WIBLT: Beat the Post-Valentine's Blues
What I've Been Listening To, 2/16/22
‘What I’ve Been Listening To’ is a bi-weekly series that highlights 8 projects, 1 song, and 1 video that have been on repeat for me. Be sure to follow the ‘What I’ve Been Listening To’ playlist that is always up to date with the eight standout tracks from all of these posts in 2022.
Here to wrap you with a comforting embrace (in the form of new music recommendations to warm your heart) if no one else has this week.
Thank You For The Inconvenience - Vinny Virgo
15 tracks, 36 minutes
Released: January 14th, 2022
From: Tampa Bay, FL → Los Angeles, CA
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Mick Jenkins, Goldlink, Isaiah Rashad
As Vinny Virgo states on the intro track, this project is about “finding a light in every single inconvenience,” hence the title. You can glimpse more previews into this album from the cover, as many beats sound like they could have come fresh out of the SP-404 at Virgo’s feet, and you can see the influences (pictured: Kanye West, Radiohead, Main Source) that fueled Virgo before you hear some of his others (not pictured: Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, Mos Def). Virgo spent 3 months of ‘21 in London working on the album, where he developed his ‘Pigsonvinyl’ producer moniker. Nearly all the tracks here are Pigsonvinyl-produced, but regardless there is always a warm, smooth beat for Virgo’s bars to glide over. It’s a calmer approach than his 2018 debut album Love Is Life. Life Is Love. While that Left Brain/Ronny J featuring album similarly showcased Virgo’s rapping abilities, it was more aggressive sonically, filled with beats you would expect to get pushed around to in a mosh pit. With Thank You For The Inconvenience, we see the other side. The first project had more in common with IDK, while this one leans more Mick Jenkins (who is featured on track 7). We know Virgo can give bangers, but here he sounds incredibly poised and comfortable in the pocket of these beats that keep you engaged while allowing more opportunity to absorb the lyrics. Like the Ye sophomore album he’s sitting next to, Virgo proves he can switch the style up while keeping the quality consistent.
Standout Track: Coming For Me
Thyla - Thyla
11 tracks, 37 minutes
Released: January 28th, 2022
From: Brighton, UK
Genres: Rock, Dream Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: The Joy Formidable, Pale Waves, Moaning Lisa
Thyla, the three piece Brighton band, kicked 2022 off with the delivery of their explosive debut album. This self-titled project was recorded in a barn in Cornwall (that the band found on Airbnb), and it follows up a pair of EPs from 2019 and 2020. Overall this is a rock album through and through, with hooks that feel ready to be played in big rooms. But throughout the project you’ll also hear elements of alt-rock, synth pop, shoe gaze, dream pop, and grunge come in and out of play. For just a three piece, Thyla packs loads of layers into their sound, with plenty of guitars and synths to fill the space. Similar to how a catchy hook will bounce around in your head for weeks, I think Thyla will be around for a while. And now that this album is out, the real fun can begin going forward. “We’ve already got a batch of new songs together and we’re going to be moving straight on to the next album. It’s great to have this debut album punctuating our early career, and having it out means we can continue developing our sound. It’s very liberating having the daunting first album out, now we feel freer to experiment,” the group told When The Horn Blows. Along with my standout track below, Breathe, Gum, and Kin are real earworms as well.
Standout Track: 3
Aquarius Season - Denaisha
5 tracks, 19 minutes
Released: February 2nd, 2022
From: Minneapolis, MN
Genres: R&B, Hip-Hop/Rap, Alternative, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Peyton, Muwosi, Yaya Bey
While Aquarius season is drawing to a close, it’s not too late to get in a couple streams of Denaisha’s debut EP Aquarius Season before we move on to Pisces. Though the project may not be so much a celebration as it is a warning about making decisions based on zodiac signs. “Got to be done with the water signs, but I cannot blame my problems on the star signs,” they conclude on the closing track Star Signs. The project is nothing if not self-aware and self-reflective. Denaisha is in their 20s now, but the tracks here all originated from when they were a teenager. “[These songs] were written before many many levels of maturity was reached, so I feel very vulnerable sharing these with you all,” Denaisha wrote in an Instagram post promoting the album. Though they may not be the same person as when the songs were first written, there’s a certain reflective maturity achieved by bringing the old self into new music. When the title track premiered with Paper Mag, they said in their interview, "I want to bring the kid I was as a child with me to everything I get to touch, so that they can heal knowing we are everything we've ever wanted to be." The result is a versatile debut that feels as if it is living, breathing, and growing along with the different versions of Denaisha that contributed to its creation.
Standout Track: Peaches
Never Stop Texting Me - Claire Rousay & More Eaze
10 tracks, 31 minutes
Released: February 11th, 2022
From: San Antonio/Austin, TX
Genres: Pop, Experimental, Emo, Electronic
Recommended For Fans Of: dltzk, A.G. Cook, 8485, aya
At the intersection of ambient, electronic, hyperpop, and emo lives Never Stop Texting Me. Last year’s EP, An Afternoon Whine, was the latest in a series of collab projects between Texas artists Claire Rousay and More Eaze, and set the stage for this newest one. While last year’s project was almost entirely ambient electronic tracks, here they’ve thrown their hands into making hyperpop. It’s an unpredictable, brash, and (at times) loud project, yes, but it takes a gentler approach to hyperpop than what you’ve likely heard from the genre to this point. Aggressive autotune and electric guitars are balanced out with softer synths and field recordings. The ambient roots are still clear. It may sound like nothing you’ve heard before, but this project celebrates (and jokes around with) the ordinary. The album’s writeup shows pride in having possibly the first in-song reference to Bandcamp Friday (“cashing out PayPal because we just got paid/ordering UberEats with cash from Bandcamp Day,” from the track Art). Though it’s drenched in hard vocal tuning and electronic samples, this could go down as one of the most human releases of the year. The project was named after the connection from constant texting and link sharing between the two artists. "She'll text me, 'Hey, I don't know if I really dug the third track on this record,' about something I've never even heard," Rousay told The Austin Chronicle about More Eaze. "She's never pretentious about it. She consumes so much media that everything she does is informed by everything, and I don't know very many people like that. You can't put her in a box, because she's constantly building the box." Together they’ve crafted an album that similarly ‘builds the box’ by tugging and stretching the boundaries of each genre it incorporates. The album comes via Orange Crate Records, home to releases from other forward thinking artists like Machine Girl & NTsKi.
Standout Track: Iphone2
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Destroy Yourself - PENGSHUi
12 tracks, 37 minutes
Released: January 28th, 2022
From: London, UK
Genres: Punk, Grime, Metal, Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Body Count, IDLES, Rage Against The Machine, Run The Jewels, Opening the pit
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a UK MC teams up with a notorious bassist and a long tenured live drummer to create a grime/punk band. No? Ok, I’ll keep going then. PENGSHUi brings all the rage with no holding back on their second album, Destroy Yourself. While there are plenty of examples of rap and punk intertwining throughout history, it’s still a rare enough occurrence that you’ll really have to listen to this album to understand how well it works here. The energy comes out the gate at a 10, and only goes up from there. The band spends just under 40 minutes raging against society, racism, fast food, and the rich, among many other things. Why? Well, “we’ll be left with nothing if we don’t stand up,” they say in the lead off lyrics for the aptly titled Eat the Rich (linked below). Most importantly, the genre fusing band doubles down on something both punk and rap artists excel in - moving a crowd. "I think we've managed to capture our live energy on this record,” frontman Illaman told Rock Sound. “With our first album, people said you have to see it live to fully get, which was cool, but we wanted to give that live feeling from the first track with this record so then when you do see a show, the energy is doubled.”
Standout Track: Eat the Rich
Letting Go, Moving Still - SUGARFUNGUS
6 tracks, 24 minutes
Released: January 26th, 2022
From: Vancouver, British Columbia
Genres: Pop, Indie, Alternative
Recommended For Fans Of: Terror Jr., Luna Li, Caroline Loveglow
Letting Go, Moving Still is the first project release from SUGARFUNGUS, the Vancouver pop group that was formed remotely during quarantine. Though they have connected in person since, most of this EP came together virtually. If anything, it’s a testament to how people will continue to create in spite of any circumstance, as this project sounds like it could have been made by people in the same room. Drummer Ivan Barbou believes it was able to work because, “we had the same vision: to entertain people and get them to dance.” They already thought of themselves as “introverts making dance music,” so that probably helped them thrive within the unusual situation. Each member of the five piece group would craft their individual part of each song before sending to others for notes and feedback. The end result is highlighted by funky bass grooves and ethereal vocal passes. It all comes together to create music that is sad, but still danceable. And if you don’t believe me, believe the machine learning algorithm they ran their track Retrospect through (but if you’re trusting an algorithm over me, I’d question why you read this blog in the first place).
Standout Track: Retrospect
Thunda Man - Thunda Man
8 tracks, 25 minutes
Released: January 31st, 2022
From: Washington, DC
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap, Dancehall, R&B
Recommended For Fans Of: Buddy, Craig David, IDK
The DC artist formerly known as Ras Nebyu makes his official debut as Thunda Man, embracing his birth name (in a sense). “My real name is Mebraknegodguwad Mahtemework. It literally translates to lightning and thunder sealed in gold,” he told Okay Africa (years before the name change). “I feel like in African tradition, you are your name. So maybe my personality is thunderous. You know like, maybe my nickname is the thunder man.” Embracing his roots comes with this showcase of all the different sides of his sound. The project starts out with a bang but progresses through cuts of R&B, dancehall, and smooth club/party ready hits. Production on here comes courtesy of Sango, Ibrahim Ba Keita, CHEK Beatz, & ToryBeats. Wether he’s going by Ras or Thunda, he’s always been an artist to rep his hometown, including calling out how the city has been affected by gentrification. As Chris Richards put it for the Washington Post, Thunda Man “continues to examine the fallout of a rapidly changing D.C., describing his community’s effort to ‘strive in Babylon gentrified’ over a sobering clash of digital and organic thunderclaps.” While he’s still the same artist, this self-titled project gives a great re-introduction to everything he’s capable of. Thunda Man is keeping his foot on the gas as he pushes this change in identity, following up this project from the last day of January with another EP already released in February.
Standout Track: No Agents
Quarter Life Crisis - Pinksqueeze
5 tracks, 15 minutes
Released: January 27th, 2022
From: Chicago, IL
Genres: Rock, DIY, Punk, Alternative
Recommended For Fans Of: VIAL, Girl K, Wombo, Blushh, Mom Rock
Described in their Spotify bio as a ‘queer mom-rock band,” Quarter Life Crisis is the second EP from Chicago band Pinksqueeze, and first with their full lineup. The 2020 debut EP, Chicago Is a Lake Town, featured just the founding members (Ava & April) on guitar and vocals before adding Logan on drums and Anna on bass last year for the creation of this EP. As a result, the songs are bigger, louder, and more dynamic than the gentler, somber tracks that made up the debut. Undoubtedly these new songs will add an exciting element to their live shows, which the group describes as, "like being at a sleepover with friends you just haven't met yet." The love the band members hold for each other is evident in the way they bounce through these 5 tracks. Gang vocals feel like a joyous occasion, and the EP sounds like you get to be a fly on the wall while 4 friends enjoy a jam-sesh. The abundant friendship reinforces the idea that the ‘quarter life crisis’ themes across this EP (fumbling through your 20s, climate change, relationships, pandemics, figuring out your life, etc.) are better tackled in good company than by yourself.
Standout Track: U-Haul
A Song
Ashtray - Hippo Campus
While the new album is probably going to be divisive to fans of the band, I’ve found myself enjoying the change in direction. I think it was the exact jolt of energy and excitement Hippo Campus needed to follow up their 2018 album BAMBI with. This is the song in particular that I keep playing over and over.
A Video
Vest & Boxers - Lava La Rue
Step into Lava La Rue’s colorful dream world with the wonderful music video for Vest & Boxers. If you pay close attention to the blog (why wouldn’t you?), you’ll remember La Rue from my list of favorite EPs from 2021. Here they follow that project up by taking viewers on a surreal first date. It’s a delightful bop, and great sign of what’s to come for the rising UK artist.
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