The Best New Songs: DC Fountains, Tomberlin, Renata Zeiguer and More
AT Pastry Music, we listen to so many new songs every day, we barely have time to listen to each other. Nonetheless, every Thursday we can rock it, we take stock of the best tracks from the previous seven days, delivering a weekly playlist of our favorites while keeping Fridays free to focus on new albums. Check out this week’s best new songs below.
New York post-punk band BODEGA maintains the eccentricity the genre has always been known for, but more importantly, they also keep their cool. Most of the first factor comes from the vocal delivery and the visuals, which are fully displayed in the song’s video (I love the props! So many props!). In terms of cool, “Statuette On the Console” is a barn-burning track, reminiscent of original new wave artists like Girls At Our Best! or fellow New Yorker Blondie. The way they strip the whole thing down to its essentials allows the song to arrive like a punch in the gut. Also, if you have 20 more minutes today, the band recorded the song in new different languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian. Even if you only speak one of these songs, it’s a good enough song to hold up no matter what language you hear the lyrics in. —Elise Soutar
Doss returned to music in 2021 after a seven-year hiatus, releasing her 4 new hit songs PE. “Jumping” is her latest attempt, hopefully hinting at a full 2022 project. The single is an intense club banger with slices of diva house, techno and grimy EDM mixed into one. Soulful vocals give way to whispers of Doss and a poor bass distribution that makes the ground shake. The ideas all come together for a collection of whiplash-inducing sounds that’s the formula for another hit. —Jade Gomez
Fly Anakin from Richmond, Va., is gearing up to release his studio debut Franc (March 11, Lex Records). In January, he shared his Madlib-produced single “No Dough.” On February 15, the rapper shared the final preview of his upcoming album, “Black Be The Source.” Featuring frequent collaborator Pink Siifu and singer Billz Egypt, “Black Be The Source” is a lo-fi, soulful track that elevates black art as an initiator. Anakin goes into a trance-like state with his signature rasp, trading bars with Siifu like two seasoned veterans. Aided by the sweet voice of Billz Egypt, the three create a triumphant song of black innovation. —Jade Gomez
Released just days after Valentine’s Day, “I Love You” is easily mistaken for, well, a love song – DC Fountains is counting on it. In Truth, the band’s second single to be released Lean fia (after “Jackie Down the Line; a January standout) is “the first overtly political song we’ve written,” frontman Grian Chatten said in its choruses — two of which it leads with, in an unusual arrangement — ” I Love You” finds Chatten professing an undying devotion to the band’s home country of Ireland over cloudy, Echo & The Bunnymen-esque instrumentation. But that love feels less like a light in his life than a blight. : in dense, lyrically sung verses, Chatten unpacks her narrator’s conflicted feelings about her home, including her guilt and self-loathing for succeeding after her departure (“When the cherries lined up, I kept the mess to myself / Until I had thirty ways to die looking at me from the shelf”), and his rage and disdain for the country’s sins (“This island is ruled by sharks with child bones stuck in their jaws”). This is an aut breathtaking glimpse of Lean fiaour anticipation for which keeps climbing. —Scott Russell
Future Islands have yet to hint at the release of their seventh album, but their first single of the year is just begging to be on a full project. “King of Sweden” is a groovy, playful song that slowly builds atmosphere as frontman Samuel Herring sings along warmly. The result is a vivid image of innocent love, dreams and contentment. Synths and pulsating percussion open a door to a beautiful, fast-paced world that Future Islands creates with ease. —Jade Gomez
Ho99o9 (pronounced “horror”) finally announced their second album The skintheir long-awaited sequel to 2017’s united states of horror. The album is slated for March 11 via DTA Records. Entirely produced by the legendary Travis Barker, who also features on lead single “BATTERY NOT INCLUDED”, the star-studded album will have contributions from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and alternative rapper and poet Saul Williams, as well as Southern rap godfather Bun. B. Defined in press materials as “louder and more aggressive than their previous work”, The skinThe announcement of arrives with the loud opening of the album “NUGE SNIGHT”. It opens the guns, with multiple twists. Static feedback gives way to visceral screams, guttural vocals, and a smooth transition to trap-inspired breakdown. —Jade Gomez
Renata Zeiguer has had something of a creative renaissance since we were first featured on her debut in 2018 old ghost, or at least it looks like it did if January’s “Sunset Boulevard” and “Evergreen” are any indication. The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter’s dreamlike arrangement drift remained intact, but the singles dropped from her upcoming sophomore effort. Picnic in the dark seem to have no problem taking the fantasy even further, leaving plenty of room to introduce new idiosyncrasies until the last minute of the song. Pulling melodies that sound like something from the distant past and layering them in ways that seem endlessly inventive, Zeiguer crafts pop gems unlike anything you’ve ever heard. There’s a specific moment when she sings “And I get every moment / I don’t age when I call you, when I call you”, and all the vocals and guitars cut out beneath her for a second . In that moment, we’re floating above the rest of her slightly offbeat world with her, and the view is worth it. —Elise Soutar
Singer-songwriter Sarah Beth Tomberlin has announced her upcoming album I don’t know who needs to hear this… (April 29 via Saddle Creek), his second feature after his debut in 2017 At weddings and EP 2020 Screenings with Alex G. She’s already shared what we now know to be the album’s closing track, the beautiful “idkwntht”, and now she’s released another new track, “happy accident”, along with a video for the song performed by Ryan Schnackenberg. Featuring Cass McCombs on guitar, Felix Walworth (Told Slant) on drums, and the album’s co-producer Philip Weinrobe on bass, “happy accident” pivots in a completely different direction from “idkwntht,” taking everything that made this delicate final track, and jostling fuzzy guitars and layers of tense harmonies in its place. The result dominates the not-quite-enduring relationship that Tomberlin sings about, honoring all the confusion and insecurity that comes with the situation. “I wanna burn it all / Could I borrow a light? / And don’t dare me to / I might leave in the night / And don’t dare me to / ‘Cause you know I could fly,” she asks , struggling within her constraints and knowing the enormity of the music around her also exists within her. This fits perfectly with what she describes in a press release as the record’s “theme”: “examining, holding the space , make an altar for feelings”. As the track reaches its defiant conclusion (“I won’t give up / I’m not an accident”), you want to kneel down at the altar and honor the experience with her. . —Elise Soutar
Vince Staples: “MAGIC”
If there’s one thing Vince Staples knows how to do, it’s keep his promises. After a heart-pounding Super Bowl halftime performance dedicated to West Coast hip-hop, it’s only fitting that the California rapper shares the full version of “MAGIC,” his collaboration with famed producer Mustard. The song will be part of his highly anticipated Ramona Park broke my heart (April, Blacksmith Recordings/Motown Records), which he announced in 2021. “MAGIC” is a relaxing ode to the beloved neighborhood of Ramona Park in Long Beach, Calif., and the complicated relationship with adversity at which he faces. Mustard’s distinct G-funk production with subdued bass synths and understated percussion allows Staples to take center stage as he wonders if the euphoria he’s feeling is magic. The single, as described by Staples, “defines the project”. Following his 2021 self-titled album, Ramona Park broke my heart further explores the more relaxed and introspective side of the rapper. “It’s symbolic of home,” Staples says of the album’s title. “And everyone has a house. Even if it’s very personal for me, everyone can relate to it. That’s why I thought it would work for this chapter. —Jade Gomez
San Francisco quartet Young Prisms haven’t released an album in a decade, but their 2022 Vagabond singles, including January’s “Honeydew” and this week’s “Self Love,” show they haven’t misplaced their gift for creating dream-pop bliss. Their latest track draws you in gradually and then all at once, the ambient drone giving way to Stefanie Hodapp’s reverb-laden voice and bright, jerky guitars. Its lyrics are as brilliantly idyllic as its instrumentation, Hodapp setting a carefree scene with a lyric (“We’re going down to the cafe / The sun feels good and the vibe is easy”), then acknowledging the costs of love with next (“You live with your hand in mine / My self-esteem is sacrificed”). Connection may come at the cost of individuality, but Young Prisms’ seamless sound is proof that the finest activities shared. —Scott Russell