5/15/20: Charli XCX, Jerry Paper, Dijon and more
Welcome to another edition of First Listen Friday!
Charli XCX's new LP how i'm feeling now has arrived. Like White Denim's World As A Waiting Room which I wrote about last week, this is an album created and released during the ongoing quarantine. Charli announced in April that she was making the album and was very active on social media during the production often sharing ideas, hosting Zoom meetings with fans, and even making stems to the songs available for download for anyone to remix. The full album has arrived and it's filled with the sort of pop / experimental-pop tunes Charli is known for. Opener "pink diamond" sets the tone with two minutes of screeching and growling synths and a refrain of "I just wanna go real hard" and this track definitely does. It's followed by "forever" which is more pop-leaning for sure but the sugary choruses still tangle with dissonant noise and it's easily one of my favorites on the album. "claws" follows and it's another great pop tune, with a quarantine-imposed green screen music video. Other songs that stood out for me were "detonate" and "i finally understand" but I really enjoyed this whole album and definitely recommend it.
Abracadabra is the newest LP from Jerry Paper and it's out via the excellent Stones Throw. Jerry Paper began as Lucas Nathan's solo synth project but it since evolved into a full band and with this new album they've produced a set of smooth soft-rock jams with a sense of humor (the album cover might tell you that much already). If you're a fan of Dent May, you should definitely check this band out. My favorite song on the album is the second track "Cholla", the funky bass and the bouncy keys on the chorus are great. "Memorial Highway" is another highlight. "Game Night" is an upbeat track driven by a drum machine sung from the perspective of someone who's a wizard and a winner on game nights but nothing otherwise. "The Imposter" is the other stand-out track here. This is the first I'd heard from Jerry Paper and after sitting down with this album I'll definitely be looking forward to their future releases.
Dijon is the project of Dijon Duenas and his newest release is an EP titled How Do You Feel About Getting Married?. It follows several singles as well as his last collection of songs Sci Fi 1, all released in 2019. Dijon also co-produced Charli XCX's "pink diamond" mentioned above. According to Duenas the album's inspirations included Lucinda Williams, Little Feat, Burial, Norah Jones, Octavia Butler, and The Cars. The music really does reflect a variety of influences, defying a simple classification. One description I saw was "folksy R&B" and that's probably close. If you're a fan of Bon Iver you'd probably enjoy this EP. I like all 6 songs here, but specifically the first three tracks "do you light up?", "alley-oop", & "rock n roll" are outstanding.
Gayngs have released their first new track since their 2010 album Relayted. The band was planning to debut the song at the First Ave. venue's 50th anniversary but with concerts being a no go for the time being they've shared it via their Bandcamp. I really like the track, hopefully a full album is on the way soon.
I knew I would like this song before I even clicked play. Joe Goddard of Hot Chip and Hayden Thorpe (who had an excellent solo album, 2019's Diviner) from Wild Beasts have collaborated to make a great dance tune. It was "intended as a soundtrack for reminiscing, embracing and awaiting those joyous and energetic dancefloor moments for all".
Winter has released a single off the upcoming Endless Space (Between You & I) due out in July. I’m loving the dream-pop vibes here and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the LP.
Four Tet has remixed Caribou's "Never Come Back" from this year's excellent Suddenly. These are two of my favorite artists in general and two of the best electronic musicians going and I really enjoyed the rework on this one.
That’s it! Here’s the Spotify playlist of this week’s selections, enjoy!