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Showing posts from August, 2021

"Yellow Brick Road" - World of Birds

Just sharing a catchy little number from Cape Town, South Africa-based World of Birds, a group that specializes in retro pop. I stumbled upon this song on one of the various Apple Music playlists I subscribe to, and was really impressed by how immediately fun and uplifting it was.  I don't have much else to say about this track or group other than I hope to hear more from them ASAP, it's fun and promising stuff. Definitely worthy of the "You Need to Hear This" category. 

“Golden” - Zella Day (My Song of This Cursed Summer)

Zella Day is quite the genrebender, and I'm here for it. Although she tends to stay on the pop side of the mainstream music lane, she isn't afraid to embrace all kinds of retro vibes a lot of her peers would balk at. Earlier this year, I highlighted her delicate track "Holocene" featuring the formidable Weyes Blood. And now, I really need you to listen to "Golden," which would be this summer's undisputed Top 40 anthem if modern pop radio had any sense of justice. How anyone can resist this song's delightful disco airiness is beyond me. Last summer, we had Harry Styles' "Golden." This summer, we have Zella's.  Other singles Arizona-bred Zeyes Blood has released this year include "Girls" and "Dance For Love." Her next album "Sunday in Heaven" is set to come out later this year, too. (And I personally can't wait.) 

"Race for Caress"- School of X

School of X is a Danish pop act known for making "arty indie-pop songs whose songs have historically had a darker bent," but lately the artist (otherwise known as Rattmus Littauer) has been enjoying a more positive turn of songs. Case in point, "Race for Caress," a song about the lifelong search for love and the frustrations that spring from it. Which sounds heavy, until you hear the actual song, which is a laidback pop track with almost a reggae tinge to it. The song has been called "addictive" and Littaeur himself stated the song is pretty down to the basics musically: “The instrumentation is as simple as it gets: drums, bass and guitar." Littauer has made a name for himself working with artists such as Clairo and MØ, and he has enjoyed success with his solo career in Denmark and abroad since 2017. His second album, "Dancing Through the Void," is due out on September 24th.

The Best of 2021 So Far

I went ahead and made my Best of 2021 playlist a little early this year. It's a work in progress, as you can imagine, but here's what I got so far: School of X (whom I will be writing about soon!) Lana (duh) Lil Nas X Lorde Normani and Cardi B. We Were Promised Jetpacks Will Stratton Twin Shadow Inhaler Keaton Henson Anna Akana Surfer Blood Bartees Strange  And many more! Here's the full playlist, which can also be found on Apple Music. Because I didn't feel up to writing a lot tonight, I did a mini-podcast as an experiment to describe the playlist and my thoughts on Lil Nas X, Jack Antonoff, the slow decline of one of my once favorite bands, and more! I learned from this experiment I need to not lean on "that being said" and "um" so much, so I apologize in advance. Britt Kemp · Useless Critic #1