Happy New Year all! We’re back and ready to bring you another year full of This Week In Records goodness, starting with this week’s new releases. It’s been a bit of a dry spell in the music world (Christmas and all that) but it seems like this week may be the beginning of some actually interesting things (and by that we mean “practically zero albums but very, very many decent singles”). We have the first single to come from Marvel’s Black Panther soundtrack, a collaboration between Rita Ora and Liam Payne and a track from an indie band you should be keeping an eye on – a fair few things to get acquainted with, so let’s get into it.
Sea Girls – ‘Heavenly War’
I first came across Sea Girls in one of those curated Spotify playlists that tell you all of the things you probably should be listening to. ‘Call Me Out’ made it to my playlist and I proceeded to listen to it non-stop for the entirety of my summer. If you’re a fan of some easy-listening indie, Sea Girls are the band you’ve been waiting for. New track ‘Heavenly War’, their first release of 2018, builds with an impressive hook and features one of those stripped back bridges that are always appreciated. Pick any track from the band to listen to and you’ll find yourself loving them all. What 2018 needs is more music from this lot, I’m happy to be here for the opening act and can’t wait to see them progress and grow their sound. Sea Girls are also embarking on a UK tour in February – get tickets here.
Superorganism – ‘Everybody Wants To Be Famous’
It’s more funky goodness from our favourite international 8-piece Superorganism with the terrifically trippy ‘Everybody Wants To Be Famous’. The less said about this single the better really; Superorganism’s hallucinogenic, internet-age, electronically-tinged indie pop really just stands best on its own, and their latest single in anticipation of March’s self-titled debut album is no different. It’s baffling, engaging and exciting all at once, and has us more excited than ever for even more new music from this lot.
Børns ft. Lana Del Rey – ‘God Save Our Young Blood’
It’s not long to wait now until Børns gives us his forthcoming record, Blue Madonna, and what better way to get us all anticipating it than by releasing this latest track featuring queen of melancholy, Lana Del Rey. Both of their voices bounce off of each other in a way which is delightful to hear, and the track itself is uplifting. The chorus (“God save our young blood”) works as a passionate appeal, a synthy anthem to all of the young lovers. Blue Madonna follows on from Børns’ 2015 debut, Dopamine, with it likely to cement his position on the music scene. Check out our interview with Børns late last year, here.
Wolf Alice – ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses (Charli XCX x Post Precious Remix)’
Wolf Alice produced one of the best albums of the year in 2017 (in fact third best, according to us here at The Edge), and in the process created one of the most beautiful love songs of recent times in the terrifically dreamy ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’. So it was with trepidation that I pressed play on this remix of my favourite chilled-out emotional banger, even if that remix includes the vocals of the terrific Charli XCX. Fortunately (despite the title containing far too many “x”‘s for my liking), this one comes off – mostly. Gone is the surreal dreaminess that made ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ so seductive in the first place, but in its place comes some sublime songwork from the aforementioned Charli. It may not beat the original, but is a remix well worth adding to your collection nonetheless.
Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA – ‘All The Stars’
It’s been a little while since we’ve heard anything from the rap god that is Kendrick Lamar. After the huge success of the phenomenal DAMN. at the beginning of last year, it was all the material we needed to keep us occupied over 2017. But now it’s the new year, it’s about time we had some new stuff, and four days in it looks like we have. ‘All The Stars’ sees Lamar team up with SZA for a track taken from the upcoming soundtrack to the Marvel film Black Panther. Strong and defiant, the track doesn’t try and make itself something bigger than it needs to be and with a tempo that is neither too fast or slow, it hits a happy medium which it rides alongside SZA’s captivating vocals. Although it’s not the strongest track from either artist, it’ll definitely fit in a dramatic scene between Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).
Liam Payne & Rita Ora – ‘For You’
Speaking of film soundtracks, Liam Payne returns with Rita Ora to deliver the first single from the upcoming Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack…seriously. To be honest, Payne practically auditioned for the job with his shimmeringly seductive (?) single ‘Bedroom Floor’ last Autumn, and by throwing a Rita Ora into the mix the film’s producers surely thought they’d have an absolute hit on their hands filled with pulsating highs and alluring lows. Unfortunately, although Rita Ora is a godess, this is Liam Payne we’re talking about, and as such you can’t really expect more than just your run-of-the-mill Capital Radio fodder that will probably be played about 50 times on that station in the next two weeks before fading sadly into the obscure realm in which all music by Liam Payne eventually resides. Which is a shame for Rita Ora – she deserves better – but to be honest you can’t be too upset with that sort of fate when you get commissioned to write a song for the third film in a film franchise based off a book series expanded from some erotic fan-fiction that only went viral because it went viral. (If I’m sounding negative here, just look outside the window anytime between 3:30pm and 9:00am and blame that). Anyway, it is typical daytime radio, so worth checking out if you’re into that sort of thing.
Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B – ‘Finesse (Remix)’
Onto a more positive note, Bruno and Cardi B are serving up some serious 90s R&B feels with this impossibly bouncy remix of one of the songs that went under the radar somewhat from Bruno’s terrific 24K Magic. Bruno is upbeat as ever as Bruno, the beat and rhythm (as ever) has you on your feet bopping and dreaming of piña coladas on the beach in summer, and the addition of 2017 golden girl Cardi B to introduce and close the song just adds that extra layer of modern summertime groove to this 90s throwback of a tune. Just give it a listen, then come back to us and say you’re not also dreaming of summer already!
Selected Other Releases
Albums
Francis and the Lights – Just For Us
Singles
Arlissa & Jonas Blue – ‘Hearts Ain’t Gonna Lie’
Bahamas – ‘Bad Boys Need Love Too’
Charlie Puth ft. Boyz II Men – ‘If You Leave Me Now’
dodie – ‘Party Tattoos’
DON BROCO – ‘Come Out To LA’
Dream Wife – ‘Hey Heartbreaker’
Justin Timberlake – ‘Filthy’
MGMT – ‘Hand It Over’
Rae Morris – ‘Push Me to My Limit’
Showtek & Moby – ‘Natural Blues’
Soleima – ‘Low Life’
Spilt Milk Society – ‘Amsterdam’
The Vaccines – ‘I Can’t Quit’
Vance Joy – ‘Lay It On Me (Portugal. The Man Remix)’
