Fresh Tracks: 5/12/23
New music from The National, Buddie, Beach House + 8 more
Your internet farm cat is back
with a mouth full of music to share.
My hunting took me farther from the farm than usual these past few weeks. The list of songs below should make up for any lost time: new music from favourites and new artists to discover, too.
Take your pick below or enjoy them together in this playlist:
The National, “Grease In Your Hair”
A longstanding staple in this cat’s library, The National started teasing their ninth album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, months ago. On April 28 it finally dropped, and with it came this killer of a song.
Like most albums from The National, it’s going to take a few more weeks to know exactly how I feel about it, but “Grease In Your Hair” stood out in the first listen-thru thanks to its Boxer-era tempo and Matt Berninger’s holding-it-together vocal delivery. At some point, this song will define a significant life event. I just don’t know which one yet.
Thundercat + Tame Impala, “No More Lies”
How do you pass up a joint effort from these two masters? You don’t. Or, at least I don’t. These two helped define the sound of the last decade, whether with their own output or by sprinkling their fairy dust on peers ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Lady Gaga to the Flaming Lips to Kamasi Washington. Honestly, it’s a shock they haven’t worked together until now1.
The drum-obsessed Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) and bass-wizard Stephen Lee Bruner (Thundercat) both know how to lay an infectious groove next to self-effacing lyrics and get away with it. Their combined powers on “No More Lies” do not disappoint.
De La Soul, “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)”
This isn’t exactly a fresh track, but when the single version popped up in my “Release Radar” playlist a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t resist. We’ve discussed
's recent entry into the era of streaming a number of times on Ponytail Press, but I have yet to share unadulterated music, so this will set things right.“Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” will bring you back to the group’s heyday whether you heard the song at its original release in 1991 or not, thanks to its reference of a once popular, now obsolete, friendly form of communication: the answering machine recording, prompting callers to leave their name and number. Oh! the copycat message I would’ve left for you to find if we still bothered with that kind of thing.
Four Tet, “Three Drums”
Four Tet keeps us in the ‘90s with the sound of this sweeping new composition. It’s like he pulled the vocal tracks out of something from The Verve and an early Sigur Ros track and played the two simultaneously. The result would suit the final scene of any coming-of-age set in the decade of bucket hats and tear-aways.
Nico Paulo, “Learning My Ways”
The St. John’s-based, Portugal-born Nico Paulo dropped her first full-length release at the beginning of April, and it’s the perfect thing to guide you out of the cold weather and into proper spring. Produced by fellow Newfoundlander Tim Baker2, the self-titled album simultaneously dashes you with ocean mist while wrapping you in a wool sweater.
“Learning My Ways” isn’t the only stand-out track on Nico Paulo, but it’s the one that lodged itself most securely into the melody-file in my mind. I catch myself whistling the chorus-tune daily.
Nabihah Iqbal, “This World Couldn’t See Us”
Nabihah Iqbal is new to me, but she has an illustrious career behind her that makes me wonder where my blindspots are. The Pakistan-born musician and producer formerly known as Throwing Shade has been doing her thing out of London for ten years. And if her new album Dreamer is any indicator, I have some back-catalogue exploring to do.
“This World Couldn’t See Us” starts by smashing two ‘80s-era ingredients—a Footloose rhythm and a New Order guitar riff—into the same song-sandwich. Then she jumps in with her deadpan, French-cinema poetry to kick the cool-factor up another notch. Quite the tasty treat.
The Clientele, “Blue Over Blue”
The Clientele are one of those groups you either know and consider an institution or don’t know at all. Until about five years ago, I belonged in the latter category, but I’m thankful for my late conversion.
How would I describe them for newcomers? They’re England’s Yo La Tengo, sans the shoegaze noise. They’re songsmiths, and you can hear the experience they’ve acquired by putting their hands to the same wheel for nearly 26 years. “Blue Over Blue,” the first single off their forthcoming I Am Not There Anymore, is just as good an example as any.
Woolworm, “Bangs”
Speaking of noise, this band from Vancouver brings it with a bit of that stoner-vibe you associate with the city.
Funny story: I (almost literally) ran into one of its members while visiting home seven or eight years ago. I don’t remember the interaction that clearly, only that Erica and I were in a car and she (being bass player Heather Black) was walking by. Somehow, in the five seconds we chatted, she told us that she was in this great new band called Woolworm. That was at least half a decade ago, and look where they are now!
Buddie, “We’ll Never Break”
Speaking of stoner-vibes from Vancouver, Buddie is a burgeoning rock band that sounds straight out of my bedroom, circa 2001. Think Weezer from Blue to Green.
“We’ll Never Break” is about what a lot of songs by boys are about: being sad about girls. This one out-does the others with its successful application of the “Sweater Song” method: acoustic verses met with a grunge-gain-chorus to make sure it hits home. The Strathcona garage hasn’t sounded this good in years.
John Davis, “Jesus Gonna Build Me a Home”
Here’s a quote from Nashville songwriter John Davis, courtesy of Bandcamp, defining his use of the term “Gospel music”:
“This is the real Gospel we’re dealing with here,” he wrote, “not the gospel of guns, hatred for migrant people and the LGBTQ+ community being preached by ‘Christians’ like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. They are practitioners of an apostate religion who will be judged accordingly.”
That might be all you need to know about John Davis. Listen to this song and the rest of My Hope Is Found In A God Who Can Raise Up The Dead with that message in mind.
Beach House, “Devil’s Pool”
Shifting now to the other end of the metaphysical spectrum, Beach House—the band that defines post-millennial dream pop—dropped a new EP, Become, at the end of April. From beginning to end, the five tracks deliver the Balitmore group’s signature sound and struggles-of-youth lyrics—but with an extra pinch of Lynchian spookiness to keep things interesting.
“Devil’s Pool” ventures the deepest into the Black Lodge with its basement-organ 808s, arpeggiating guitar, and sympathy for the strung-out and heartbroken. Close your eyes and explore.
Just don’t get lost.
Closest they came was as “ships in the night” in their supporting roles on Gorillaz’s latest album, Cracker Island.
Who I chose as the artist that defined 2022 for me back in our year-end round-up.
The National are in my top ten of all time.
Great selection! As mentioned before, I've been rocking De La for months now. In addition to Ring Ring Ring I've been blasting Watch Out on repeat: https://music.apple.com/us/album/watch-out-feat-jose-perico-hernandez/1664589445
Love Thundercat. Adding that track to my playlist.