Last week, This Week In Records tried to get involved with all the Boys Don’t Cry/woodworking excitement and subsequently got treated to a big old dose of nothing. Though it does buy me more time to finally get around to giving Channel Orange the proper time it needs, that absence left a large section of Last Week In Records utterly useless–so this week we’ve gone and led with an album that still isn’t confirmed because we clearly never learn. In Vernon we trust, eh?
If there’s anything we’ve missed or you’d like to see your upcoming release featured on this page–especially if you have an actual release date that doesn’t depend on you completing your DT coursework–let us know by emailing us at [email protected]!
Bon Iver – We Don’t Really Know But Hopefully A New Album Is Coming This Week, Unlike The Frank Ocean Situation For Which We Apologise For Our Tiny Part
If you go out in the woods today, you’re pretty sure of a big surprise. Bon Iver, the reclusive indie-folk group easily mistaken for Justin Vernon alone, has remained largely quiet since 2011’s Bon Iver and its numerous Grammy nods, yet Vernon’s familiar falsetto has placed the nom de plume on two of the finest tracks of 2016 so far: ‘I Need A Forest Fire’ from James Blake’s The Colour In Anything and Francis And The Lights’ Kanye-adored ‘Friends.’ Blake, of course, announced his album barely over 4 hours before its release. Bon Iver fortunately gave us more notice, with a teaser video uploaded on July 22nd pointing with some new music to something in #22days–tomorrow, the night after the band is headlining a festival of Vernon’s own creation.
Slaves – ‘Spit It Out’
‘Fuck The Hi-Hat.’ ‘Consume Or Be Consumed.’ ‘STD’s/PHD’s.’ ‘Gary.’ All of these are tracks on Take Control, Slaves’ upcoming second album announced this week. Before the Kentish punks put out the successor to the Mercury-nominated Are You Satisfied? at the the end of September comes ‘Spit It Out’–as ever, far too much noise for just two people to be making safely.
RAYE – SECOND EP
Oh yes, another teenager is here with a splendid musical ability to make you feel slightly inadequate. RAYE, an 18-year-old Londoner, debuted SECOND, her suitably-titled second EP, yesterday, featuring contributions from Stormzy on ‘Ambition’ and a co-write from Charli XCX on new single ‘I, U, Us,’ which sports an icy video that Charli also directed. Like the gorgeous ‘Distraction’ from earlier this year which also appears on the tracklist, the new music fluently exhibits RAYE’s defiant brand of alt-R&B.
Danny L Harle feat. Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘Super Natural’
With last year’s E•MO•TION, Carly Rae Jepsen’s glorious 80s-guided pop took her from one-hit wonder to full-on cult obsession, and she seems to be enjoying the aftermath. After appearing on The Knocks’ 55 and a Bleachers rework LP, providing a theme for Netflix’s Full House reboot, and covering Wham! for the second-best song of last Christmas, months of teasing and leaking and live performing culminate in a single with Danny L Harle, the Columbia-signed spearhead of PC Music’s attack on the charts.
Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife 2
Seeing a pattern yet? Our third Ra(y)e of the day is a pair of party-minded baby-faced rapping brothers from Mississippi, who take their moniker from the Ear Drummer Records label they signed to in 2014. Their debut, the original SremmLife, was controversially named as Complex‘s third-favourite album of 2015, narrowly nudging out the likes of Adele and trailing hip-hop titans Kendrick Lamar and Future, and its sequel sees Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi bounce around on another batch of beats from label boss Mike WiLL Made-It with babysitting turns from established names including Gucci Mane and Lil Jon.
Porter Robinson & Madeon – ‘Shelter’
Friends for almost a decade despite their youth, electronic musicians Porter Robinson and Madeon have both eased into a somewhat fantastical and innocent realm with their respective debut albums Worlds and Adventure. Almost two years to the day since the release of Robinson’s, the pair have announced a back-to-back tour of the United States that will include solo portions (for which both have received much acclaim) and some form of collaborative performance which will surely include ‘Shelter,’ the single released to celebrate the occasion.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
AII Tvvins – IIVV
Atmosphere – Fishing Blues
Borgeous – 13
Florence And The Machine – Songs From Final Fantasy XV EP
Hockey Dad – Boronia
Lakuta – Brothers & Sisters
Lonely The Brave – Dust & Bones EP
Maxi Jazz & The E-Type Boys – Simple… Not Easy
Of Montreal – Innocence Reaches
PARTYNEXTDOOR – PARTYNEXTDOOR 3
Sam Gellaitry – Escapism II EP
Savoir Adore – The Love That Remains
Stanaj – The Preview EP
Stee Downes – The Bigger Picture
VANT – KARMA SEEKER EP
The Get Down OST
The Pineapple Thief – Your Wilderness
Young The Giant – Home Of The Strange
Singles
Bon Jovi – ‘This House Is Not For Sale’
Boxed In – ‘Forget’
Britney Spears – ‘Clumsy’
CVBZ – ‘Be Like You’
Dan Owen – ‘Made To Love You’
De La Soul feat. Little Dragon – ‘Drawn’
Disciples – ‘Daylight’
Example – ‘Later’
Green Day – ‘Bang Bang’
Grimes – ‘California’
Hannah Jane Lewis – ‘Hide And Go Seek’
Jamie T – ‘Power Over Men’
Josh Wink – ‘Shoelaces’
Kate Nash — ‘Good Summer’
Kaytranada feat. AlunaGeorge & GoldLink – ‘Together’
Keaton Henson – ‘The Pugilist’
Krrum – ‘Still Love’
Lianne La Havas – ‘Say A Little Prayer’ (Live)
Liv Dawson – ‘Still’
M.I.A. — ‘Bird Song’ (Blaqstarr Remix)
MÖWE feat. Bright Sparks – ‘Your Skin’
Ninetoes & Fatboy Slim – ‘Finder (Hope)’
OneRepublic – ‘Kids’
Regina Spektor – ‘Small Bill$’
Salute feat. KAMAU – ‘Forever (Pearls)’
Sigur Rós – ‘Óveður‘
The Courteeners – ‘The 17th’
The White Stripes – ‘City Lights’
WSTRN – ‘A-List’
