Without music, many of our lives would be dull and meaningless. Each day would be an endless montage of mundanity with no soundtrack with every banal activity completed in total maddening silence. Sadly, with your taste, this isn’t too far off from your reality even with a backing track. That’s where we come in. Our staff has been meticulously trained to recommend and deliver tracks scientifically designed to pull you from the depths of your own irrelevancy. Without further ado, here are eight tracks we listened to this week that need to hit your boring playlists immediately.
Snail Mail “Headlock – Demo”
Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan is considered a sort of wunderkind, having released two instant classic albums while barely cracking into her early twenties. Now, she has given fans an intimate look into her songwriting process with the release of a handful of demos from her sophomore effort ‘Valentine.’ The rough cut of that album’s standout track ‘Headlock’ finds the songwriter toying with ambient drones while never once straying from her inimitable pop sensibilities. If your bedroom EP sounded good and was actually a cohesive body of work, it still might not even come close to Jordan’s nebulous drafts. Keep trying, though. We believe in you.
Better Lovers “Two Alive Amongst the Dead”
Jesus fucking Christ, this band shreds. Knowing full well their debut EP ‘God Made Me An Animal’ left fans absolutely chomping at the bit, Better Lovers released a new single ‘Two Alive Amongst the Dead’ while simultaneously announcing loose plans to begin work on a full-length next year. ‘Two Alive’ continues the EP’s trend of delivering unforgivingly heavy metalcore in satisfyingly condensed arrangements. Try your best not to spin-kick your desk in half within the first ten seconds of the intro. You’ll need that energy for the breakdown.
Donny Benét “Multiply”
Donny Benét is the kind of guy that’ll make you eggs. One of our writers even went as far as to say that this guy would totally make us a Grand Slam style breakfast if we included his dreamy new single ‘Multiply’ in this week’s column. Donny, if you’re reading this, we love the silky sweet sounds of your Yacht Rock slap bass. Please get in touch about the aforementioned Grand Slam style breakfast. You have 24 hours.
Basement Jaxx & 100 Gecs “where’s my head at_”
If you’re one of the seemingly millions of people to catch 100 Gecs on tour recently, you’ve probably been wondering when the hell they were planning to release their remix of Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At?” The answer is apparently: a couple of days ago. While the track never strays incredibly far from the original, it will make you think your speakers are broken or your eardrums have ruptured, both of which are likely outcomes of listening to any track by the duo.
Megan Thee Stallion “Cobra (Rock Remix) [feat. Spiritbox]”
In case you missed it – which of course you did, you tasteless nerd – Megan Thee Stallion teamed up with Canadian heavy-metal outfit Spiritbox to deliver a ‘rock remix’ of her new single ‘Cobra.’ The resulting track goes harder than anything has a right to. While the original already features some serious riffage, Spiritbox manages to absolutely obliterate the arrangement placing it firmly in the realm of early aughts nu-metal but, like, good.
Many Eyes “Mystic Cord”
If you aren’t immediately strutting in circles around your living room within the first two beats of this song, call 911 because you might be dead. Keith Buckley’s new project Many Eyes is back with their second single ‘Mystic Cord.’ It’s a barnburner of a track that harkens back to Every Time I Die’s grittier hardcore leanings while still managing to look toward the future. While more straightforward than last-month’s debut single, ‘Revelation,’ ‘Mystic Cord’ still packs a wallop that is sure to bode well for the impending full-length.
boygenius, Ye Vagabonds “The Parting Glass”
In case seasonal depression hasn’t already ripped your fragile psyche apart, boygenius has teamed up with Irish folk duo Ye Vagabonds for an absolutely heartbreaking rendition of the Scottish and Irish traditional ballad “The Parting Glass,” which was famously recorded by Sinead O’Connor in 2002. As part of Phoebe Bridgers’ long-running series of charitable holiday covers, all proceeds from the single will support the Aisling Project, an organization chosen by O’Connor’s estate. If you’re already having a teary afternoon, proceed with caution on this one.
André 3000 “That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh¥t Was Wild”
In this week’s ‘what the actual fuck?’ news: André 3000, one of the greatest rappers of all time, broke a seventeen-year period of silence – with the exception of a guest spot here and there – to release an album that consists entirely of… ambient drone flute instrumentals. It’s a bold move, and one only he could convincingly make. Perhaps it’s not the album we wanted, but in the hyperchaos of today’s news cycle that pelts us with horror after horror, it might just be the album we need. It’s also a way better pivot than that time you quit your hardcore band to start an alt-country project.
Playlists are hard to make, and we know you’re too defeated by your own taste to search for these songs yourself. That’s why we made a playlist that features all of them, plus a whole shitload more. Click here to like, follow, and trick your friends into thinking you have a finger on the pulse of modern alternative music.