The Big Indie Playlist: The best new music of the week
Now the haze to the New Year has settled, we’re back – although the music world never truly slept. Already, there’s a bumper load of new tracks to try and keep up with. Making sure you don’t miss the best of them, they’re here on the Big Indie Playlist.
The New Year’s Eve hangover has barely lifted and already artists are making big plans. January is prime time for album announcement and comebacks as acts seem eager to start of the year on the right foot and hit the ground running.
This week alone we saw plenty of comebacks. While Harry Styles merely announced an album with no taste of what it will be like, Arlo Parks and Mitski both made a return, shared news of records and gave fans the first impression of them in the form of era-opening singles.
In the world of up-and-comers, plenty have already ticked ‘release something’ off their to-do list. Westside Cowboy continue to grow hype with a second flawless EP, while the release from Fast Money Magic feels perfectly timed with the nostalgia for 2016 as it sounds just like old school indie.
From rock to folk, punk to groove, there’s something for everyone here. All gather in one place, all you have to do is hit play.
The best new music of the week:
Fast Money Music – ‘Unfortunately’: If you need a new it-couple to obsess over, get to know Fast Money Music’s Nick Hinman and his truly iconic fashion designer girlfriend, Natasha Somerville, who runs Poster Girl. With one party dressing the stars, and the other making sunshining, 2010s style, nostalgic indie rock, it’s a pairing of dreams. [3/5]
Arlo Parks – ‘2SIDED’: Arlo Parks made a return this week, and instantly, things are different. While the lyrics still have the same poetry, the artist seems to have refocused on being a musician first, presenting something sonically interesting and dynamic. [3.5/5]
Charli xcx – ‘Wall Of Sound’: The rollout of Wuthering Heights is fascinating as Charli xcx makes it clear at every turn that this soundtrack is actually just a full-on new album. Yet still, these songs present such an interesting side to the artist, reminding the world that she contains multitudes on this glitchy yet lush tune. [4/5]
Mitski – ‘Where’s My Phone?’: Paranoia, creeping apathy and complete phone addiction, Mitski takes on the modern age with exactly the kind of mania it requires. [4/5]
Fcukers – ‘L.U.C.K.Y’: Every week, it should be a legal requirement for an artist to share the official party track of the weekend. This time round, Fcukers took up the responsibility with this tune perfectly crafted for feeling yourself before hitting the town. [3.5/5]
Westside Cowboy – ‘The Wahs’: Westside Cowboy’s second EP is a perfect start-to-finish listen that you should be paying attention to this week, but at the centre, ‘The Wahs’ stands out as a live-favourite turned recorded rager. [4/5]
Pem – ‘Milk, Blue’: I don’t know how many more times I can attempt to put into words how beautiful Pem’s voice is while still never adequately doing it justice. Please just go and listen to it. [4/5]
Chalk – ‘I.D.C’: A Monday in January was dubbed ‘Blue Monday’ and is officially the most depressing day of the year. Just in time to give your head a wobble and bring a bit of life to your seasonally blue bones, Chalk demands you turn this one up loud and move. [3/5]
PVA – ‘Peel’: I personally have incredible affection for PVA because the few times I’ve seen the band DJ, it’s been a full night of non-stop bangers. In their own music, they carry that same golden record too. [3.5/5]
Deadletter – ‘It Comes Creeping’: Presenting their most polished track yet, Deadletter hold onto those off-kilter South London signatures while stepping up to the big league with this indie rock tune. [4/5]
Sofia and the Antoinettes – ‘Hi My Love’: Turning a letter into a song, Sofia and the Antoinettes reconnect with a long-lost lover in this instantly infectious track that will stick in your mind. [3.5/5]
Sydney Ross Mitchell – ‘Big Boy Problems’: On every single song, Sydney Ross Mitchell manages to find new perspectives and new vantage points for emotions that blow her peers out of the water. This one is no different. [4/5]
Bela Spit – ‘Sports Nappy’: Leeds’ self-professed ‘post-pussy anarchic cabaret’ follow on from their masterful spit/swallow EP with their earworm of an ode to those who struggle with bladder control yet must remain on the move. [4.5/5]
Off The Beaten Track – Left-field sounds, curated and written by Ben Forrest
Tiwayo – ‘Up For Soul’: Record Kicks treat us all to yet another slice of modern soul excellence, courtesy of the Parisian Tiwayo and his incredible voice, which might as well have been lifted straight from the 1960s. Released on seven-inch vinyl – as all great soul tracks should be – the track is endlessly replayable, and certainly provides promise for the upcoming album, Outsider. [5/5]
BCUC – ‘Higher Vibes’: Hailing from the streets of Soweto, this year promises a new album release from BCUC, and if this single is anything to go by, we’re all in for a treat. A building, brooding anthem that blends soulful vocals with an unrelenting bass groove and old-school toasting. [4.5/5]
Giovanni Damico – ‘Night Time’: An infectious groove that transcends national borders and the shackles of time. Existing somewhere between the neon hues of 1980s Italo-disco and the pioneering synth-heavy sounds of 1970s Nigerian funk, this latest release from the Italian producer is a secret weapon, and it is impossible not to succumb to the hook of the rhythm. [4/5]
Les Imprimés – ‘You and I’: Building excitement for the release of their upcoming Big Crown Records release, Fading Forward, this Norwegian outfit harkens back to the golden age of lush, laid-back soul and disco intimacy, creating something that is indebted to those old-school sounds without losing its sense of modernity. [4/5]
