Strange Light, New Machine
Nu Music Monday #18 / 12-04-21
Hey there,
I’m Red, and welcome to Nu Music Monday. Glad to have you here.
Every week I write quick bites about some of my favorite tracks released in the past seven days (-ish). I also go into the latest music news when I feel like it and share stuff I think is worth your time.
A LOT of great tracks this week. Yay!
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Album Review: BROCKHAMPTON // ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE
BROCKHAMPTON leave their signature ebullience behind to process grief and prepare for the setting sun in ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE.
Dusk is fast approaching for BROCKHAMPTON, the LA-based collective of creatives that gave the term ‘boyband’ a fresh coat of paint when they burst onto the scene in the mid-2010s. In literal terms: their new album, ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE, is one of two LPs set for release this year before a programmed disbandment–as announced by group founder Kevin Abstract. In figurative terms too: the latest addition to BROCKHAMPTON’s body of work casts the band in a new light as they forgo their sun-kissed accents to dive into heavier matter.
Read my full review of BROCKHAMPTON’s new album in Riot Mag.
Album Review: MF Tomlinson // Strange Time
A bleak reality was still setting in as we passed the one-year mark of the degradation of our social cocoons. MF Tomlinson’s first full-length project, Strange Time, landed amidst this bleak anniversary, one full trip around the sun after the world suddenly shut down.
Since then, waves of lockdowns have steamrolled us into digital realms where live streams and video conferences rule over ebullient masses. In just a matter of months, our way of navigating the world has drastically changed. But one thing has remained constant throughout all of it: our need to connect with others, no matter how physically isolated from one another we have been.
Read my full review of MF Tomlinson’s new album in Highwire Mag.
Tracks of the week:
1. First taste of Sufjan Stevens’ upcoming behemoth instrumental project
Sufjan Stevens will be releasing a multi-album instrumental project called Convocations on 6 May. The music was made in response to his father’s passing, shortly after 2020’s Ascension hit the shelves. This first track provides a glimpse at what’s to come: basking in a dimly lit plasma, the piece meanders through fields of dissonant brass and grumbling synth that reflect the vertiginous experience of loss.
2. Another banger from Tkay Maidza: what else is new?
Sounding as effortless as ever, Tkay Maidza is feeding the fans with another helping of her upcoming Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3. If the closing chapter of the trilogy is only half as good as the first and second iterations, it’d still be worth your time. But it’s looking more and more like the upcoming EP ought to be on par with all her previous work, so that’s that on that!
3. Róisín Murphy remixes Roísín Machine
Murphy is gearing up for an end-of-month release of a full-blown remix album reworking tracks from Roísín Machine. Get into it!
Simz is on the way
Another day, another Taylor track
Hours after the release of her re-recorded Fearless album, Taylor Swift had already broken yet another record: something about getting the 100th consecutive album to reach that or this and to sell a bunch of units. So basically it’s another reminder that it’s Taylor Swift’s world and we’re all just living in it. Not only a power move to de-value her old recordings (of which she doesn’t own the masters and was pretty vocal about not being there for that), the new album expands on her breakout late aught tracks with the addition of previously unreleased material. ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’ is the epitome of the teenage naiveté-turned-resentment-turned-spite-turned-hit song Ms. Swift excelled at. It’s time to sit in your feelings and reflect on the turbulent cruelty of adolescence.
SVE re-imagined
Sharon Van Etten is sharing covers of her Epic album by fellow artists she admires. The latest does a complete 180 on her original ‘One Day’. It’s the Spotify-fluent quiet bedroom pop version if you will. And I’m loving it.
That’s been a thing
Say So 2.0
Doja Cat is attempting to recreate the shimmer of ‘Say So’ with ‘Kiss Me More’. The track does just that and more. Thankful for the incredible SZA verse and looking forward to both of their upcoming albums.
Tell ‘em
Hauntingly bellicose number from Belgian rap force Damso.
Rent free
Clara is back to put French pop on the map
There are few voices as commanding as Clara Luciani’s. Arrestingly elegant, melodies slip out of her as if they’d been slowly decanted for years, patiently waiting to come to full maturation before entering the world at large. ‘Le reste’ announces a June full-length release to keep both eyes and ears out for.
Foam bath–worthy
The queen of autotune
J Balvin and Khalid link up
Trap & Metal: for better and for worse
Pulling a Riri without a single album under her belt
OK but who told Seb to go that hard?
Smooth sailing
The range!
Whacky Tierra does what she does best
Another banger with a playful childhood underpinning accompaniment from Tierra Whack. The Philly rapper constantly finds new ways to explore her sound without ever running into stale cul-de-sacs. There’s deftness to her art and it’s deeply appreciated in this house.
Ça y est, je chavire
Rest in Peace Chynna
W2A
A serve
Diligently groovy
More, more, more
Also check out these *excellent* new tracks:
You’ll find my favorite releases of April (so far) in this Spotify playlist.
Thanks for reading! Back soon with more great music & stuff,
I’m @red_dziri on Twitter.