Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best music released in the last week.
This week saw the highly anticipated debut album from Billie Eilish, Lil Uzi Vert leak his own massive single, and Sky Ferreira’s lush return to the spotlight. Yeah, it was a pretty great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
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Not since Lorde has a teen pop star had this much hype. Of course, Billie Eilish is hard to compare to Lorde or any other rising artists because her aesthetic and sensibility seems so much her own, the kind of fully-formed vision that most artists take a career to cultivate. With her long-awaited debut album now available for the world, it’s Billie’s time to shine.
03 Greedo — “Traphouse” Feat. Shoreline Mafia
03 Greedo continues to offer new music from behind bars produced by Mustard. This time Shoreline Mafia joins in on the collaboration which is getting a full album release next week, but this standalone combines inspired bars with an infectious, modulated hook. It’s a distinctly LA sound from one of the cities best rappers, who will hopefully be returned from incarceration before too long.
Lil Uzi Vert — “Free Uzi”
https://soundcloud.com/user-566949240/free-uzi
Few people thought Lil Uzi Vert was really retiring from the rap game, but still, “Free Uzi” a notable return from one of hip-hop’s most exciting young voices. In the non-official, probably-leaked-by-the-artist jam, Uzi is in top form, spitting straight fire for the song’s nearly-three-minute runtime. The song’s pitched-up delivery couldn’t save it from being removed from streaming services, but fans are unlikely to forget the greatness they heard in the process.
Sky Ferreira — “Downhill Lullaby”
One of the most anticipated returns of the year has finally come. Sky Ferreira has been promising new music for years, and with “Downhill Lullaby,” fans’ patience paid off with gorgeous orchestration and subdued vocal performance. The vocals are pushed pretty far down in the mix, but the song is anchored by Sky’s impeccable taste, letting the production and aesthetic be the star.
Black Midi — “Crow’s Perch”
SXSW Black Midi were the talk of critics, proving that the annual trek for rising talent can still pay dividends. Writing about the song, Uproxx’s Derrick Rossignol said, “Jittery rhythms and waves of intensity take over for the rest of the track, which rewards listeners ready for something unexpected and appealingly different.”
Modest Mouse — “Poison The Well”
Modest Mouse leader Isaac Brock has a label called Glacial Pace, and that easily refers to how Modest Mouse functions as a band. Their last album came out in 2015 and the one before was 2008, and even though this song is technically a new release, the Washington natives have been performing it live for close to a decade, which gives you some idea of how long it takes for the band to get things just right. “Poison The Well” is an unabashed rocker, and whether this is just a one-off or the beginning of the next cycle, it shows the band can still bring the intensity 25 years into a career.
Kelsey Lu — “Blood”
A trend in music is to draw out debut albums for years, which Kelsey Lu has done effectively enough to bring anticipation to a boil. The title track from said debut emerges to showcase how Lu’s classical sensibilities fuse with modern flourishes. The result feels like a thing of true beauty that could only exist in the contemporary scene.
Cage The Elephant — “Night Running” Feat. Beck
Ahead of their co-headlining tour later this year, Cage The Elephant and Beck offer up a co-headlining song. The tune combines dub, hip-hop, and rock influences for a track that doesn’t sound much like anything else happening in music right now, a distinctly 2019 vision of alternative music that feels destined to soundtrack sunny days and sweaty nights.
Khalid — “Self”
“There’s many people dying / I’ve always been afraid / Not that I’m scared of living / I’m scared of feeling pain.” These are the lyrics Khalid said are most important to him in this reflective new song, showing deft insight into the human condition that surpasses his 21 years on earth. If the rest of Free Spirit can live up to this, Khalid’s new album should continue his meteoric ascent.
Saweetie — Icy
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Hip-hop rising star Saweetie is banking on only needing seven songs to leave an impression on her latest album. Two of said tracks feature her beau Quavo, but mostly the NoCal rapper takes the spotlight for herself, showing no chill in this inspired effort.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
