Max's Weekly Music Roundup
I feel like this needs a better name but *shrug emoji*
It’s Friday. How about that?! Kind of wild that it just keeps being Friday. Week in week out. Well I’m grateful, not for the weekend but for another chance to scream about the hours and hours of incredible music that I’ve been loving all week.
So many notable releases, not nearly enough time, so let’s just cut to the chase.
What I’ve Been Listening To This Week
playlist #2, every song is so good, this really is what i’m listening to most hours of most days.
The New Stuff:
Born Yesterday - Arca & Sia
Imagine the sound/feeling of leaving one single window open when you drive on the highway, now take that and mold it into an expansive, dark, calming(?) pop smash. Things start so sweet, Sia doing what she does best. When Arca joins, it’s such a gorgeous combo and the perfect lyric to start “you can hide your shape tonight”, sinister!!! The chorus erupts from there, relentless fluttering over massive chords creating so much texture. Sia soaring above it all. The second verse lets more vocals rip. The background vocals from Sia demanding the spotlight as the whole thing swirls. The moment has such a shape to it. Like you can hear the 3D of it all?? Great synths emerge as we work up to another chorus. One that brings that four on the floor kick - powerful and steady but still getting blown around by this song. The atmosphere twists and turns to the finish line. A cathartic banger???
Escape Plan - Benjamin Carter
WHEW ok!! If you don’t already know Benjamin Carter, today’s a great day to say hello. He just released his new EP Self_Portrait: Vol. 2, and it rocks. Escape Plan is one of the new songs, and it’s a beauty. Swelling chords, the sound of the world around us. Carter’s voice is unmistakable in tone and in strength. It’s gentle and loving, but you can hear the power. The layering is stunning, really supporting that voice without clouding it. As the filtered breakbeat gets going, that synth heavy on us all, Carter singing right at us. Staring us in the eyes, ready to run from whatever is going on. The production builds, and I’m ready for that escape to feel massive. But the good ol’ switcheroo leads us to a tender moment, incredible vocals over a warm sub bass. These processed mmm’s and aah’s sounding spectacular and holding me close. And now that we’re ready, it’s time. That drum break finally releases cleanly, a synth out soaring, vocal samples discovered and discarded. That ‘escape plan’ finding moments to shine. We mellow out with that synth and catch our breaths, but I’m ready to ride again.
I’ve gotten to watch Benjamin Carter grow and find his voice - moments like this where the production can create so much energy and emotion without covering up his vocals and amazing songwriting, it’s so fun to see. And if you want the proof, I did stumble upon this song’s Soundcloud Demo from a year ago. Stunning in its own right, but today we get the evolution, and what a pleasure that is.
Working for the Knife - Mitski
I CRY AT THE START OF EVERY MOVIE, I GUESS CUZ I WISH I WAS MAKING THINGS TOO, BUT I’M WORKING FOR THE KNIFE.
I can’t put it any better than that. Mitski is back and I am grateful as could be. Every lyric is the perfect Mitski lyric and I guess that’s why she’s so good. The ending of this video has me speechless too. <3 <3 <3
gelato - boylife
That’s right I’m putting an entire dang album on here!!! It needs to happen, sorry! And actually not sorry because now you get to enjoy this whole album too. It’s perfect and beautiful and fun and loving and devastating all at once.
Some of what I love:
Jaw-dropping transitions from song to song. the care!! the precision!!
That lush2 comes before lush
superpretty is an absolute smash. Massive intro, massive song. It’s all messy and dirty and incredible.
cehryl going off on hoon, stick around for the outro, you will cry
goldeyes is one hell of a closer, and of course, transitions perfectly back to hey
It’s just all so good and sweet and tender and I LOVE IT.
Coming Back - James Blake ft. SZA
On paper, this is the best song ever? And in reality, it’s… just that???? These chords bouncing, feeling light yet sure. Blake is at the top of his game imo. Shining in every register and every scene. Cutting the production for the tail between his legs line, masterfully in control. Generously handing the keys to SZA, the song redeveloping around her sound. The end of her verse with the ‘couldn’t let you forget me’s, Blake yearning in the background, it’s so well done. He returns to the driver’s seat, finding his own way over the fuller production. That ‘there’s a mile between my heart and my head’ line is a winner, sending us reeling into bold as hell bridge/outro. With these two it’d be easy to let this float towards a “mainstream” song, whatever that means, but Blake still pushes the limits, offering this gorgeous and weird adventure instead.
The Sway - illuminati hotties
Oh baby what a tune. Tenderpunk icon, IH, delivered one heck of an album last week. It’s full of previously mentioned hits (MMMOOOAAAAYAYA and Pool Hopping) and ripping punk tunes like Joni: LA’s NO. 1 Health Goth. No one does it quite like IH. My favorite cut so far has been The Sway. Full of heart, featuring a spooky synth. Sit back and enjoy the tears. It’s a beautiful song with a chorus for the ages: “You’re leaning in / I’m leaning away / you think that you could love me through the sway?” weeeeeee it’s so sweet <3
The Old Stuff:
oh baby - LCD Soundsystem
No!! I’m not just writing this to publicly brag about getting tickets to see them at Brooklyn Steel later this year, I swear!!! But that was absolutely the reminder I needed to come running back to this dream of a song. Sparkling in the sun, and just makes me feel so good!! It grows and grows and grows, bringing my heart with it the whole way. The kind of song that just makes me want to jump up and down!! Pogo stick vibes!!!!!
Sweet & Spice - Deb Never, Jim-E Stack
Tossed this one on my MMATOD the second I saw these two artists together, but somehow never really gave it the fair shake it deserved. But been listening to it a bunch this week and fell in love. Love the guitar sounding like it’s about to fall apart over clean drums. This twisted vocal warped as all get out over the intro. Things settle and pick up some momentum, getting fuller and fuller by the moment. The train has left the station by the chorus, full steam ahead (are there more train things I can use for this metaphor??). The post chorus adds that fat synth, Jim-E coming through. We restart the pattern, this time through sounding even more stunning. It’s a lovely song through the end, everything I could want from these two teaming up. “Say the word, I'll take the ride, I'm falling fast / But if I die, it's worth the life, my sweet and spice”.
THAT’S IT THAT’S ALL (except for the dozens of songs I had to cut this time around). XOXO see you all on Monday :)
Best,
Max