Thank the glitter-splattered moose in the sky (my deity of choice) for music.
While I didn’t need an amazing soundtrack to cushion the harshness of a long train commute, it was pivotal to my morning exercise routine which, as the only time I was allowed out during COVID, became incredibly important indeed.
So, as I went out earlier and earlier to avoid people – I started the lockdown period with exercise starts at 7.30am which eventually migrated to 6am, the better to avoid the human race (weird for me as an extrovert to avoid rather than embrace people but these are isolating four own safety times in which we live) – and music became my way to feel like things were normal.
They weren’t, of course, but music and exercise made it feel sort of like it was, and with so much time on their hands, many lockdown artists were prolific, meaning that the choice was endless and bountiful.
This meant that finding 25 songs I love wasn’t hard at all, but as always, abundance doesn’t mean all of them resonate with me and in the end, the yardstick for a true sticking song was how often it got played.
Simply out, these songs got played a lot, with some of them on an endless loop, including ABBA’s first new songs in 39 years which get a special mention outside of the top 25 because they mattered so much to me.
I have been a staunch ABBA fan since the mid 1970s and so hearing “I Still Have Faith on You”, and “Don’t Shut Me Down” at 2am Australian time as they were launched in London on Friday 2 September was an untold transcendent joy, as was the later release in late October of “Just a Notion”, with 1978 vocals and all-new 21st century production.
The release pf album #9, Voyage, on 5 November was also a massive highpoint with a listening party at 7.30am via the International ABBA fan club making a real event of it.
So, no the year was terrible but the music was good, very good, and for that I am thankful …
“Alice” by Lady Gaga
There is a lot to like on Lady Gaga’s 2020 release Chromatica, which I duly downloaded when it was released but which I only ever listened to in the context of its lead singles “Stupid Love” and “Rain on Me”. For reasons that have a lot to do with the disruption caused by COVID lockdowns and subsequent lengthy stints of working from home – most of my album listening happens on train commutes which didn’t take place for nine months of last year – I didn’t really listen to the album all the way through, song by song, until January/February this year at which point “Alice” leapt out at me, possessed of a gripping thematic centre – we’re all searching for wonderland in our own way, aren’t we? – a pounding beat and exuberant melody and some emotionally evocative lyrics that capture the existential dilemma at the song’s heart perfectly. I like the way Mark Richardson of The Wall Street Journal described the song, saying “Over a kinetic house track with the trademarks of the genre—hissing offbeat high-hat, neo-Latin keyboards playing a cyclical melody—Gaga describes a fantasy world out of Lewis Carroll.” Highly, amazingly repeat listenable and I did – a LOT.
“Bruise Boy” by Jean Dawson
You know how some songs sound appealing but almost instantly glance off you leaving no permanent mask on your aural memory while others go deep immediately and stay in high lasting rotation for the duration.
“BRUISE BOY” by rapper and singer Jean Dawson is just such a song that hits you with its distinctive blend of “pop melodies and hip-hop production” (The Fader) right off the bouncingly listenable bat and just gets richer with every listen.
The song, lifted from Dawson’s October 2020 album “Pixel Bath”, reflects the artist’s melding of sounds, which his biography on AllMusic calls a “lyrical and hypnotic genre-mashing blend of hip-hop, trap, and experimental indie rock.”
It indeed compelling to listen to with the video accompanying the song bringing it alive as a reflection of his dreams, a perfect melding of unique sound and vision.
“until we meet again” by yergurl
Goosebump-inducing shimmeringly beautiful is the only way to describe “until we meet again” by Melbourne, Australia pop artist yergurl, which takes a wholly affecting deep dive into the end of something that might yet have a new beginning:
“‘Until we meet again (UWMA)’ is about breaking up with someone you still love. I wrote ‘UWMA’ after a very amicable break up and we were saying that we’d like to get together again if our life situations allow. My previous single ‘Skateboard’ was written at the very start of the relationship when I thought it was gonna be a short lived high school romance and ‘UWMA’ is our break-up song. His face features in the music video, just like how he actually featured in the ‘Skateboard’ video so it brings our story full circle. So I see ‘UWMA’ as the ending of the ‘Skateboard’ story … for now.'” (The AU Review)
There is so much longing, affection longing in this superlatively robustly ethereal track which makes emotionally impacting use, as Danica Jones at The AU Review notes, of “storytelling and addictive multi-layered sounds.”
It is a stunningly emotive song that captures all the agony and ecstasy of wanting to keep something going but realising that life, for a multitude of reasons, is making this impossible, leaving you with no choice but to take necessary but regretfully melancholic steps, and it will lodge itself into your heart for the duration.
“Genesis” by Spencer.
The atmosphere in this song is sublime. Airy beats percolate around an insistent melody that haunts the start of the song before the huskily evocative vocals of American music artist Spencer. makes their present felt, and how. This song, which is a cover of a Grimes track is evocative and beautiful, an atmospheric slice of near perfect pop that feel emotionally intimate and gloriously removed all at once. It is a real thing of beauty, one of those songs that wraps itself around you and happily never lets go.
“Slow Clap” (feat. Saweetie) by Gwen Stefani
I have loved and adored Gwen Stefani for years but that love cemented itself well and truly in 2004 (the year I came out so things tend to stick in your mind) when the lead single of her solo career “What You Waiting For?” from her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. captured my attention so completely that it was almost all I listened to for months. Well, not quite, but I adored it, and I fell almost as completely in love with “Slow Clap”, released in March this year, which features a collaboration with rising American rapper Saweetie. The song is evocative of the star’s earlier work with a jagged, fun, highly danceable energy that has you moving around the room like the world is one big happy place, which is quite an achievement given how undanceable 2021 turned out to be.
“Space” by AUDREY NUNA
Have you every a strong impelling urge to push everyone and everything far from you?
New Jersey-born singer and rapper AUDREY NUNA certainly knows what that feels like with the talented up-and-coming artist pouring her heart and soul and a celebration of her Korean-American identity into the startlingly beautiful song “Space”.
Coming complete with a meditative, visual striking video, “Space” is a gorgeous piece of lo-fi pop, anchored by the artist’s luminously atmospheric voice which conveys a brittle acknowledgement of the need to be alone for a while.
The song is the perfect marriage of emotion, music and voice, a track that speaks to how so many of us are feeling after a highly stressful 18 months and how perhaps the solution is to simply get away from it all.
If you do, make sure you take this superlative song with you …
UKRAINE (Eurovision 2021): “Shum” by Go_A
THE ARTIST
If there’s one thing that Eurovision excels at in the best possible way, it is delivering up truly distinctive artistic voices that dazzle and impress simply because they have an unmissable spark of originality that is evident in everything from the song they sing to they imaginative way they perform it.
Ukraine’s Go_A (Kateryna Pavlenko, Ihor Didenchuk, Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Hryhoriak) fits that mold to a tee, packaging up Ukrainian folklore in hypnotically mesmerising electronica that sounds like nothing you have ever heard before mixed in with some very contemporary and highly repeat-listenable pop.
Founded in 2011 by Shevchenko, the band began making music in earnest in 2012, choosing their name, not from the city in India, which admittedly would have been the perfect quirky, left-of-centre choice, but from a combination of the English word “Go” with the Greek letter “Alpha”.
The band shot to prominence three years in 2015 with “Vesnianka” (Веснянка) not only holding the #1 position on radio station’s Kiss FM’s dance charts for six weeks but being given the heady prize of The Best Track in Ukraine 2015.
That’s impressive stuff but can the band who crave borscht as a fantasy ice cream flavour, go one better in Rotterdam this year?
THE SONG
As gloriously good and quirkily offbeat as last year’s song, “Solovey”, which packed quite the alternative dark electornbica punch, “SHUM” is one of those things that deserves to do well at Eurovision simply because it is so brilliantly original.
But more than that, the song, all pan pipes, surging beats, and arresting vocals, is a dance feast, a song that builds and builds and BUILDS, with an occasional perfectly-judged pause, before heading into a frenzy of head swirling movement in its final third.
While the original version of the song had a tad more edge, the officially submitted mix of the song delivers with a sense of vibrantly upbeat gothic theatre, a subversively edgy beauty that more than matches the more and a spirited sense of occasion that means it will make quite the impression at Eurovision, a contest that has always loved its modern beats mixed with more traditional sounds.
Visually Go_A have the goods too so it’s hard to see all their visual artistry and a distinctive, elevating musicality that gets the pulse racing in all the right ways, cannot combine to grand final entering and top 10 placing effect.
Look for this to be one of the standouts of this year’s contest.
LITHUANIA (Eurovision 2021): “Discoteque” by The Roop
THE ARTIST
The Roop, made of Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, and Mantas Banišauskas, like mixing lots of genres into their work.
Lots and lots of genres; try rock, pop-rock, soft-rock, dance-rock, indie and pop, which instead generating some kind of twisted Frankenstein beast of a musical identity, give The Roop a unique quirky and infectiously catchy sensibility.
With two albums (To Whom It May Concern in 2015 and Ghosts in 2017) and an EP (Yes, I Do in 2018) to their credit, there’s ample evidence that the group are able to create memorable pop that grabs the attention of their fans:
“The Roop shows are a mix of energy and feel. Listeners never remain indifferent and bravely get immersed in the musical storytelling of the band. Live shows are characterized as lively, honest and having a strong relationship with the audience.” (Eurovision.tv)
A little older than your typical pop stars – lead singer and band leader Valiukevičius dismisses this as an issue, saying “I wish to send my listeners confidence and good vibes. We are all capable of being who we want when we want, and age is not important.” – The Roop stand ready to make a headily different statement at this year’s contest.
THE SONG
Good lord, but this is a FUN song!
FUN FUN FUN FUN … FUN!
A firm favourite since it first emerged a few months back, “Discoteque” is a vividly yellow slice of disco pop that celebrates giving into your private inner dancer and letting your dancing freak flag fly and while you’re at it, healing what ails you with movement and exuberant abandon.
Building to a euphorically infectious chorus that definitely makes you want to hit the dancefloor, wherever that may be, “Discoteque” is a thousand kinds of delight and happiness and releasing joy, a song so catchily good – so good in fact it will have along life beyond Eurovision – that it will propel Lithuania not only to the grand final but to a eminently possible top 5 finish.
How will we celebrate? By dancing alone, of course …
“Cloudy Day” by Tones and I
Do you ever hear a song for the first time and know, just know, that you will play it into the ground, and beyond and be listening to it for years to come?
That happened the first time this reviewer’s ears chanced upon “Cloudy Day” by Australian singer-songwriter-producer Tones and I aka Toni Watson whose latest slice of pop perfection came out, in a happy piece of lyrical happenstance on or near the same day as Lorde’s “Solar Power”. (Let’s hear it for weather-powered music!)
The song is an exuberant piece of upbeat pop that contains some giddily sage meditations on seeing the good in the bad which came from a very dark time in the artist’s life as per NME.
“After my friend T passed away I was struggling to write any songs that were happy or that I even liked. I met up with a friend who told me this saying from his late mum — ‘on a cloudy day, look up into the sky and find the sun.’ I knew I wanted to use that as a lyric and the next time I went into the studio I wrote ‘Cloudy Day.'”
As someone who struggle mightily after the death of my dad and mum, I understand completely where she was and why this song is so real and important for anyone grappling with how to live when someone desperately dear is no longer with you.
“Ears Bunny” by Maddie Ross
If you’re wondering if it’s possible to sing about having your heart broken and sound quirky and crunchy guitar pop vibrant and lyrically quirky, then it very much is.
“Ears Bunny”, which Broadway World observes “[laughs] off the arrogance of her ex and their new lover before thanking them for the betrayal”, has a clever title, bitingly incisive but somehow playful lyrics and a carthatic message that the artist hopes resonates with people.
“I hope this song makes people feel powerful, feel some catharsis, and maybe enjoy a little revenge with the twist in the final chorus.”
And it comes from a very broken place too as Broadway World details.
“Later that year, she received the kind of phone call that divides your life into before and after. Her partner of six years called from a stop on tour, admitting to having feelings for someone else and ending their relationship. Ross had spent the last half-decade writing bubbly, upbeat songs with this partner, accepting her queer identity and finding happiness, trying to fill a niche of ultra-femme, women-loving-women, positive pop that she felt was missing from the queer canon. Now she found herself heartbroken, needing to release a tidal wave of hurt, betrayal, and anger.”
No one should ever live through that but while nothing ever really eases that kind of hurt, “Ears Bunny” is a powerful response that shows that kind of betrayal never really goes unchallenged.
“Jackie” by Yves Tumor
We live are living in existentially dark and troubling times, and so as antidote, we need someone like Yves Tumor, the recording moniker of Floridian experimental music producer Sean Bowie, to divert us with thoughtful lyrics, engagingly effervescent music and a persona that rise well and truly above the pack.
Their vibrant musicality is on abundant display in “Jackie”, a song which Pitchfork describes thus:
“Their latest single “Jackie” is from the same family, a cut of heat-sick psych rock that closes in on heartbreak with sharp precision. Like their damaged ballad ‘Kerosene!’, ‘Jackie’ is a dispatch from a relationship in purgatory …”
The song is an exploration of the emotional hell of love dying and not dying at the same time, with the artist singing about being caught up in the resulting chaos with a voice that Pitchfork poetically says “could boil water”.
It cuts right to the core, a song that perfectly fuses agonised lyrics with crunching music and a whole world of bewildered hurt in the emotively-rich vocals.
“Chaeri” by Magdalena Bay
Hailing from the perpetually sunny climes of Los Angeles, Magdalena Bay, comprising Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, have demonstrated they have a talented way with brilliant synth-driven pop.
It’s quite remarkable given that before delving into creating sublime, hugely listenable pop, the two artists, who, according Miami New Times, “met in 2011 at Live! Modern School of Music, an after-school music program in North Miami they attended while in high school” have never really listened to the genre, preferring the sounds of prog-rock.
“It’s definitely been a learning experience for us,” Lewin says. “Having never really listened to or made pop music before, [we’ve been] figuring it out as we went along.” (Miami New Times)
They are clearly quick learners because songs like “Chaeri” are richly, moodily melodic, sporting meaningful lyrics and Tenenbaum’s intensely, emotively atmospheric vocals, and a whole lot more as Pitchfork notes.
“Synths, bass, and a pulse-like techno beat set the ambience as Mica Tenenbaum’s quivering vocals channel space-age vixens or whispering fortune tellers. Here, the duo sounds more polished than DIY, and if listening to them used to feel like dancing in latex jumpsuits, it’s now more like floating in a space dystopia.”
“dumb, dumb” by mazie
Born in Maryland but now happily resident creating music in Los Angeles, mazie has taken a childhood full of classical music and jazz and used it to make infectiously fun tracks like “dumb dumb” which had it’s genesis in part from hearing The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album which “completely changed how I thought of creating music … I was so blown away by the bizarreness and creativity of that album and how it still translated into a massively successful commercial release.” (LadyGunn.com) The clever thing about this slice of fun but artfully clever pop is that it goes out all quirky, both musically and visually and yet has some lyrical seriousness at its heart. It may be only just over two minutes long but it has considerable impact making you hit repeat until you start gleefully singing “Everyone is dumb” like a fiend (it was the song of lockdown where, when out exercising, I see people not socially distancing, not wearing masks and all in the midst of a raging number of COVID cases in my local area).
“Vibrate” by Mr Jukes, Barney Artist
The partnership of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman, in the guise of his solo persona Mr Jukes, and London rapper Barney Artist is one of those perfect partnerships for which you can thank whichever god you believe in.
Because not only does “Vibrate”, the follow-up to “Blowin’ Steam (Open Your Mind)” feel like all the good things ever, it is the product of the work of two people who actually like each other as Barney explains via NME.
“‘Vibrate’ was the very last song we made for the album. It really summarises mine and Jack’s relationship which is great vibes with a meaningful message.”
Apart from the chilled warmth and fun of the track, which is there in abundance, the song the album is from the pair’s joint album The Locket, the aim of which, rather happily, is “to bring hope to people after the maddest year.” (Barney Artist via The Line of Best Fit)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Black Widow Opening Credits) by Malia J
Good lord but this is atmospheric.
A cover of Nirvana’s epicly iconic track “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the song used in the hauntingly emotional opening credits of Black Widow, Marvel’s first cinematic release in two years, is the inspired work of Malia J, an Hawaiian singer-songwriter whose voice captures a whole other level of melancholic angst in a track already redolent with it.
Malia J and the cinema-inclined composter collective Think Up Anger, who compose, in their own words, “cinematic music with an edge”, were approached in February 2020, according to Den of Geek to soundtrack the exposition-rich start of Black Widow, an offer that didn’t get quite the expected response, according to Consequence Film.
“‘We honestly thought it was a joke and didn’t immediately respond,’ [Malia J] says. ‘ A different version of this cover has been circulating in the TV/film industry since 2015, and I can only speculate that someone from their camp was a fan and wanted to put it in the movie!”
It’s a good thing they took it seriously because this rendition of the classic track is searingly, heart-stoppingly emotive, a brilliant evocative piece of music that sets the scene for a film that is heavy with the darkness of the human heart.
“Mean What I Mean” (Feat. Leikeli47, Dreezy) by AlunaGerorge
Yes, it appears that 2016 must have grabbed the YouTube algorithm by the proverbial short and curlies because here’s another track that hails from what must have been a musically fecund year.
“Mean What I Mean” (Feat. New Yorker Leikeli47 and Chicagoan Dreezy) by AlunaGerorge, who are currently on haitus while singer-songwriter Aluna pursues what she describes as music that springs “singularly from my culture and my perspective”, is another belated YouTube discovery that surges with gorgeously prickly beats, atmospheric lyrics and brilliantly evocative musical flourishes that jack up the energy to utterly addictive degrees.
No idea how this was missed back in the day but thankfully it’s found its way into my playing list now and may well make my tracks of the year for 2021; sure it’s five years late but better late than never for track that’s endlessly compelling and infinitely, danceably listenable.
Lifted from AlunaGeorge’s 2016 album, I Remember, “Mean What I Mean” makes me hope and pray that Aluna (whose solo work is fantastically good too) and producer George Reid will get back in the studio sooner rather than later and make some more infectiously catchy pop.
“Queen” (feat. mxmtoon) by G Flip
There is a beguilingly dreamy beauty to “Queen”, which G Flip recently performed at Sydney Mardi Gras, which magically belies the robust message it is sending out to a world that needs to hear songs of female empowerment now more than ever.
Described by ThomasBleach as possessing “a minimalistic edge to the production that cohesively floats in a dreamy aesthetic” with “a groovy guitar riff that drives a prominent rhythmic energy from start to finish” has a lot of important, inspiring things to see according to Australian singer-songwriter G Flip, who collaborated on the track with California-based singer-writer mxmtoon (aka Maia):
“‘Queen was written about the strong women around me, the queens that raised me and the queens I’ve met through my years,’ G Flip said in a statement.
‘My idea of a queen is not necessarily linked to gender; queens come in all forms and walks of life. To me a queen embodies power and strength; they embrace all they are fiercely yet gracefully.'” (NME)
G Flip also has a lot of great thigs to say about the collaboration which was clearly a joy, something which is clearly evident in this listen-on-repeat song:
“‘I was first introduced to her while trying to find ukulele chords to a Khalid song and found her cover on YouTube years ago.’
‘She makes awesome music and her voice has such a cruisy timbre to it so I was thrilled to have her jump on Queen with me. She is also an avid croc lover and part of the LGBTQIA+ community, so obviously it just made sense!'” (NME)
“That Life” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Hailing from New Zealand, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, which sports a name entirely fitting for a band which is known for its supremey well-executed psychedelic rock, have had a very productive time of it since their formation in 2010, offering up five well-received albums.
But at the time of the release of the release of “Weekend Run”, which came out on 25 June, 2021, they hadn’t released any new music since 2018’s Sex & Food.
So, “Weekend Run” and its follow-up, “That Life”, which released two months later, have been very much welcomed by anyone who appreciates accessibly catchy music with some soul and thought behind it.
Speaking about “That Life”, the frontman for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ruban Nielson, says the song “was inspired by The Garden of Earthly Delights, a triptych oil painting by the Early Netherlandish maestro Hieronymus Bosch [which brings] together images of ‘luxury, reverie, damnation’, Ruban set out to recreate this symbolism in ‘That Life’, a perverse panorama of modern-day America that sounds like a long-lost Stones loosie.” (We Are: The Guard)
“The Fire” by Austen
Hailing from Brisbane Australia, Austen is a fresh new atmospheric voice in the world of pop.
Described in her triple j unearthed bio as possessing a “unique band and emotive indie-pop”, Austen’s songs such as “The Fire” reflect her wide love of influences which run from the “vintage of the 60’s as it does towards the futuristism of the 3000’s.”
A song which Acid Stag describes as “a booming single filled with insanely addictive melodies and euphoric instrumentation that depicts a tale of living life on the edge”, “The Fire” is one of those brilliantly catchy and immersive songs that subsumes you in a luscious melody, evocatively resonant vocals and lyrics that get to the heart of the matter.
It is that perfect mix of the highly listenable and the meaningful, a pop song with a brain which the artist says is “about living on the line between volatile and steady, in a sweet spot of intensity. I wanted it to sound otherworldly, as a reflection of that feeling.”
It will happily finds its way into your soul and resolutely refuses to leave and trust me, you’ll be more than okay with this.
“Heartaches” by Shallou
Shallou is proof positive that a piece of pop doesn’t have to bombastically shout from the rooftops to have real emotional impact.
His gorgeously listenable track “Heartaches” is one of those mid-tempo slices of melodic perfection that does build up a head of steam but nevertheless stays in a relatively chilled lane with Acid Stag noting that it’s “a minimalistic composition that packs a serious punch with its deepened grooves and soothing melodies bringing your mind at ease with its calming manner.”
There is a delightfully upbeat electro influence to proceedings which can’t help with get your feet tapping and your mind engaging with thoughtful lyrics which the Los Angeles-based artist says is “full of longing about experiencing the passions of love during a hard time”, but even with this undeniable danceable element, the song remains one of those beautiful pieces of music that charms rather than crashes through.
If anyone ever says to you that synth-based pop is incapable of being truly richly emotional, then point them to his heartfelt pop gem which wears its proverbial on its sleeve and isn’t afraid to be real and honest while getting you into a groove you won’t really want to leave.
“Here Comes the Night” by Agnes
It is a rare thing indeed in this music release saturated digital age, to have any one song suddenly rise up and take your attention so completely that no other tracks get a look in days but that is precisely what happened when I came across the new track from 2005 Swedish Idol winner Agnes (aka Agnes Emilia Carlsson) via the very good people at Scandipop.
They boldly claimed the third single from the artist’s new album, Magic Still Exists, which releases today, as “the song of the year”, something which turned out to be far from hyperbole.
Her first long player since 2012’s Veritas (an EP was released in 2019), Magic Still Exists could not have announced itself more magnificently than with the high-powered, full speed ahead, massively danceable momentum of “Here Comes the Night” which the artist describes this way.
“My latest single, ‘Here Comes The Night’ is a homage to all of us out there who are longing to just let go. It is a declaration to the dreamers, the night, the mist, the spirituality. Those that dare to fall in love – with the moment, the people around them and themselves. Hopefully, it will guide the listener into a moment of something they can call freedom.” (Volatile Weekly)
It’s one of those tracks that makes your spirit soar, your heart gaze longingly at the door wondering you might go and brings you alive with the kind of euphoric joy that a pandemic-dampened reality had all but forgotten.
“IDFWFEELINGS” by UPSAHL
Get up and dance!
That seems to be the central message from American singer-songwriter UPSAHL, born Taylor Cameron Upsahl, who has an inspired gift for crafting upbeat pop so compulsive that it cannot be ignored, with The Line of Best Fit going so far as to say that her latest album Lady Jesus “refuses any moment to sit down”.
Given how much sitting we’ve all been doing over the last two COVID-ravages years, that can only be a good thing with “IDWFEELINGS” driving the tempo up with a relentless power that muses with extreme prejudice on the perils of letting yourself getting invested with guys who inevitably let you down.
This song is ruefulness set to an energetic driving beat and it will help you get in touch with your inner cynic and dance all the pain and stress far, far away and as Nerds and Beyond observes, take a whole different freeing approach to love and dating.
“IDFWFEELINGS” describes a different stage in UPSAHL’s healing process after the messy end to her last relationship shown at the start of the album. Rather than jumping into another relationship that comes with the chance of getting hurt again, UPSAHL instead revels in the catharsis she gets from one-night stands due to their no strings attached nature.
“On My Knees” by RÜFÜS DU SOL
There’s a delicious sense of dark foreboding as the tremblingly dark strains of “On My Knees” start to unfurl with hauntingly intense vocals washing over them.
L.A.-based Australians RÜFÜS DU SOL (Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt), who go upper or lower caps with their band’s name depending on their preference on the day, have put together a song that is all swirling intensity, light pop danceability and emotional resonant vocals.
“On My Knees” is a song that takes quite the journey over its evocative run time as Pile Rats observes:
“Over the course of ‘On My Knees” four-minute duration, the trio reckon with these intense and hard-hitting sounds, delving further into the club backbone of their work and the brooding, dark-lit sonics that often exist within that space. It’s something that when combined with Tyrone Linqvist’s aching vocals, creates this haunting sense of longing that drives everything forward; On My Knees storming with emotions that pair perfectly with the song’s firing, dusky production.”
The decision to piush boundaries was quite deliberate, says Hunt.
“For this song we had a lot of fun writing something that was darker, driving and a little more edgy.” (Pile Rats)
It’s a perfect song for a live setting which themselves are finally slowly coming back to life after a long pandemic hiatus.
“No Doubt About It” by ABBA
Hands down my favourite song on an album that came as a very welcome surprise after 39 years, “No Doubt About It” is an upbeat dose of ABBA perfection which surges from almost the word go, with Frida musing on the way she often freaks out and is prone to making a hash of things (“I messed it up, alright / And there’s no doubt about it”) and yet, how her partner is always there in her corner. Admittedly it does seem the balance is all flowing one way, which any of us in a relationship know is never the case, but then again, there can often be one person in the relationship who’s in a tough place and needs their partner to have their back. They definitely do in this whirl of upbeat wonder which is punctuated by some deliciously resonant “heys” and a heady sense of musical and lyrical momentum that will not be denied.
“I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” by Glass Animals
British indie band Glass Animals – Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer
and Joe Seaward – have a knack for crafting memorably cool pop.
Case in point is “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance), which creatively addresses what it’s been like to emerge from the suffocating strangeness of the COVID cocoons we’ve all been inhabiting for the last two years.
“Talking is great, don’t get me wrong. But this pandemic has made so many of us look inwards in a way we maybe haven’t before,” Dave Bayley says of the song. “The uncertainty in the world and the inability to go out and create new memories makes you dig deep into the past. It really fed people’s deepest insecurities and rattled our foundations in so many ways. Relationships changed, friendships altered, and self-confidence was warped. I spent a lot of time talking to my dog, but even more time talking to myself in my head, which was keeping me up all night, and my friends and family were doing the same.
“It felt like we were all put in a pressure cooker, but there was no way to let out the steam. That’s what this track is about – that pressure cooker exposing and expanding so many cracks, but struggling to fill them in and decompress. I want people to switch their devices off, put this song on, close their eyes, and have that release for a moment.” (DIY Mag)
You heard the man! Set everything else aside and dance – it will do you a world of good, especially with songs this good to soundtrack your escapist moment.