WIBLT: new music to help you through the end of winter
WIBLT: new music to help you through the end of winter
What I've Been Listening To, 3/3/21
The last time I did a post, Daft Punk still existed. Industry moves fast these days, good thing we have my ‘What I’ve Been Listening To’ posts to help you keep up.
You can stay up to date on these with the below playlist that updates throughout the year with the 8 standout tracks from each post:
From Then 'til Now - Haich Ber Na
4 tracks, 14 minutes
Released: February 17th, 2021
From: London, UK
Genres: Electronic, Pop, Dance
Recommended For Fans Of: James Blake, SBTRKT, Toro y Moi, Ty Dolla $ign
Haich Ber Na grabbed my attention last year with the incredible single By Floras, and certainly hasn’t lost it heading into their third EP, From Then ‘til Now. The London artist is a self-taught musician, producer, mixer, and director, who got his start producing hip-hop and grime before transitioning over to electronic and pop sounds. He describes this new project as, “mainly me doing Ty Dolla $ign impressions over weird beats,” but I’d give his originality a little more credit than that. The blend of pop vocals over electronic beats creates a very unique project that isn’t to be missed.
Standout Track: 0594 Help
A History of Silence - Sibille Attar
10 tracks, 39 minutes
Released: February 26, 2021
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Genres: Alternative, Indie Pop, Electronic, Psychedelic
Recommended For Fans Of: Madonna, Georgia
A History of Silence is Sibille Attar’s first full length album since 2013. Despite receiving a lot of critical acclaim, and even a Swedish Grammy nomination off of her earlier projects, Attar found herself falling out of love with music after facing the uglier side of the music industry. In the time since her last album, she realized she could combat this by cutting out the middleman and working on her own. This entire album was written, recorded, and mixed entirely by Attar herself. Sonically, it follows the footsteps of 80s pop, even featuring a cover of the Madonna track Oh Father. The lead single Hurt Me is highlighted by a knockout 80s drumbeat that Attar croons over, with possibly the best use of strings in a pop song since Untouched by The Veronicas (I mean it).
Standout Track: Hurt Me
The Fun Is Here? - Cosima
7 tracks, 17 minutes
Released: February 26th, 2021
From: London, England
Genres: R&B, Alternative, Singer/Songwriter
Recommended For Fans Of: Jorja Smith, Amber Mark, Empress Of
The Fun Is Here? is Cosima’s second project, following up the debut EP from 2016. This project is the first released on Cosima’s own record label, South of Heaven, which she started in 2019 (I love the incredibly simple website they’re rocking right now. Straight to the point). She cites a desire for control and ownership as the reason for starting the label, saying it’s something women in the industry are rarely allotted. Cosima has a knack for creating beautifully layered harmonies, that might come from her self-admitted obsession with a capellas. The first song she ever remembers hearing was Tracy Chapman’s a capella track Behind the Wall. There’s even a lovely a capella on this project with the track Babyyyy <3, but the vocals shine throughout this entire project, wether they’re accompanied by instruments or not.
Standout Track: Philly
Stay Gone - Calyx
10 tracks, 32 minutes
Released: February 12th, 2021
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Genres: Punk, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Joyce Manor, Cloud Nothings, Oceanator
After years of releasing singles and EPs, Pittsburgh band Calyx comes through with a strong debut album in Stay Gone. The project is described as being 5 years in the making, and required lots of 10 to 16 hour days in the studio. While there’s a lot to like here, this album is highlighted by the fast and explosive drumming of Garrett Cassidy. More than anything though Stay Gone shows how in sync Calyx is as a unit, with the vocals, guitar, bass, and drums all bouncing off of each other perfectly. Also I’ll never say no to listening to a band that can nail gang vocals.
Standout Track: Onom
Romance - Jäde
9 tracks, 25 minutes
Released: February 12th, 2021
From: Paris, France
Genres: R&B, Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: DaniLeigh, Justine Skye, Kali Uchis
Romance follows up Jäde’s 2020 debut EP Première fois. Gliding effortlessly between rapping and singing, Jäde proves that she can lay vocals on any type of beat. While understanding French might give you a greater appreciation of these tracks, it’s not required to enjoy the smooth R&B cuts and the punchy hip-hop tracks.
Standout Track: Adèle
Hoorsees - Hoorsees
9 tracks, 38 minutes
Released: February 19th, 2021
From: Paris, France
Genres: Garage Rock, Indie, Shoegaze
Recommended For Fans Of: Pavement, Big Deal, Guided By Voices
Another Parisian artist here, but this time the lyrics are in English. Hoorsees self titled debut album has arrived, and it’s not to be missed.`The band is a four-piece fronted by Alexin Huysmans, who have crafted catchy lyrics with even catchier guitar riffs. The lyrics are often drenched in sadness and sometimes self-deprecation, but that doesn’t make them hard to enjoy in the slightest. Take a listen to an album that the label calls, “the best Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 soundtrack.”
Standout Track: Get Tired
Anywhere But Here - TiKA
10 tracks, 40 minutes
Released: February 26th, 2021
From: Toronto, Ontario
Genres: R&B, Synth Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Janelle Monáe, Prince
Canadian artist TiKA makes their presence felt with the debut album Anywhere But Here. TiKA is a musician to the core, with a “day job” composing music for film and television shows to help support their own music career.
“I act on the side. I do a little teaching on the side and some mentorship. I model, I’m a plus-size model. I do a plethora of different things, which most black women have to do, we have to be able to pivot. I don't really think I'm that different from anyone else, but it's cool. It's dope to be able to do that kind of work.” - TiKA for Flaunt Magazine
There’s a lot of original tracks worth celebrating here (Soothing Heart? Interstellar Vibes? The vocal performance on Walking Disaster? Come on!!), but the standout to me has to be their take on Prince’s classic track I Would Die 4 U. This cover provides TiKA’s own spin that makes it feel natural on the tracklist, while also keeping the spirit of the original alive.
Standout Track: I Would Die 4 U
Four People In An Elevator And One Of Them Is The Devil - Mister Goblin
9 tracks, 29 minutes
Released: February 19th, 2021
From: Bloomington, Indiana
Genres: Emo, Folk, Post-Punk
Recommended For Fans Of: Death Cab for Cutie, Into It. Over It., Conor Oberst
The title of this album is a provocative mouthful, and apparently based off a movie written by M. Night Shyamalan about a group of people who get stuck in an elevator. They discover one of them is the devil, and have to figure out who it is. It’s not a great movie from what I understand, but this album takes its themes and reimagines them with better execution. Those themes include, “culpability, blame, ideas of good and evil, and just morality in general.” Mister Goblin is the solo project of Sam Woodring, one half of the now defunct Maryland band Two Inch Astronaut. Woodring made this album in quarantine, and thought of the themes as a homage to a movie that mostly takes place in one room. The lyrics hit a balance between humor and sadness over some beautiful instrumentals.
Standout Track: Hook In The Eye
A Song
Feeding Off The Moon (Feat. Skufl) - Kenny Mason
Kenny Mason has been proving to be one of raps more interesting newcomers. He dropped a song last week called Partments which was great, but I want to throw it back to this track he released a few months ago. Rap and rock have always been constantly intersecting with each other, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a rapper venture into rapping on old school British metal. Mason raps over a sample of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, and it works way better than that sounds on paper. I wouldn’t say no to a whole album of this sound.
A Video
Heavy Metal - Paris Texas
Paris Texas made a big impact this past week debuting this song and video. It’s their first release ever, and its taken no time to rack up thousands of views on Youtube already. Watching the video and hearing the track makes it easy to see why. The duo raps over abrasive guitar chords backed by fascinating and violent imagery. If Paris Texas puts this much care into all their future releases, they’ll be around for a long time.
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