Essential Listening: This week’s best new music
Welcome back to Essential Listening, a place where we compile all the best new music of the week into the definitive tome of modern music: The Far Out Playlist.
Friends, countrymen, and internet trolls, lend me your ears. It’s been a bit of a down week for now. Case in point: our Album of the Week doesn’t have any new music in it at all. Bruce Springsteen’s Only The Strong Survive is a perfectly fine record filled with classic soul covers, but it doesn’t quite give you that spark that great new music does.
Lucky for us, we’ve had more than a few awesome new singles filter into our world. That’s the way it goes: sometimes it’s a hectic week with four great albums to listen to, and other times you’ve gotta hear The Boss take on The Supremes. Thems the rules.
There hasn’t been a shortage of great singles, however. Still, there are only eight songs that can make this list. Here is all the best new music from the week, compiled into The Far Out Playlist.
Best new music, November 7th – November 14th:
‘Be Careful’ – Madi Diaz, S. G. Goodman, and Joy Oladokun (Patty Griffin cover)
Madi Diaz, S.G. Goodman and Joy Oladokun have shared a cover of Patty Griffin’s ‘Be Careful’ ahead of the US midterm elections. Diaz and Goodman produced the single themselves, having been engineered by Alex Hope. The proceeds from the single will be donated to Abortion Within Reach Coalition, a charity that aims for reproductive equality and broader access to abortion.
Diaz claimed that she had been listening to Griffin’s song after the overturning of Roe vs Wade by the US Supreme Court. She had then been inspired to cover the track herself. Diaz also found it difficult to talk about the shocking court decision and found it easier to write about it instead. She is also grateful for the fact that two other highly talented musicians were happy to join her on the cover.
‘Wish I Was You’ – Gina Birch
Legendary post-punk bassist Gina Birch, best known as a co-founder of The Raincoats, has announced plans to release her debut solo full-length LP, I Play My Bass Loud.
As a preview, Birch has shared a brand new single, ‘Wish I Was You’. As the album title promises, Brich’s bass comes thundering through the speakers at maximum volume. Behind her, a wall of fuzzy guitars, pounding drums, and some sugary melodies create an alt-rock call to action, one that Birch hopes keeps the torch burning for her fellow women in the industry.
‘Heavy’ – Black Honey
British indie rockers Black Honey have returned to announce their third studio album, A Fistful of Peaches. Coming just two years after their previous LP Written & Directed, A Fistful of Peaches promises to show a more “honest and vulnerable” side of the band, according to singer Izzy Phillips.
A dense blast of power chords, spacey synths, and even some orchestral touches, ‘Heavy’ is about as massive and world-conquering as Black Honey has ever been. It’s not quite majestic to fully take off, but ‘Heavy’ condenses some of the band’s best qualities into a snappy three-and-a-half-minute burst.
‘A Sky Like I’ve Never Seen’ – Fleet Foxes (ft. Tim Bernardes)
It’s only been two years since Fleet Foxes dropped their most recent studio album, Shore, but fans are still clamouring for new material. If you’re one of those fans who has been patiently waiting, the band have returned with a new addition to the soundtrack for the new Amazon Prime film Wildcat.
Featuring Brazilian musician Tim Bernardes, ‘A Sky Like I’ve Never Seen’ opens up with the most relaxing soundscape I’ve heard in a long time. Gentle water movements compliment Pecknold’s signature acoustic guitar and vocal interplay. I’m not fully certain what Bernardes contributed (probably the stately keyboard lines, maybe some additional guitar, and certainly some vocals), but it all blends perfectly into Pecknold’s unmistakable sound.
‘Strawberry’ – Daisy and the Deadheads
Daisy and the Deadheads have released their debut single, ‘Strawberry’. Fronted by the Hackney Wick-based artist Daisy Tortuga, also of London’s psych-rock outfit Platypus Complex, ‘Strawberry’ marks Tortuga’s first foray into a promising solo career and is out on Strong Island Recordings today.
Noting the influences of early Angel Olsen, Vashti Bunyan and Kurt Vile, ‘Strawberry’ evokes the lo-fi dreamscapes of summer days gone by. Shimmering vocals rest comfortably atop a half-arpeggiated, half-rung-out chord progression across two delightful minutes of sleep-inducing bliss.
‘I Know Nothing’ – slowthai
British rapper Slowthai has recently confirmed that LP number 3 is done and almost ready to roll out. To celebrate, the artist born Tyron Kaymone Frampton has dropped his first new music of 2022 with the brand new track ‘I Know Nothing’.
Slowthai can talk all he wants about positivity and lifting people up and all that. And you know what? You can certainly find strains of that in the twitchy and moody track. But it’s also a song that fits so perfectly into a commercial that it’s hard to think of being made for anything else. I don’t blame Slowthai for getting his bag, especially if it’s being funded by Dr Dre, but ‘I Know Nothing’ is just good, not great.
‘Dream House’ – JW Francis
Dream pop upstart JW Francis has returned with a new single. Featuring a potent layer of bedroom pop wooziness hanging over the track like a fog, ‘Dream House’ nevertheless blends Francis’ signature upbeat optimism with a solid layer of sadness to keep things balanced. While Francis specializes in loopy positivity, sometimes that endless happiness can curdle. But as is the case with his best songs, Francis mines some real human emotion out of the haze of indie pop he’s constructed around him.
It’s reminiscent of Francis’ previous single, ‘I Wanna Be Your Basketball’. The title sentiment might sound ridiculous, but the message at the centre of the song doesn’t actually have anything to do with basketballs. When he’s on point, Francis can drop something surprisingly profound on you while you’re busy watching him play the fool. It’s a sneak attack, one that gets me time and again when I listen to his music.
‘Shit Talkin’ – Alex Lahey
Last week, Australian pop rocker Alex Lahey returned with a brand new single, ‘Congratulations’. Today, we’re getting a brand new taste of new music thanks to the fresh single ‘Shit Talkin’.
Full of gleeful profanity and a buzzy carefree attitude, ‘Shit Talkin’ also happens to have a killer hook right at the centre of its chorus. What could be better than that, you might ask? How about a sick guitar solo? Weirdly, I can’t remember the last time I heard a new song with a guitar solo. They’re always welcome in my book, so I think ‘Shit Talkin’ rules.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.