivery but here it lands as earnest and vulnerable. The gentle vocals alongside the guitar riff between verses, subtle and haunting. The siren starts to wail and the drums pick it up for the next verse. It builds and builds as Petey loses patience and starts really letting it rip. Coming down swiftly, ‘hyperventilating in a building full of people’. It keeps you dancing and introspective. COME ON BUDDY YOU GOTTA LEAN INTO LIFE A BIT knocking me out my dang socks and has me smiling ear to ear. Petey wins again.
A Dream With a Baseball Player - Faye Webster
The album has arrived. Observant readers know Faye Webster has quickly become one of my favorite artists this year. And this song is just another tally in her column (this is theoretical I don’t have a big white board where I keep track of my favorite artist. I DON’T!!! Stop saying I do!!!). A gorgeous band holding steady with that very high, high note up above, bending in the wind. Webster balancing that out, staying so grounded and straightforward. As always the songwriting is absolutely nuts. There’s something about her style that just feels so right to me. Honest, real, gentle but no holding any punches. Leaving the perfect amount of uncertainty with that refrain “How did I fall in love with someone / I don’t know”. Is she asking how she fell in love or how it’s with someone she doesn’t know? The lyrics suggest the latter but maybe I’m wrong or maybe it’s both or neither even. I love this one regardless. And the dang horn section!!! Get real!!! That is the most generous and perfect addition to this one. Can’t wait to play this album endlessly.
Lonely Weekend - NNAMDÏ
NNAMDÏ!!! Holy moly what a cover. Already one of my favorite Kacey Musgraves songs (all of them are my favorite if I’m honest), I was thrilled to see this one drop. In typical NNAMDÏ style it’s a wild ride with incredible musicianship and a boatload of creativity. Full on western intro, banjo going wild, big and bright and warm. Quickly pulling back and falling into a darker groove. NNAMDÏ’s vocal layers are incredible through the chorus. Leaving the chorus and the adventurousness begins. Riffs and chords galore, each feeling like the perfect and only way this song could be. The second chorus really does feel lonely - down in the dumps lonely. The bass steals the show for a minute, but the whole band wants to get in on the action too. Devastatingly beautiful bridge. No flaws on this one!!! Only good parts!!! <3
Running Towards A Place - The Killers
I don’t know what’s gotten into me but this song is wedged deep into my brain right now. It came on my running playlist (when did I put it there, I do not remember ever hearing this song before) and had to run it back like four times in a row. Feels like the ultimate driving through the desert song. If I could’ve thrown this on the aux during Mad Max Fury Road maybe things would’ve been less violent. It feels like an anthem and is still so intimate, idk just a Good Song. Catch me running around LA just yelling “Can two become one!?” But it also feels like a joke? Running Towards a Place??? The most generic. Could be an absolute flop of a corny tune, but instead, they pull it off. Another instance of The Killers being incredible song writers, the kind of song that makes it seem so easy. Like, why aren’t we all making timeless rock and roll music like this?
Messy Love - Nao
There is no voice like Nao’s voice. And the first thirty seconds of this one is as good a reminder as anything else. So steady, so sure, yet so quick to go flying for mesmerizing run after mesmerizing run. And tone full of so much emotion. The verses leave plenty of room for these honest heart-on-your-sleeve moments. We pack on layers of harmonies for the chorus, with sweet and subtle strings flowing around the sides. It’s really something special. Just a tune to lean into and bask in for a while. I really don’t have much to say, I’m just enjoying it.
Reminisce - HIRA
From the Jai Paul family tree, HIRA just keeps delivering!!! Funky, groovy, mysterious, what more could you ask for. Throwing between Prince and Phil Collins, but all layered over a sick rhythm, with delightful and weird production. That snare hitting with some whiplash all over the track. HIRA’s vocals are wonderful throughout, the perfect compliment to the production. And the waves of ooo’s over the bridge feel so dreamy. Stick around for the last thirty seconds because my oh my it’s going to go ahead and be sick as hell whether you like it or not. The kind of song that surprises you at every turn but the kind of surprise where you’re like “oh duh, that’s exactly what should have happened here”.
Nine songs that just dropped that I already know will be good but I haven’t listened to enough to actually write about. Give ‘em a try! I think you’ll like them.
Ok once again cutting myself off here I could keep adding songs forever. All these and more hanging out on the playlist. But if you need more songs, just say hey and I’ll send as many as you need.
Maple Glider with a haunting and swirling number, the harmonies on the chorus are so beautiful. Squirrel Flower rocking on as always, feels like a dimly-lit dive bar. New King Isis EP!!! What a voice. Aunty Social singing from inside your head over some incredibly interesting production. Wesley Joseph x Jorja Smith obviously going to jump at any JS but Wesley is a real treat here too. Smooth and real. Doja Cat’s album is here too, excited to listen more but this beat caught me immediately. The Maria’s album is also here too and this one is cool as hell. Let’s make it three in a row because Hiatus Kaiyote’s album is also also here too. Breathtaking vocals and percussion on this one. I’m a dang fool for any Unknown Mortal Orchestra release, and this one makes it worth your while from the first second. All that and so much more holy cow.
Have a great weekend I hope you love every single song here or something like that.
Hugs,
Max