In case you couldn’t already tell from the dearth of artists in the title of today’s This Week In Records, today’s a bit of a strange day in the world of new releases. Even stranger, however, is the place from which the column is composed: Glasgow. I’ve never ventured north of the border before. In fact, I can accurately tally days spent north of London on one hand, so perhaps I’m not the best person to be offering a review of Scotland having landed just under 12 hours ago, but here are a few little observations:
- The first vending machine I saw was well-stocked with Irn-Bru.
- Just as I sent a message documenting that fact, the bus passed a kilt shop.
- Within 10 minutes of walking through the city centre, I’d bumped into an old school friend who I hadn’t seen in a few years. She, quite rightly, pointed out that I was not decorated suitably for even this moderately pleasant evening.
- McDonald’s, whilst otherwise apparently identical, will charge you 5p for a paper bag.
- Scottish bank notes look incredibly snazzy. It’s unfortunate that the only one I’ve seen so far was in WHSmith in Southampton on my way to the check-in desk.
More shall soon follow in places where such travel content is perhaps better suited. Want to give me a nice playlist for the eventual journey home? Send it over to [email protected].
Zara Larsson – So Good
It’s getting on for two years since Zara Larsson, who triumphed in Sweden’s Talang at the age of 10 in 2008, first entered the British pop conscience thanks to rumbling MNEK collaboration ‘Never Forget You.’ Now, lumbered with an album campaign so muddled that it was finally announced after (and named for) a fifth single that has so far peaked at number 44 in the Ed Sheeran UK charts, her international debut is here. A record that PressPLAY OK described as “so very disappointingly middling, sadly,” So Good welcomes previous guests MNEK and Ty Dolla $ign alongside WizKid and some weirdos with cellos who threaten to overshadow the whole affair.
Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson – ‘Symphony’
There’s a part of me that wants every single piece of music to have an orchestral rendition à la Pete Tong’s Classic House movement, however that part has never quite been loud enough to show true appreciation for Clean Bandit’s attempts at fusing cellos onto palatable pop tracks. You could even call it a daily struggle.
‘Symphony,’ however, feels a little different at first glance. Ignoring the obvious nomenclature, it’s delightful to see the brothers Patterson and Grace Chatto in a fried egg of a flamboyant garment hanging around at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the video shoot, and it’s even better to hear Zara Larsson lending her strongest vocals since she covered Beyoncé yesterday in the Live Lounge.
???? the Symphony video is coming on Fridayyyyyy ???? ???? u can pre-order the song here: https://t.co/wTh7EtnhWy pic.twitter.com/721ahUbpHG
— Clean Bandit (@cleanbandit) March 15, 2017
Mura Masa & Charli XCX – ‘1 Night’
Another Friday means another dose of Charli XCX being a bit wonderfully bizarre in who she chooses for production duties, and Mura Masa’s first original track in 367 days – I’m not counting ‘Love$ick‘ as new music, although I do adore his remixes of Foals and, more recently, NAO – brings her along for a bit of yearning over pans and beats. “An album proper is lined up for this year,” I foolishly wrote at the start of 2016, utterly enamoured with Someday Somewhere and ‘Love For That,’ which welcomed Shura for what seemed sure to be a beginning to a compendium. Rest assured that every single crossable component of my body is indeed willing such a thing to come true in the wake of this latest delivery from his Anchor Point family.
Pitbull – Climate Change
Look, there’s so much to say about the new record from Pitbull that I may as well give you each version of a This Week In Records blurb I put together throughout the week so none of my Mr. Worldwide content gets squandered.
The Kodak Version
You might remember Pitbull from such things as rhyming the name of defunct imaging firm Kodak with itself on the six-year-old number 1 record ‘Give Me Everything.’ Whilst YouTube doesn’t appear to have a clip that isolates this moment, it does have a collection of enthralling spots he did with the company at the time.
Here they all are.
He also has some new music out or something.
The Collaborators Version
You might remember Pitbull from such things as rhyming the name of defunct imaging firm Kodak with itself on the six-year-old number 1 record ‘Give Me Everything,’ a collaboration with Ne-Yo, when Ne-Yo was still a thing; Afrojack, when he was still just the sort of producer you could rely on for Tomorrowland anthems; and Nayer, whose Twitter bio still boasts of this particular release.
For new record Climate Change, Mr. 305 apologises for its delays with a succulent variety of guests around his Larsson-interpolating musings on sexy bodies.
Here they all are.
- Ape Drums
- Austin Mahone
- Enrique Iglesias
- Flo Rida
- Jason Derulo
- Jennifer Lopez
- Joe Perry
- Kiesza
- Leona Lewis
- LunchMoney Lewis
- R. Kelly
- Robin Thicke
- Stephen Marley
- Steven A. Clark
- Travis Barker
- Ty Dolla $ign
LEONA LEWIS STILL EXISTS.
The Readable Version
You might remember Pitbull from such things as rhyming the name of defunct imaging firm Kodak with itself on the six-year-old number 1 record ‘Give Me Everything,’ however in 10 months of receiving tracks for radio purposes he has been the only established artist to have his own promo brand. This has made the lead-up to Climate Change, the successor to 2015’s Dale, quite simple to follow, with ‘Green Light’ and ‘Can’t Have’ in particular finding their ways into these columns solely through their incessant messages on all things Armando. (Let’s just ignore those times in July and August when I prematurely announced its release.)
Here he is talking about one of its songs.
The Bee Movie Version
You might rememDALEer PitDALEull from such things as rhyming the name of defunct imaging firm Kodak with itself on the six-year-old number 1 record ‘Give Me Everything,’ DALEut here is his DALEoldest cultural appearance of late, at least as far as memes are concerned, DALEecause something something DALEarry DALE. DALEenson.
He’s also made a new alDALEum that proDALEaDALEly doesn’t include nonsense like this segment. I imagine Climate Change, therefore, is for the DALEest.
The DALE Version
DALE!
Selected Other Releases
Albums
ANOHNI – Paradise EP
Bonkaz – Quality Control 2.0
Conor Oberst – Salutations
Depeche Mode – Spirit
Frances – Things I’ve Never Said
High Contrast – Questions EP
Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales – Room 29
Miami Horror – The Shapes EP
Milky Chance – Blossom
Mr Sanka – Gallon EP
Pulled Apart By Horses – The Haze
Rick Ross – Rather You Than Me
Sorority Noise – You’re Not As _____ As You Think
Spoon – Hot Thoughts
Singles
Amy Shark – ‘Weekends’
Angel – ‘Hi Grade’
Angel Olsen – ‘Who’s Sorry Now’
Ásgeir – ‘Stardust’
BadBadNotGood feat. KAYTRANADA & Snoop Dogg – ‘Lavender’
Betty Who – ‘Mama Say’
Blink-182 – ‘Parking Lot’
British Sea Power – ‘Electrical Kittens’
Cold War Kids feat. Bishop Briggs – ‘So Tied Up’
Claptone feat. George Kranz – ‘The Drums (Din Daa Daa)’
Don Diablo & Marnik – ‘Children Of A Miracle’
Ed Sheeran feat. Zion & Lennox – ‘Shape Of You’ (Latin Remix)
Feist – ‘Pleasure’
G-Eazy & Kehlani – ‘Good Life’
GoldLink – ‘Pray Everyday (Survivor’s Guilt)’
Incubus – ‘Nimble Bastard’
Jerry Williams – ‘I’m Not In Love With You’
Joe Goddard feat. Daniel Wilson – ‘Home’
Kasabian – ‘You’re In Love With A Psycho’
Leo Kalyan – ‘Feels Right’
Lido – ‘Angel’
Linkin Park – ‘Battle Symphony’
Machine Gun Kelly feat. Hailee Steinfeld – ‘At My Best’
Mike WiLL Made-It feat. Big Sean – ‘Come Up’
Sam Gellaitry – ‘Ceremony’
Soulwax – ‘Do You Want To Get Into Trouble?’
TCTS feat. Sage The Gemini & Kelis – ‘Do It Like Me (Icy Feet)’
Tinashe – ‘Flame’
Tom Chaplin & JONES – ‘Solid Gold’
Vancouver Sleep Clinic – ‘Unworthy’
Weezer – ‘Feels Like Summer’
Zhu – ‘Nightcrawler’
This Week In Records: Playlist Edition
Follow our shiny Spotify playlist and all this musical newness will be right there in time for breakfast every Friday morning.
