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.
Let me give you some inside baseball here: not every week can be a great week for new music. Whether albums tend to come up short or not, a lot of great singles get released. They can’t all be zingers over on the new music front. Do I think last week was a bad week for new music? I’m not one to say, but we did include a Stevie Nicks cover of a 50+-year-old song in what is ostensibly a new music playlist, so maybe that tells you the answer.
Was this a good week for new music? Hell yeah! First off, we had a nice battle for Album of the Week. Coming out on top was the Yeah Yeah Yeah, whose transcendent new LP Cool It Down looks to both the past and the future. Also giving solid showings were The Snuts, who found their voice on their new album Burn the Empire, and the Pixies, who keep on keeping on with their new LP Doggerel.
We’ve also had a nice host of singles drop this week, including solid efforts from the likes of Mount Kimbie and Tegan & Sara. Still, only eight tracks can make this list. Here is all the best new music from this week, compiled onto The Far Out Playlist.
Best new music, September 25th – October 1st:
The War on Drugs – ‘Oceans of Darkness’
American indie rockers The War on Drugs have dropped the deluxe edition of their wonderful 2021 LP I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Included on the new release are two new tracks from the album’s sessions, ‘Oceans of Darkness’ and ‘Slow Ghost’.
Both fit the album’s overall sound, both are very solid tracks, and their additions don’t detract from the overall flow. ‘Oceans of Darkness’ is just slightly better, with a driving structure and a wonderfully hooky melody at its centre. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a good uptempo rock song, but I don’t see that as a bad thing when it’s as solid as this.
Christine and the Queens – ‘Rien Dire’
Christine and the Queens has shared his newest single, ‘rien dire’, taken from the forthcoming album Redcar les adorables étoiles, which is set for release on November 11th. The single comes shortly after Chris introduced fans to a new persona, Redcar, a “suave and sophisticated” alter-ego. The single ‘Je te vois enfin’, which also appears on the new album, was released in June, marking what Chris has described as “a new era”.
The new single is a delicate synth track, using a fairly minimal palette of sounds to give precedence to Chris’ beautiful voice. Although a fairly short and simple track, the instrumentation simmers with tension as he sings of deep love, as he sings: “Even if I’m not always in your arms / It seems that you are walking besides me / And my gestures took the colour of your movements / And I think about it all the time, in spite of myself.”
Bill Callahan – ‘Natural Information’
Singer and songwriter Bill Callahan has shared a new single from his upcoming album YTI⅃AƎЯ. ‘Natural Information’ comes as the second track to preview the strangely titled album, marking his first solo studio record since 2019’s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest.
His previous single, ‘Coyote’, came as if from an energised Nick Drake with its light, breezy acoustic embellishments and Callahan’s ever-engrossing lyrics. Now, ‘Natural Information’ continues to launch us through an upbeat, sentimental ether as he sings of profound “contemplation”. The track brings in beautiful electric guitar textures, backing vocals and brass sections that leave much to get excited about ahead of the full album launch on October 14th.
Melody’s Echo Chamber – ‘Norfolk Hotel’
Melody Prochet has returned with her heady psych-pop project Melody’s Echo Chamber for a brand new single, ‘Norfold Hotel’. While it might be clear at times that studio experimentation has sneaked to the forefront and songwriting has slipped to the wayside, it still proves to be a highly involving listen all the same. The album takes space-age crafting and imbues it with an almost outsider-music-esque bedroom-bound vibe.
As wavy and undefined as the swirling mass that preceded it, ‘Norfolk Hotel’ is a kaleidoscope that you can sink into. I don’t really know what is going on or where the depth comes from, but I don’t much care either—it’s a groovy sonic journey where you simply have to enjoy the view without asking too many questions.
L’objectif – ‘The Dance You Sell’
Back in June, teenage British indie rock upstarts L’Objectif dropped their second EP, We Aren’t Getting Out But Tonight We Might. A potent blast of danceable synthpop, hard-hitting indie rock, and angular post-punk, the EP just confirmed that the Leeds quartet are on their way up. If you’re looking for the right time to jump on the L’objectif bandwagon, that time would be now.
And by “now”, I mean “today” because the band has a great new single that you can pour over at this very moment. ‘The Dance You Sell’, the latest single from the band, is a maximalist overture that is primed and ready to blast a hole in the back of your head. Featuring gigantic drum hits and a frantic lead vocal from Saul Kane, ‘The Dance You Sell’ is just the latest great track from a band that is showing their stripes as a potentially great band.
Let’s Eat Grandma – ‘Give Me A Reason’
Earlier this year, British indie rock duo Let’s Eat Grandma returned with their bubbly electronica-heavy third album, Two Ribbons. A welcome comeback for the pair after nearly half a decade since their sophomore LP – I’m All Ears, Two Ribbons – was greeted with a warm critical reception when it dropped back in April.
Another solid slice of indie pop, ‘Give Me A Reason’ is right within the established sound of Two Ribbons, with a bit more indulgence flowing through its lengthy runtime. That length is justified through some engrossing vocal effects and enthralling vocal melodies that float through the arrangement, light as air and almost imperceptible until you really pay attention to them. ‘Give Me A Reason’ is really quite good, so much so that I’m not sure why it was left off the final tracklisting of Two Ribbons. It doesn’t really matter, though, because we have the track now.
Paramore – ‘This Is Why’
It’s been a full half-decade since American pop-punk pioneers Paramore released their most recent studio album, 2017’s After Laughter. Things were radio silent for a good long while until some vague announcements started popping up around the band’s social media pages. Now, we’re getting the full details.
This Is Why, the band’s sixth studio album, will be released in February 2023. Even though that’s five whole months away, Paramore are showing off the album’s title track today. A bubbly and bouncy track with traces of indie rock and indie pop, the track also has some angular guitar lines that aren’t that far away from modern-day post-punk. Is this a post-punk song? Absolutely not, but it’s Paramore’s post-punk, which is still something.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘Body Paint’
Arctic Monkeys have returned with their latest single from their upcoming LP The Car. ‘Body Paint’ follows the album’s lead single, ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’, which arrived at the end of August, marking their first release in four years. The track set the tone for the new album, which looks to be taking yet another step from Arctic Monkeys’ indie roots.
In a continuation of Arctic Monkeys’ more cinematic sound, the new single comes as a powerful slow-burner with orchestral string sections that perfectly complement Turner’s distinctive croon towards some emphatic climaxes. The lyrics give suggestive imagery of an intriguing romantic encounter: “So predictable, I know what you’re thinking/ Still a trace of body paint around your legs, your arms, and your face.”
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