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.
Some weeks are a bit bare when it comes to new music. Take last week, for instance: other than Iggy Pop’s magnificent LP Every Loser and a few stray singles we could cobble together, the first real week back in 2023 was a bit spare.
That’s not the case this week: we’ve had a whole bevvy of new singles, new albums, and special drops that have come out in the last seven days. Topping that list was Belle and Sebastian’s surprise new release, Late Developers. Solid LPs from the likes of Margo Price, Billy Nomates, and Circa Waves all made this week one to remember.
We had an unusually dense week for new single releases as well. Plenty of great songs were dropped in the past couple of days, enough to make two playlists from them. Still, only eight tracks can make it onto this list. Here is all the best new music of the week, compiled into the Far Out Playlist.
Best new music, January 9th – 15th:
The Go! Team – ‘Gemini’
Way back in the halcyon days of 2004, The Go! Team unveiled their polyrhythmic swirl of a debut, Thunder, Lightning, Strike. Nearly 20 years later, the Brighton-born six-piece are back with ‘Gemini’, the latest track from their forthcoming album Get Up Sequences Part Two.
The Go! Team’s music still sounds impossibly fresh and forward-thinking. ‘Gemini’ is no less visionary, blending frenetic vocal performances with kaleidoscopic production. The overall effect is one of wonderous sensory overload.
Tennis – ‘Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight’
As they stare down the release of their sixth studio album Pollen this February, American synth pop troubadours Tennis have shared the latest single from the upcoming LP with ‘Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight’.
Tennis are so confident in their sound now that they don’t even seem to be worrying about repeating themselves. ‘Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight’ isn’t boring or obvious by any stretch of the imagination: it’s catchy, danceable, and highly groovy if you like your disco with a side of more disco. It’s quintessential Tennis, and it’s cool to hear a band that is so comfortable having found their sound that the experiments are kept to a minimum.
Avey Tare – ‘Hey Bog’
Animal Collective co-leader Avey Tare is jumping back into his solo career with a brand-new upcoming album, 7s. The new album from Tare, the stage name of Dave Portner, will be released on February 17th.
‘Hey Bog’ is a nearly ten-minute odyssey through trippy sonic effects and increasingly psychedelic noises. By the time Portner’s voice eventually makes an appearance, the track is nearly half done. That being said, ‘Hey Bog’ is a perfect entry point into the wild world that is 7s.
U.S. Girls – ‘Futures Bet’
U.S. Girls, the successful project of North American experimental pop artist Meg Remy, has announced the arrival of her highly anticipated eighth studio album, Bless This Mess. The dynamic collection of tracks brings a nuanced artistic reflection of the complexities of motherhood.
‘Futures Bet’ follows the album’s eponymous single and is introduced by a distorted guitar run before clearing out into an energetic yet macabre synth beat. Like the visual accompaniment, the music takes the ordinary – or pop tones – and twists it into something entirely unprecedented. The track is an avant-pop triumph and leaves much to get giddy about in the run-up to the full album release on February 24th.
Shame – ‘Six-Pack’
South London punks Shame have returned with ‘Six-Pack’, the second offering from their imminent third album, Food for Worms. A stylistic departure from the record’s lead single, ‘Fingers of Steel’ – a slower, anthemic piece featuring dovetailing guitars – the new cut is a chaotic mass of energy, heavily inferring that the band might be about to release their most exciting record yet.
Carried by the use of the wah on one of the guitars, the rhythm section is also customarily dynamic, with frontman Charlie Steen more unhinged than we’ve ever seen him, delivering his most surreal lyrics yet.
John Cale – ‘Noise of You’
Experimental rock god John Cale isn’t the kind of guy who likes to rest on his laurels. The iconic musician is now 80 years old with over 40 original albums of music (whether they be solo studio recordings, collaborations, live albums, or soundtracks). But is that enough? Hell no! Instead of coasting into retirement, Cale is firing back up with his 16th solo album, Mercy.
To preview the upcoming LP, Cale has dropped the album’s newest single, ‘Noise of You’. Combining the lightness of ambient music with the delicate strains of synth-pop and a hardened industrial beat to round it all out, ‘Noise of You’ is beautiful in its delicateness and simplicity. Cale has never had a problem being confrontational in his music, but ‘Noise of You’ actually seems to embrace happiness and love as major inspirations.
Yo La Tengo – ‘Aselestine’
Yo La Tengo have just dropped the second single to preview their forthcoming album, This Stupid World. ‘Aselestine’ follows ‘Fallout’, the single released back in November 2022 alongside the announcement of the new record.
Following the blazing shoegaze-tinged powerhouse that is ‘Fallout’, ‘Aselestine’ brings the tempo down a notch for a gentle, dreamy and sentimental excursion, with Georgia Hubley taking lead vocals. The track is perfectly textured throughout, with subtle synths and well-placed lead guitar threads – it’s impossible to fault. These first two singles promise a breathtaking album next month.
Hotel Lux – ‘Points of View’
Post-punk layabouts Hotel Lux are gearing up for their debut album Hands Across the Creek. Produced by the ever-impressive Bill Ryder-Jones, off the back of their praised EP, the album is hotly anticipated. Their new, almost apathetically withdrawn material further helps to establish their anti-swaggering style and everyday appeal.
“’Points of View’ ended up being one of the first demos we had for Hands Across the Creek,” the band explained, “Yet one of the last tunes to be finished. Despite existing in many forms, with various titles and changing names, ‘Points of View’ ended up existing as what we feel is a natural and comfortable bridge between the previous EP and our debut album, Hands Across the Creek.”
