Here’s a far-from-conclusive list of things that are new today that even this episode of This Week In Records can’t cover in any depth despite being 33% larger than usual:
- A Robbie Williams single that genuinely samples Prokofiev’s theme to The Apprentice
- David Guetta making a weird retro French house number with that singer he collaborated with on everything before he met will.i.am – you know, the poor chap that gets harassed by LMFAO in the ‘Gettin’ Over You’ video – and a compatriot who has built a career from gimmicky drug references and Lana Del Rey remixes
- HONNE’s indecipherable web of single releases leading to an ‘FHKD’ rerelease with some harrowingly delicate Kill J vocals
- Those cakey folks releasing the debut single from their album just four weeks after the “impact date” of their Katy Perry-aping ode to dental hygiene implements struggled to go beyond a Loose Women performance
- The Cashmere Cat record we’ve all been yearning for since ‘Adore’ – i.e. one that has some propulsion other than spring squawks and remains tolerable even with Tory Lanez on board
If you’re a student at the University of Southampton and would like to come and help us wade through the bizarrely inconsistent tides generated by the music industry seemingly solely to mess with me on Thursday evenings or you’d like to see your upcoming release featured on this page, let us know by emailing us at [email protected]!
Craig David – Following My Intuition
Have you already heard the best bits of Craig David’s long-awaited comeback? Probably. Did it really need ’16,’ a studio edit of the ‘Where Are Ü Now’/’Fill Me In’ performance from a 1Xtra Kurupt FM show in which he twice rhymes sixteen with itself eight times? Absolutely not. Does it reach Trapped In The Closet levels of hilarity with its denials of parentage? Not quite. Would you like to read my full review? Clicking this link might just take you there.
The Chainsmokers feat. Phoebe Ryan – ‘All We Know’
Likewise, if you’d told me precisely two months and a day ago that ‘Closer’ would become the biggest track in the world and be a month into a stint at the top of the UK charts then occupied solely by Drake, I would have laughed. It’s not that the hit potential was absent – ‘Roses’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down,’ which both returned somewhat to their roots in melodic spins on indie gems, had proven them as more than just ‘#SELFIE’–spawning bearers of obnoxiousness as far as the wider music community was concerned – but something about musically-minded member Drew Taggart exposing his rarely-used voice with questionable allusions to a stolen mattress in the back of a Rover felt a little iffy. Then again, it’s working: ‘Closer’ has recently become their third double-platinum single of the year at home, so they’ve recruited Phoebe Ryan and done the whole thing again with her breathy vocals in the underwhelming unison mix hiding him somewhat.
BANKS – The Altar
If ‘Better‘ was a heartbreakingly tender plea to win him back from the mistress he cheated with and ‘Fuck With Myself‘ was an obliquely symbolic self-analysis of both frailty and strength in the face of a failed love, then ‘Gemini Feed‘ can be seen as a working out of the anger and frustration she harboured throughout the ordeal, so that she might be free of the pain it caused her. When viewed like this, the three singles play chronologically as a sort of truncated progression through the five stages of grief, beginning in denial and ending in acceptance. This, coupled with the fact that her upcoming album is called The Altar – a reference made explicit in the present song, quoted above – suggests that her sophomore effort may even be a concept album, and one that powerfully exorcises the many demons that have crept into her soul.
What Harley said. Read his review soon on these very pages.
Niall Horan – ‘This Town’
Instagram shenanigans had many of us convinced that Harry Styles would be choosing today to follow ZAYN’s lead and plop a bit of solo material onto an adoring fanbase that foolishly expects the hiatus to either be temporary or end with something worth listening to – oh hey there, weirdly robotic disco outfit operating under the name of Busted. Instead, we’re getting NIALL Niall with an acoustic guitar being a bit bland. Rehana Nurmahi’s already on review duty for the track and she assures me not to bother given that “[it]IS SO AVERAGE.”
Wake me up when it’s Big Payno’s turn.
Bon Iver – 22, A Million
Here is 22, A Million‘s actual 100% genuine tracklist:
22 (OVER S∞∞N)
10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄
715 – CRΣΣKS
33 “GOD”
29 #Strafford APTS
666 ʇ
21 M♢♢N WATER
8 (circle)
____45_____
00000 Million
I have no ω Œ Я đ ŠżZ Q Q q ~ § € ⌘ ‽ E•MO•TION 駝 ????, Mr. Vernon.
Mura Masa feat. A$AP Rocky – ‘Love$ick’
Back on Tuesday morning, I thought I had one of the hottest tickets in the country: one for a sold-out Mura Masa show in his adopted hometown of Brighton, supported by his spellbinding label acts Jadu Heart and Bonzai, who also conveniently has a new record out this week. Suddenly, Southern decided to object by cancelling two successive trains and leaving me with no real option to traverse the coast in time to catch any significant chunk of the gig. For that, however, I must give the slightest modicum of thanks: his first new music since March’s Bonzai-featuring sprinkle of joy ‘What If I Go?‘ is actually just a mediocre vocal mix of ‘Lovesick Fuck,’ the Someday Somewhere track that hooked me in the first place a year ago, with an Abbey Road recording of A$AP Rocky’s mumblings and a rejigged finale that can’t hold a candle to The Hood Internet’s ‘Lovesick Izzo‘ mashup.
Jerry Williams – Let’s Just Forget It EP
Following shows supporting Take That and LANY and ‘Mother’ striking 2,000,000 Spotify plays, a frantic week of sessioning for BBC Introducing, Vevo dscvr, and, just yesterday, our very own friends at Surge Radio culminates in 20-year-old Portsmouth singer Jerry Williams showing that resurgent garage icons aren’t the only Solent-sourced musicians allowed to join today’s release pandemonium. Let’s Just Forget It, her third EP in as many years, features that aforementioned single alongside a cover of The Cure, the mesmerising ‘Velcro,’ and the more “serious” title track as its tie-in single.
Major Lazer & Showtek – ‘Believer’
Though it may come as a surprise given the former’s prolific sound, Dutch brothers Sjoerd and Wouter Janssen have picked up as many top 30 hits (‘Booyah,’ ‘Bad,’ ‘Cannonball (Earthquake)’) as their Caribbean-tinged counterparts (‘Lean On,’ ‘Light It Up,’ ‘Cold Water‘), and this collaboration leans significantly more towards the hardstyle flavour often found trickling off the continent than the Bieber-y sheen that newcomers to Diplo and friends may have grown accustomed to. Nevertheless, the role of the harsh and fiery ‘Believer’ as a staple of both acts’ bombastic live sets may set it up well to comfortably fade into commercial obscurity once the day is done.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
BT – Electronic Opus
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
Faarrow – Lost EP
Francis And The Lights – Farewell, Starlite!
Herb Alpert – Human Nature
Mr. Oizo – All Wet
Pixies – Head Carrier
Regina Spektor – Remember Me To Life
Solange – A Seat At The Table
Slaves – Take Control
The Wytches – All Your Happy Life
Van Morrison – Keep Me Singing
Singles
Bibi Bourelly – ‘Ballin’
Big Wild feat. iDA HAWK – ‘Invincible’
Bob Sinclar & Daddy’s Groove – ‘Burning’
Bonzai – ‘I Did’
Busted – ‘On What You’re On’
Capital Cities – ‘Vowels’
Cashmere Cat feat. Selena Gomez & Tory Lanez – ‘Trust Nobody’
Courteeners – ‘Kitchen’
Crystal Fighters – ‘Ways I Can’t Tell’
David Guetta, Cedric Gervais & Chris Willis – ‘Would I Lie To You’
Dave – ‘Wanna Know’
Daya – ‘Cool’
DNCE – ‘Body Moves’
Empire Of The Sun – ‘To Her Door’
Galantis & Hook N Sling – ‘Love On Me’
gnash – ‘something’
Goldwash – ‘LDR’
Gorgon City feat. Elderbrook – ‘Smile’
GTA feat. Tinashe – ‘All Caught Up’
HONNE feat. Kill J – ‘FHKD’
Icarus feat. Shivum Sharma – ‘They Are Not Like You’
Juicy J feat. Kanye West – ‘Ballin’
Kero Kero Bonito – ‘Trampoline’
Kimbra – ‘Sweet Relief’
Kings Of Leon – ‘Around The World’
Kölsch – ‘Grey’
Laurel – ‘Hurricane’
Lido – ‘Dye’
Liz Elias feat. Flo Rida – ‘At Night’
Louis The Child feat. Evalyn – ‘Fire’
Metallica – ‘Moth Into Flame’
Miike Snow – ‘Heart Is Full’ (Mark Ronson Remix)
Nathan Sykes – ‘Famous’
Norah Jones – ‘Tragedy’
OneRepublic feat. Peter Gabriel – ‘A.I.’
Pixie Lott – ‘Best Day Of My Life’
Ray BLK feat. SG Lewis – ‘Chill Out’
Rizzle Kicks – ‘Slurp!’
Robbie Williams – ‘Heavy Entertainment Show’
Robbie Williams – ‘Party Like A Russian’
Secondcity & Manu Gonzalez – ‘Funk’d’
The Japanese House – ‘Face Like Thunder’
The Pretty Reckless – ‘Prisoner’
The Weeknd – ‘False Alarm’
Tom Chaplin – ‘Hold On To Our Love’
Tom Odell – ‘True Colours’
Two Door Cinema Club – ‘Gameshow’
Underworld – ‘Ova Nova’
XYLØ – ‘Dead End Love’
Zedd – ‘Ignite’
