Pokémon Go is here! It also has nothing to do with this week’s roundup of all the exciting new music releases, but since everyone else is mentioning it then we may as well join in the fun. Check out our guide to the best places in Southampton to find AR creatures, and if there’s anything we’ve missed or you’d like to see your upcoming release featured on this page, let us know by emailing us at [email protected]!
Michael Kiwanuka – Love & Hate
Having bagged the BBC’s Sound of 2012 accolade and toured with Adele, Home Again perched Michael Kiwanuka at the forefront of British soul music, drawing acclaim for its raw and authentic approach. Love & Hate, his Polydor followup, exposes far more vulnerability, as displayed in singles ‘Love & Hate’ and ‘Black Man In A White World.’ “A lot of this album was grappling with the insecurities that I’d learned. The first album was grappling with faith,” he says. “Here, I’m not so worried about that – I’ve accepted that it comes and goes, and now, I’m left with myself.”
Snakehips feat. ZAYN – ‘Cruel’
Collaborations with young, buzz-laden acts are nothing new for slick British pair Snakehips, having featured the likes of Chance The Rapper, Anderson .Paak, Sasha Keable, Tory Lanez, and Tinashe – who herself has two new tracks out today in solo record ‘Superlove’ and ‘Just Say,’ the return of mysterious ‘Turn The Music Louder (Rumble)’ gent KDA – on their previous singles. For the proper single followup to the debut smash of ‘All My Friends,’ it’s fair to say they’ve gone a bit upmarket by recruiting One Direction graduate and shift key abuser ZAYN for ‘Cruel,’ which instantly outshines anything from his Mind Of Mine excursion by exchanging bombast for energy.
Hailee Steinfeld – HAIZ EP
Though perhaps best known for her exploits in the Pitch Perfect movie series and as part of Taylor Swift’s squad, Hailee Steinfeld is a very promising popstar who released without doubt 2015’s best song about masturbation (‘Love Myself’). Debut EP HAIZ, upon which ‘Love Myself’ featured alongside the likes of DNCE collaboration ‘Rock Bottom,’ gets a rerelease today with bubbly future bass bonus track ‘Starving,’ produced by Zedd and his French proteges Grey.
Justice – ‘Safe And Sound’
After almost five years since the dramatic French electro duo of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay put out new music (2011’s Audio, Video, Disco), Justice is readying a third album to appear later this year. As is typical for Justice, there’s a lot in the disco-flared ‘Safe And Sound’ to work in a live setting, with tense string melodies, strutting riffs, and a motivational choir.
Samm Henshaw – The Sound Experiment 2 EP
Since being featured in our own set of upcoming acts to watch out for back in January, soulful Samm Henshaw, who studied Popular Music Performance at Southampton Solent University, has been going from strength to strength. The Sound Experiment 2 serves as a sequel to his debut EP from last September and features the delightful ‘Our Love,’ which has picked up support on BBC Radio 1, Surge Radio, and more.
M.I.A. – ‘Go Off’
“People love position so I stay way up on a level / Like my name is Neymar and you know I’m not normal / There is no competition / I’m gonna talk and you gonna listen.” M.I.A. is back, with new single ‘Go Off’ a typically assertive snippet of upcoming Interscope album A.I.M., which she claims will be her last full-length record, produced by Blaqstarr and Skrillex.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
Aaron Neville – Apache
Benny Benassi – Danceaholic
Bright Light Bright Light – Choreography
Clams Casino – 32 Levels
Dreezy – No Hard Feelings
Ghostbusters OST
Good Charlotte – Youth Authority
Jeff Beck – Loud Hailer
Steven Tyler – We’re All Somebody From Somewhere
Tom Misch – Reverie EP
Singles
A. G. Cook – ‘Superstar’
AlunaGeorge feat. Leikeli47 & Dreezy – ‘Mean What I Mean’
Bakermat feat. Alex Clare – ‘Living’
Banks – ‘Fuck With Myself’
Britney Spears feat. G-Eazy – ‘Make Me…’
Crystal Castles – ‘Char’
De La Soul – ‘Action!’
DJ Snake feat. Yellow Claw – ‘Ocho Cinco’
Dodgy – ‘Are You The One?’
Dusky feat. Wiley – ‘Sort It Out Sharon’
Felix Jaehn feat. Alma – ‘Bonfire’
5 Seconds Of Summer – ‘Girls Talk Boys’
Grouplove – ‘Welcome To Your Life’
Gucci Mane feat. Young Thug – ‘Guwop Home’
HONNE – ‘Good Together’
Jauz & Marshmello – ‘Magic’
Katy Perry – ‘Rise’
KDA feat. Tinashe – ‘Just Say’
Låpsley – ‘Operator’ (DJ Koze Remix)
Nelly Furtado – ‘Behind Your Back’
Paul McCartney & Wings vs. Timo Maas & James Teej – ‘1985’
Soulwax feat. Chloë Sevigny – ‘Heaven Scent’
Tiësto & Jauz – ‘Infected’
Tinashe – ‘Superlove’
