This collaboration kind of makes sense. Last year's album 'Love Is Dead' from Chvrches was a continuation of their brilliant electro pop that undeservedly bombed compared to their previous two albums. So pairing up with a globally recognised producer is a surefire way of getting a hit, right? Yet Here With Me is so sub par, hints of the band's brilliance peeking through a dull non-chorus. You can practically here Lauren Mayberry gritting her teeth through every word.
Don't bother.
Ava Max - So Am I
Sweet But Pyscho came out of nowhere at the end of last year and now the American singer follows it up with So Am I, featuring a twee chorus that's truly vomit-worthy. "Do you ever feel like a misfit?" she questions, before noting "it's ok to be different." The production is trite pop stuff that's ultimately forgettable. She's aiming to be the next Lady Gaga, but so far she seems more one hit wonder.
Don't bother.
Call Me Loop - Body Like Yours
Body Like Yours is immediately recognisable as Call Me Loop. That's saying something for an artist with only a handful of singles and no debut album yet. Her style is bubbly and sensual pop - not necessarily original, but polished, fun and a refreshing change to most dance-pop in the charts. Body Like Yours is taken from her new EP 'Drama', five short songs that whip by in a colourful but gossamer light haze.
Worth a listen.
Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles
Fender won this years BRITs Critics' Choice award and marks the welcome return of guitar music to the mainstream. His vocal alternates from a light falsetto to a rough, soaring tenor over chugging guitar riffs fit for stadium tours. And where his lyrics are powerful and socially conscious, his recent Live Lounge cover of Ariana Grande's Break Up With Your Girlfriend... shows he's not averse to pop either. Hypersonic Missiles balances those two sides: the lyrics reference political chaos but its chorus is a hopeful sing-along with squawking saxophone. A Bruce Springsteen for our times.
Worth a listen.
Louis Tomlinson - Two Of Us
Yes this is a tragic song about Tomlinson's mother who passed away a couple of years ago. To write such a candid song is admirable. But lyrically, this is a trite GCSE poem put to music. This is not the song of a superstar.
Don't bother.
The Chemical Brothers - We've Got To Try
Another track from the duo's forthcoming album 'No Geography', We've Got To Try is soundtracking the current F1 season. It's fitting then that the video features a dog in an F1 car, while the track itself revolves around an acidic hook, with a repeated soul vocal sample and sun-dappled strings breaking through the weird, futuristic electronica.
Worth a listen.
Gesaffelstein feat. The Hacker & Electric Youth - Forever
Recently reaching a new audience as the producer of The Weeknd's Lost In The Fire, French producer Gesaffelstein now releases his new album 'Hyperion' from which Forever is taken. He's amongst a long line of similar artists - Daft Punk and Kavinsky especially - inspired by 80s techno, all deep bass, clipped beats and spacey effects. It's a heady, intoxicating mix that's at once menacing and enchanting.
Worth a listen.
