Stop the clock! Put down that pen and unhand that computer mouse!
For it is Friday and you have worked hard and stressed mightily over emails, projects and reports, and now it is your time to take a step or 300 back and let the world rush by you while you ratchet the pace down.
Way, way down.
Helping you do that are these five artists who know that you don’t have to be loud and frantic and wantonly attention-seeking to get noticed and say something truly profound.
This is the soundtrack to your chilling, my friends and trust me, you will feel yourself winding down as you take into these five contemplative tracks.
“New Born Baby” by ROSEMI
Korean singer ROSEMI aka Rozy S Kim, whose threadbare biography only adds to her ethereal air of musical mystery, describes her music as “sadcore triphop”.
Atmospherically trippy it may be but not so sure about the sad part; at least as far as deliciously spaced-put vibes of “New Born Baby” are concerned.
It’s not a new song by any means but with the combination of her baby talk vocals and an enticingly languid melody, it’s the sort of track that you can happily disappear into for repeated plays.
This is the ultimate song to chill to; in fact there’s a good chance this is the ultimate piece of music for a Friday afternoon when the travails of the working week have left you sorely in need of some soothing soft electronica.
“Work” by Charlotte Day Wilson
Hailing the eastern half of Canada, Charlotte Day Wilson has penned a track that literally sings about the importance of getting out there and working as hard as you can each and everyday.
In a perfect piece of musical contradiction she has set this earnest mess age of Carpe Diem-ing the hell out of life to some slow-cooking soul that saunters along without a care in the world.
Echoing the light and dark approach of many Scandinavian artists, who combine deeply introspective lyrics with sunnier than Ibiza music, Wilson has crafted a song that has real presence without shouting its message from the virtual rooftops.
And that chilled, soulful vibe is no accident as she tells Pigeons and Planes:
“Soul music has had a huge influence on me throughout my life. I grew up on Motown, listened to lots of 50 Cent as a tween, Feist in high school, and James Blake in university.”
Let’s hear for the classics (and not so classics) inspiring an artist to create music that emboldens you even as it eases you into a place of meditative contemplation.
“Deliverance” by RY X
There is an exquisite loveliness to “Deliverance” by Australian singer/songwriter/musician RY X, better known to his parents as Ry Cuming, right from the first beautiful bars.
While it does pick up a mid-tempo beat somewhere around the middle of the song, which has the song loping along rather than gliding languidly along, it is for the most part an achingly gorgeous piece of unfolding pop anchored by vocals of such raw, intimate emotionality that you can feel every word the artist is singing.
Piano-driven for the most part, and “taking influence from both his previous solo material and his more beat-oriented work with The Acid” (Bit Candy), the song is so immersive than you will likely slide down right into it, never to emerge again.
And frankly there are far worse things that could happen that to lose yourself in music this evocative and deeply resonant.
“Brainwash” by Suuns
In stark but not unwelcome contrast to the artists above, Montreal-based band Sunns strip everything back to bare essentials, albeit a sound that still come with the requisite amount of emotional impact courtesy of the airy, distant but emotionally-rich lyrics.
“Brainwash” is what Bit Candy terms a piece of piece of “post-industrial slab” and frankly they’re not wrong; it comes complete with a minimalist melody, thumping, whirring beats and the sort of laconic pace that suggests a song that is not going anywhere in a hurry.
And yes, while it may not be your standard piece of singalong pop candy, it’s still an utterly memorable lo-fi rock track that comes complete with a very cool VR app that allows you to navigate a virtual 3D metropolis while lazing in the chilled ambience of “Brainwash”.
Creating music that Secretly Canadian says “makes a virtue of cognitive dissonance”, Suuns have given us something utterly unique, music that keeps you alive and engaged even as you tune out.
“Jupiter” by Mount Kimbie
Now this is SMOOOOOOTH.
Using all manner of discordantly melodic samples they recorded for Converse Rubber Tracks suffused into an overarching beat that wraps and twists about them in appealing repose, Mount Kimbie, an electronic duo who hail from the UK, have given us a song in Jupiter than is minimalist yes but utterly beguiling into the bargain.
There is a fey playful magicality to this track which never picks up much of a steam but which remains utterly compelling throughout.
And you can tell the guys had fun making the track; it’s all through the song’s DNA but they also told fans that it was the product of some downtime playing around:
“‘We took a break from new album studio time and DJing to put together a bunch of percussion/synth/FX samples and loops for you to DL for free and mess around with. Converse are hosting it and we used samples from the library to make a track idea. Enjoy!'” (Pigeons and Planes)
It’s a brilliant example of what can happen when you stop the clock, remove any and all expectations and just let loose and see where the creative muse takes you – in this case an utterly joyfully fun place that you’ll want to come back to again and again.
NOW THIS IS MUSIC EXTRA EXTRA!
There’s an exciting new Ghostbusters movie in the offing – thrilled to see Paul Feig’s all new take on things – and with it comes a re-imagined theme song courtesy of Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott.
Not sure I’m in love with it yet but it’s still worth a listen …
(source: Games Radar)
Speaking of new(ish) songs, here’s “Sunday Love” from Bat For Lashes complete with a really cool video …
(source: Paste Magazine)
And lastly Rihanna’s heading way out (Star Trek) Beyond with new song “Sledgehammer” boldly taking you where music has never gone before (OK it totally has but shhh that’ll ruin the Trekkie allusion) …
(source: EW)