New Music Weekly #49 | The Carters, Still Corners and Teyana Taylor
New Music Weekly is your one-stop shop for new releases in the world of music each and every week. 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: The Carters, Still Corners, Teyana Taylor & More…
Gia Margaret ‘Birthday’
Chicago based singer/songwriter Gia Margaret will next month be dropping her debut album There’s Always Glimmer. Based on this early single, that title sounds fitting already. ‘Birthday’ is about finding the kernel of hope in the face of a crushing, personal loss. Over airy ambiance and serene strumming, Margaret sings with delicate, naked vulnerability. “Could it ever feel okay not to be with you on your birthday?” she asks with a despondent sense of acceptance. The answer is of course, no but maybe in the future the day will bring about fond recollection of life well spent instead of one cut short.
The Carters ‘Apeshit’
Even if their choice of name is a bit suspect—‘The Carters’ makes it sound like they are about to play Tullamore county hotel to a packed crowd of octogenarians—trust Beyoncé and Jay-Z to deliver one of 2018’s most reliable bangers. ‘Apeshit’ is an anthem of unification following two albums that gave of us an image a possible marriage on the Rocks(Lemonade and 4:44). People may be question the veracity of the power couple’s last 3 releases, but cynical marketing ploy or genuine declaration of love, the song delivers as bass-throbbing, boisterous ode to fidelity. Pharrell’s production, bustling with 808s-fuelled energy, sets the stage for Queen Bee to prove she can rap just as well as her peers when she wants to.
Jenn Champion ‘Coming For You’
Jenn Champion, formally of Carissa’s Wierd, will be releasing her first solo record under her new moniker. ‘Coming For You’ is the charming third single from the upcoming release entitled Single Rider. Swimming in synth rich atmosphere, the pop leaning track is dreamy slice of sweet vibes.
Still Corners ‘Black Lagoon’
Still Corners were once a London based synth pop group but now the duo have moved to New York state and with a change in location, comes a change in sound. ‘Black Lagoon’ is the intriguing lead single that will appear on the band’s forthcoming fourth album Slow Air. While the synths still simmer just beneath the surface, the song is more like a spacious bit of atmospheric alt tock. Trundling along with gorgeous, momentum gathering guitar lines, ‘Black Lagoon’ is like a bearing down an empty highway that’s being lit by the developing sunset.
Ruston Kelly ‘Jericho’
We really don’t talk about country enough on New Music Weekly so lets change that. Ruston Kelly is perhaps best known as the husband and muse of Kacey Musgraves—he appeared on her recent album as gushed over influence. Kelly also has something of his own career and its certainly worth mentioning. ‘Jericho’ is a tender ballad about the suffering, and the will of the human condition to make it too the other side of it.
Teyana Taylor ‘Rose In Harlem’
Teyana Taylor’s album KTSE, which dropped over the weekend, is the final release that came about as a result of Kanye’s hyper-productive excursion in Wyoming. While it’s certainly the least high profile of the 5 LP’s Ye worked on, it might surprise people that its actually one of the strongest. While not quite reaching the dizzying heights of Pusha T’s Daytona or Kanye/Kid Cudi collab Kids See Ghosts, KTSE is a solid batch of accessible alt R’n’B. ‘Rose in Harlem’, the standout effort, is sumptuously heart-breaking ode to the struggles and virtues of growing up different in difficult environment.
