Today’s might just be the busiest This Week In Records yet, with a bunch of tantalising new releases like EIGHT NEW CARLY RAE JEPSEN SONGS that would otherwise have commanded a whole column to themselves on most Fridays. We’ve even taken a look at two noteworthy albums already, so check out Emma Harrison Beesley on The Hunna’s 100 and Carly-May Kavanagh’s take on Lauren Aquilina’s debut once you’re all up to speed with what’s new and, as ever, 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]!
Glass Animals – How To Be A Human Being
“I try to sneakily record people and I have hours and hours of these amazing rants from taxi drivers, people we met outside of shows, people at parties. People tell you some amazing things when they don’t think they’re ever gonna see you again. I’d obsess over what they ate, where they lived, what their furniture looked like, what they wore.”
If the concept of that method of forming characters for a hypnotic Oxford ensemble’s second album doesn’t have your intrigue piqued, Glass Animals’ new LP is probably not for you, though ‘Life Itself’ and the gooey ‘Youth’ suggest you might be the one missing out.
Cashmere Cat feat. The Weeknd & Francis And The Lights – ‘Wild Love’
If you’ve ever heard squeaking bed springs all over your music, mop-sporting Norwegian producer Cashmere Cat is probably the one to blame. He does seem to get around, though – you’ll see the 28-year-old’s name in the credits of The Life Of Pablo on ‘Wolves’ and ‘Frank’s Track,’ as a featured artist on Ariana Grande’s My Everything, and even on Glory, Britney Spears’ ninth record, released today. Now, four years after the Mirror Maru EP, his own album campaign gets under way with a title track that shows off two of the most plurally-named solo artists in the world.
Carly Rae Jepsen – E•MO•TION: Side B
250 became 12 for Carly Rae Jepsen last year, having recorded far too many songs for E•MO•TION her third LP. Its bizarrely-staggered release – June in Japan, August for most of the world, and late September for Europe – led to it slipping somewhat under the radar for many, though those that did eventually give it a shot found it to be a superb set of pop anthems that ranks certainly amongst the year’s highlights. Nevertheless, the mystery of the other 234 tracks (as four made it to a deluxe edition) seemed destined to roll on until last Sunday. The eight-track second wind for the 80s-guided era, featuring the glorious one-time Japanese bonus track ‘First Time,’ is amongst us to celebrate the record’s midpoint of birthdays.
Empire Of The Sun – ‘Two Vines’ / ‘High And Low’
A modern Australian supergroup comprising a flamboyant vocalist from an alt-rock band and half of an electro outfit who Elton John allowed to remix old snippets into a chart-topping album in 2012, Empire Of The Sun’s distinctive new-wave leanings will be familiar to anybody who’s turned on a TV in this decade. Two Vines, their third album together, will be hitting at the end of October, and it comes prefaced by a teaser track (‘High And Low’) that barely had 24 hours to land before the title track and lead single followed in its jungly wake.
Cassius – Ibifornia
Ibifornia sounds like the special portmanteau in hell reserved for the swarm of flimsy cinematic adaptations of EDM culture, fuelled by its emphasis on fist-pumping white guys and tiresome acronyms – speaking of which, XOXO, Netflix’s latest original movie, is streaming now with a decent-looking soundtrack bearing the throbbing likes of Jack Ü and Dada Life around more subtle mixes from ODESZA and Lane 8 – but when it’s an act as revered as Cassius pushing it upon us then there’s cause to pretend to care. The French house duo’s first LP since 2006’s 15 Again features a gaggle of guests led by Pharrell, Cat Power, Ryan Tedder, and Beastie Boy Mike D to take us to what a press release shortly before its intended June release called “a panoramic extravaganza of disco, funk, house, soul, afrobeat, synth-pop, psychedelia, hip-hop and gospel.”
Dua Lipa – ‘Blow Your Mind (Mwah)’
Though her self-titled debut is now not due until February despite the UK success of ‘Hotter Than Hell,’ Dua Lipa’s certainly getting us quite excited here. Its fifth single is today’s most likely for chart ascension, and the cool confidence it emanates – “We fight and we argue / You’ll still love me blind / If we don’t fuck this whole thing up, guaranteed I can blow your mind” – will make that quite enjoyable.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
Barbra Streisand – Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway
Britney Spears – Glory
Céline Dion – Encore Un Soir
Chip – Power Up
Courage – Get Some Courage, Vol. 1
De La Soul – And The Anonymous Nobody
Lauren Aquilina – Isn’t It Strange?
Tensnake – Freundchen EP
The Hunna – 100
Travis Scott – Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight
Will Young – Summer Covers EP
Vince Staples – Prima Donna EP
Singles
American Football – ‘I’ve Been Lost For So Long’
Amtrac – ‘Farewell’ / ‘Renton’
Andhim – ‘Super’
Big Narstie feat. Supercat – ‘BDL Skank’
Bonkaz feat. Stormzy – ‘And Dat’
Charlotte OC – ‘Blackout’
Dev feat. New The Pharaoh – ‘#1’
Drumsound & Bassline Smith feat. Conor Maynard – ‘Catch Me Here’
Feeder – ‘Eskimo’
Florence & The Machine – ‘Wish That You Were Here’
GoldLink feat. Cicero – ‘Fall In Love’
Gryffin & Bipolar Sunshine – ‘Whole Heart’
Jadu Heart – ‘Late Night’
John Legend – ‘Start’
Kate Tempest – ‘Don’t Fall In’
Kero Kero Bonito – ‘Graduation’
Klingande feat. M-22 – ‘Somewhere New’
Kurupt FM – ‘Heart Monitor Riddem’
Leikeli47 – ‘Girl Gang’
Måns Zelmerlöw – ‘Hanging On To Nothing’
MANT – ‘Basil Plant’
Michael Bublé – ‘My Kind Of Girl’
MJ Cole & AJ Tracey – ‘The Rumble’
Rudimental feat. J Angel – ‘Healing’
Russ Chimes – ‘Hybrids’
Sälen – ‘The Drwg’
Sean Paul feat. Chi Ching Ching – ‘Crick Neck’
Seasick Steve – ‘Gentle On My Mind’
Sundara Karma – ‘She Said’
Usher – ‘Missin U’ / ‘Champion’
The Divine Comedy – ‘How Can You Leave Me On My Own’
Thundercat – ‘Bus In These Streets’
Tiggs Da Author feat. Yungen – ‘Swear Down’
Toyboy & Robin feat. Tony Blaize – ‘Celebration’
Trentemøller – ‘Redefine’
You Me At Six – ‘Night People’
