It’s been awhile since we’ve heard an good ol’ mixtape-styled rant from Eminem, but this week that all changed when the rapper decided to weigh in on the election with “Campaign Song.” Other special releases this week, though substantially less caustic, include tracks from Icona Pop, who are still looking on the Brightside, and D.R.A.M., who brought Erykah Badu on board to ask a VERY important question in today’s world…”Do you (sic) got WiFi?” (spoiler alert: the answer is yes).
It’s another jam packed week in new music, for a full run down head over to Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. Jam packed too much for you and you’d like to concentrate on just the greatest of the latest? Even better, we’ve got things broken down for you on Busted Wallet New Music Friday All Stars.
10. Cold Outside by Ari Lennox
It’s never too early to start getting ready for cold weather; after all, winter is coming. What better way to get you ready than a R&B freestyle that serves as an updated take on the chilly outside/cozy inside themes of Baby It’s Cold Outside. “I really can’t stay” is replaced with “my roommates ain’t home, and it’s really cold outside,” and instead of the rat pack, it’s a dynamic soul-stress from Washington D.C., looking to make her mark, having just released her second EP. It’s not too early to add this one to your holiday playlist.
9. Are These My Jets by El Vy
El Vy is no stranger to out-there themes and oddball lyrics, but here we were really scratching our heads. First line in: “bluebirds blow their brains out on my shoulders” and on it goes. Turns out, the song is part of a musical endeavor a little more straight forward, 30 songs for 30 days, a project that the Washington Post describes as “a playlist of songs that Donald Trump will hate.” Suddenly everything seems to make more sense when coming from that point of view. If you’re not in the mood for political discourse, no worries, since the imagery is so layered here you’d never know; save for reading about it just now.
8. Remember Who I Was by James Arthur
To ignore the vocal and stylistic similarities to Sam Smith would be amiss here, and it’s not that James Arthur is trying to be like the artist, but rather because of Sam Smith it paved the way for the style brought forth here and songs like Remember Who I Was. Nothing fancy, just few simple guitar chords, and minor notes are interspersed throughout. The style and the heavy-but-not-burdensome mood is likely to make for rapid popularity, the way he did with his debut album. The long-awaited second album, Back From The Edge, will be out October 28th.
7. Marcel by Her’s
A blissful day at the seashore is but a song away when it comes to Her’s latest endeavor Marcel, in a genre that can only be described as surf-ish and high quality indie, with doo-woppy lyrics. And who can help themselves with dreamy lines like “I wanna ride your wave again, don’t tell me that I can just pretend.” Be sure to keep this one on the vault for when you need an easy escape, as the colder and colder days arrive.
6. I Feel So Bad by Kungs
Some songs just take off like a bottle rocket, and on I Feel So Bad, most will be swept up in high energy pumped-up momentum by 5 seconds in, or never at all. It’s that age old adage of making it hurt so good, as the French DJ reiterates the title over and over in the song, but you never really gather what exactly is the direct cause of his unhappiness. Put this one on when you need to get up offa that thing and dance until you feel better.
5. Fake Love by Drake
There’s nothing that seems to t-off Drake more than unauthentic people showing fake love to him, and of course there’s that strict no new friends policy. But what you can expect from ice cold Scorpio (happy birthday Drake!) who often refers to himself as the G.O.A.T.? It’s just not gonna work out. But in any case he decided his 30th birthday would be a good time for a new 4 track playlist via Apple Music, but on Spotify there’s only 2 tracks, because these are strange times we live, I guess. Admittedly the musical accoutrements feel like a melting pot of all the sounds we heard on Views, but it goes down smooth all the same.
4. Father Father by Jay Prince
Ever since Kanye announced that Life of Pablo is “actually a gospel album” there’s been a strange but super woke merger of gospel and hip hop. And for the MC from East London he takes gospel choir harmony and turns it into an ULTRA hot beat and then rhymes over it, in a way that feels untouched and prolific. It’s the perfect backdrop for one who rhymes about acting wild on one line and ‘giving you every single thing, i give my heart’ on the next.
3. Alakazam ! by Justice
If the song Randy was the industrial cold open for Justice’s new album, than Alakazam ! is the keep-it-rockin’ disco flavored track whose arrival indicates sitting around is no longer an option. And when the party’s rocking who needs lyrics, as all you’ll get from electronic duo is an ‘oooooohhhhWEE (or OUI as they case may be since they’re French). We’re less than a month away from the next album, Woman, out Nov 19th, and in the meantime can only hope for a few more slices of magic to seep ourselves into.
2. The Castle by The Flaming Lips
It’s fair to say that The Flaming Lips have widened their fan base since the musical friendship struck between Wayne Coyne and Miley Cyrus, and with that everybody seems to win, as there’s no bounds to the themes that can be examined when you’re in the psychedelic rock genre. Weirdos have more reasons to rejoice, as the band’s first release from Oczy Mlody means that the album is not that far off, January 13th 2017 to be exact. In the meantime The Castle takes us to another world in a peaceful crystal ship, and to complete the full sensory effect don’t miss the video.
1. A-YO by Lady Gaga
There’s no song more definitive of the country outlook that Lady Gaga has adopted for her latest album, Joanne, than A-YO, the album of which critics are praising as her best since Born This Way. Of course it’s country in the way that Gaga does country, which falls more on the Dolly Parton spectrum than say, Taylor Swift’s early stuff. While other songs like Joanne and Millions Reasons are more forthright with their meaning, it’s hard to find a central theme on A-YO, besides Marlboros and Ferraris; simply becoming a showcase of Gaga here in her latest incarnation.
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