IndieLondon gleefully checks out the cream of the week’s singles
SINGLE OF THE WEEK 1: IMAGINE DRAGONS – LEVITATE: Imagine Dragons have recorded a new single for the soundtrack of forthcoming sci-fi romance-adventure Passengers – and it’s great. Combining something suitably cinematic and futuristic with that signature Imagine Dragons sound we’ve come to know and love, this sounds both romantic and inspirational. The chorus, in particular, has that expansive, thrilling aspect to it that’s both highly melodic and utterly infectious, much like their signature tune I Bet My Life. Dan Reynolds’ vocals, too, are endearing, hitting some Chris Martin-style falsetto highs over the ‘levitate’ chorus, while the guitars are great – especially late on when they’re really let loose to echo around the place. It’s a terrifically uplifting record.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SINGLE OF THE WEEK 2: JUSTICE – FIRE: Fire is the latest, entirely contagious disco-pop offering to be taken from Justice’s acclaimed third studio album Woman, out now via Because Music / Ed Banger Records. As ever, it knows how to be cool and instantly accessible, throwing in something that’s both vaguely retro (in a Daft Punk kind of way) with something new and funky. It’s cute guitar hooks, jangling electronic loops and falsetto, soul-driven vocals offer up an almost perfect dance-pop confection that should have no problem in making you want to burn up the dancefloor. It’s as hot a record as its title suggests it should be. What’s more, the video features none other than Hollywood legend Susan Sarandon. Director of the video, Pascal Teixera, said: “On a hot summer afternoon, Gaspard and I are in Xavier’s kitchen, collectively daydreaming about washing a car. The year we like for car design, the make, where that could take place, how much soap, the mood, the sun, and there should be a woman to go cruising with, an iconic mix of cool, allure and strength – Susan Sarandon of course! And then a couple months later we’re in the desert, with the car and a lot of soap, and by some weird miracle there she is, even more amazing than we had fantasised her to be, ready to go for a drive.” Woman is the band’s first album in five years and contains 10 new tracks including singles Safe and Sound, Randy and Alakazam!.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SINGLE OF THE WEEK 3: BIFFY CLYRO – RE-ARRANGE: Biffy Clyro’s current single Re-arrange demonstrates their huge crossover appeal as they’re currently one of the few bands capable of being simultaneously playlisted at both Radio 1 and Radio 2. Its profile will now be boosted with the launch of a special new video to tie-in with the song. Re-arrange is an immensely personal love song as well as a confessional in which vocalist/guitarist Simon Neil explores the more troubled aspects of his personality. It features a soulful, reflective, even melancholy vocal that showcases a genuinely tender side to the singer’s delivery. While the instrumentals are suitably subtle, relying more on slick beat arrangements and electronics than the band’s better known guitar sound. It’s simultaneously moving, captivating, beautiful and stunning. The intimate video reflects the song’s heartfelt themes with shots that were filmed in and around Neil’s home in Ayrshire. Biffy Clyro’s current album Ellipsis has shown that their fanbase have overwhelmingly embraced the start of the third era of the band’s career (after their early indie albums and then the huge trilogy of Puzzle, Only Revolutions and Opposites). The album shot to No.1 in the UK with 37,000 first week sales and also topped the charts in Germany, Ireland and Switzerland.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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LAURA MARLING – SOOTHING: Having just announced her new album, Semper Femina, Laura Marling also makes her directorial debut with the video for the first fruits of the record and the album’s opening track, Soothing. It’s a typically stylish offering, yet also highly provocative, featuring as it does the sensual coming together of two women in black and red rubber body suits (at one point), and another eroticised dance between a man and a woman at another point. It’s highly addictive. The track itself is built around a slick slice of jazz-infused bass and a wistful, serene vocal from Marling that’s as beguiling as it is seductive. It’s a fuller, more lively sound than some of Marling’s more minimalist material and could just be one of her most accessible offerings yet. The inspiration for the track, by Marling’s own admission, was a series of vivid dreams that she experienced while making the album.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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AGNES OBEL – IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN: It’s Happening Again is the new single from Agnes Obel, available to stream and download now and impacting on December 30. It’s a typically classy effort, too, embracing the cinematic qualities that have become something of a hallmark for her, with elements that are intoxicating, serene and beautiful. The piano backing is really nicely composed, while the use of strings adds that cinematic element without becoming too over-powering or showy. Rather, they compliment the piano chords and Obel’s own hushed vocals, which take on a seductive element. Late on, there’s even something vaguely Oriental about the strings, when used, which brings to mind some of Bonobo’s work. It’s another dream of a record from an artist who never ceases to amaze. The animated video for the track, created/directed by her long-time collaborator Alex Bruel Flagstad, is now available on YouTube.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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MACHINE GUN KELLY X CAMILA CABELLO – BAD THINGS: Machine Gun Kelly has joined forces with Camila Cabello, of Fifth Harmony, for his latest track, Bad Things, which is designed to bring sex appeal and edgy energy to a hip-hop/pop hybrid. Calling to mind past collaborations between Eminem and Dido on Stan, or Mike Shinoda and Kelly Brook (Where’d You Go?), this is an admittedly softer sound despite some provocative lyrics that state “I only wanna do bad things to you”. Its PR states that Machine Gun Kelly is his usual badass self while songbird Cabello sings half-innocently: “Am I out of my head am I out of my mind…Don’t think that I can explain it, what can I say it’s complicated…” It’s designed to offer a beautiful juxtaposition that has crossover appeal for the mainstream masses. The beats are certainly decent (not too heavy), while Cabello certainly sounds sweet and innocent. But Kelly’s decision to maintain his bad boy persona is perhaps the track’s weakest element, bringing something a little too generic to the sound. It’s by no means a bad record – but it could have been even better.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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PLACEBO – JESUS’ SON: Placebo’s new single Jesus’ Son marks the milestone of the band’s 20-year career since the 1996 release of their self-titled debut album. The single is included on their retrospective album release A Place For Us To Dream. It’s a typically provocative effort, defined – as ever – by Brian Molko’s distinct vocals and some punchy guitar riffs. Lyrically, it tackles the subject of self-awareness and rising above adversity (“I am unashamed of getting nothing done, I’m a calvacade that tumbles one by one… but I’m OK, just like Jesus’ son”). As with a lot of the band’s more recent work, the song has a more all-encompassing sweep, from a euphoric, sing-worthy chorus to some sweeping electronics and catchy guitar riffs. It also builds to a heady conclusion, meaning that for die-hard fans of the band, it should bring live performances of the record to a rapturous end. The accompanying video, directed by Joe Connor (Paul Weller, The Maccabees), was filmed on location in Sardinia and combines shots of the band performing on the alongside traditional Sardinian Pagan carnival figures wearing bovine masks and sheepskin clothing. The surreal imagery taps into the song’s spiritual undertones.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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TOVE LO – TRUE DISASTER: As lyrically provocative as ever, yet as commercially appealing too, Tove Lo drops her new single True Disaster and looks to have another sizeable hit on her hands. True Disaster is one of five tracks from Lady Wood that are featured on the raw and bold short film Fairy Dust, in which Tove Lo makes her acting debut alongside ‘alter ego’ co-star Lina Esco (Kingdom, Flaked). In addition to True Disaster, Fairy Dust features Influence, Lady Wood, Cool Girl and Vibes. Fairy Dust is the brainchild of Tove Lo and Swedish director and co-writer Tim Erem. True Disaster begins in brooding fashion, with a throbbing synth, before dropping in some finger-click beats and a chorus to die for (complete with sing-along lyrics that proclaim “keep playing my heart-strings faster and faster”). Lo’s vocals are also highly appealing, at times drawing comparisons with the style of Sia. But she’s also a little more edgy, which makes her stand out – a vocalist that is as sexy as she feels dangerous. The accompanying video is well worth seeing.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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NATHAN FAKE feat PRURIENT – DEGREELESSNESS: Nathan Fake – the British electronic ace who has previously released on James Holden’s Border Community label, Traum and most recently his own Cambria Instruments imprint – has now dropped his debut release on Ninja Tune in the form of the ultra hip Degreelessness, featuring Prurient. A compelling dancefloor oddity founded on clanking dub-delayed drums and a heaving arpeggiated synth line, this starts out fairly simply before gradually layering in the various elements (electronically and in the form of beats) to become something cinematic and epic, not to mention dancefloor cool. Nathan met Prurient in Brooklyn where the seed for a collaboration was sown. “Although our music probably seems pretty different from each others on the surface, I felt there was a strong link from a rhythmic and melodic standpoint, and I admired his vocal performances in his Prurient material which were both charismatic and masculine but not tiresomely so,” says Nathan. “Degreelessness started off as a 16 bar loop jam which I’d adapted from an existing melodic composition, building rhythms around it with his voice in mind. Dominick [Prurient] delivered a spoken word vocal piece inspired by the track, the lyrical content of which is heavily obscured in the final piece, purposefully so, the whole piece becoming lost in its own echoes, with the human voice emanating from the gaps in between.” It’s a fascinating listen in some respects – but also snappy, lively and downright cool.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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THE FRANKLYS – CASTAWAY: The Franklys play rock ‘n’ roll the way it’s meant to be, according to their PR – ie, loud, raw, dirty, fast and furious. The first single from their forthcoming debut album is the frantic and blistering Castaway, which certainly adheres to that philosophy. The guitars, in particular, are blistering and have a no-nonsense vibe attached to them. And they’re accompanied by some raw, gritty all-girl vocals that bring to mind the likes of early PJ Harvey and Hole, while also evoking L7 and early Placebo (stylistically). It’s fast, furious and livewire stuff. But for that reason, it’s also likely to struggle to appeal beyond the hardcore, garage rock ‘n’ roll sound it revels in. The full-on video supporting the single “was a no-brainer, as Castaway is a live song. “We have mixed clips from different shows we’ve done over the year, also introducing our newest member Lexi Clark,” explained the band.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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MAX POPE – THE OPERATOR: The Operator is billed as everything that you have come to expect from Max Pope (if you know who he is). A track that fizzes and crackles along, it’s allied to lyrics that show a perspicacity that is frequently evident. Speaking on the track, Pope says: “The Operator is about the fear of being controlled by an evil despot. It started as a horror fantasy, but has now become a frightening reality with the arrival of Mr Donald J Trump…The track was produced by my pals Alex Burey and Jack Gilbert.” If you listen closely enough, that paranoia is evident in some of the instrumentals, which manage to sound both melodic and somehow foreboding at the same time. Unfortunately, some of the cuter elements, such as Pope’s soul-pop vocals and some cute guitar hooks and track interludes, undermine the darker elements. It’s a strange brew of a record that never quite clicks as well as you feel it should.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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