New Music Weekly #21 | Courtney Barnett, The National & Taylor Swift
New Music Weekly is your one stop shop for new releases in the world of music. From the best of the best, to some of the rest, Mark Conroy is here to give you the low down on what you might have missed. This week: Courtney Barnett, The National, Taylor Swift and more…
The National ‘Day I Die’
Of the four singles they’ve released off of their upcoming album Sleep Well Beast, The National’s most recent release ‘Day I Die’ is the group’s most forceful piece of rock in recent memory. The edge-like guitar riff screeches the song into life as the driving rhythm of the drums provide the weight.
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile ‘Over Everything’
It’s hard to imagine two songwriters more suited to each other’s styles than Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile. The aloof, laidback but exquisite lyricism of both artists make their collaboration seem as inevitable as Arsenal not winning the league this season. Even if it is a collaborative effort, the simply strung song is actually an ode to the lonely living and the inspiration that can come about through isolated introspection.
Summer Heart ‘Love Affairs’
Summer Heart makes provocative, pristine pop. New track ‘Love Affairs’ is a dream. A shimmering, sultry piece of lo-fi romance that subverts as it shines. It’s a bop for your beloved, plain and simple.
Mogwai ‘Every Country’s Sun’
Mogwai’s latest album Every Country’s Sun came out in the past week, and it’s one of their better releases. The title track is a standout. Acting as the euphoric closer, its basically the album’s near six-minute-long crescendo.
Jessie Ware ‘Selfish Love’
Jessie Ware’s new track is an like a sultry mid-60’s throwback with a contemporary twist. The title says it all, with Ware finding herself floundering in a relationship with someone who doesn’t at all give what they get. It’s a slow burner with a twisted video to boot.
Taylor Swift ‘…Ready For It’
‘Look What you met Do’, Taylor Swift’s first single off of her upcoming album Reputation was a weak Right Said Fred effort, desperately in need of a hook with some actual bait on it. Follow up ‘…Ready For It’ is certainly stronger and suggests that the direction of the LP is one laced with some attitude and some more sinister barbs at her detractors. A dark bop by her standards. ‘..Ready For It’ is a like a Yeezus track that’s been given a bit of pop polishing. Is it a deliberate reference to a Kanye West record? For Taylor, is there any other kind?
Florist ‘Understanding Light’
Florist sophomore album If Blue Could Be Happiness and it’s third single dropped last week. ‘Understanding Light’ is an warm-hearted acoustic number that captures a gentle sense of melancholy.
