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 a new supergroup named Boygenius is born, Blood Orange offered up another sprawling, singular vision, and Interpol proved that consistency is a criminally underrated attribute. Yeah, it was a pretty good week for music. Check out the highlights below.
Interpol — Marauder
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Consistency is one of the best things a band can strive for, and Interpol’s ability to turn out a product that always sounds like themselves and still pushes their music to new creative peaks has made them one of the most enduring bands of the aughts. In his interview with the group, our own Steven Hyden notes that “Marauder puts the focus on the fiery interplay between the musicians.” When a band knows each other as well as these guys do, that’s a recipe for another memorable work.
Blood Orange — Negro Swan
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Dev Hynes has made a name for himself both as a producer/songwriter for others (including the likes of Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Haim) and for his own stellar Blood Orange project. His music can often feel fluid, with ideas pushed up against each other, rapidly shifting into the next. On his latest, our own Aaron Williams writes “Negro Swan is him granting permission, although it should never be needed, to grant yourself grace and the room to be yourself in all your ill-fitting inconvenience. Who cares what the establishment has to say? You belong.”
Liam Payne — First Time
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Move over Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan before him, One Direction member Liam Payne is offering up his first solo collection. And, it’s mostly about sex. “”I like sex, he told Total Access, “So what better way than to musically express myself as a young man growing up. I’m into it. I like it. It’s good.” Looks like One Direction is officially all grown up.
Steady Holiday — Nobody’s Watching
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Los Angeles songwriter Steady Holiday makes music that sounds timeless, relaxed and feathery, like a splash of cool water on a hot day. In a word, her music sounds refreshing. But lyrically, Steady Holiday has heavier thoughts on her mind. “I’ve been just as affected by our current politics as anyone, but it only takes one step back to realize these same figures have been present since the beginning of civilization,” she said in a statement. “This record is sort of an anthropological way of unpacking all this discomfort for me.”
Justice — Woman Worldwide
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There are few artists that have impacted the electronic music landscape like Justice. And a big part of that is how the French duo exists as a live entity. For their latest, they try to bring their live selves to their recorded work, with songs that have been played live over the years and have changed at their core because of it.
Boygenius — “Me & My Dog,” “Bite The Hand,” and “Stay Down”
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What happens when you get three of the best rising songwriters around and have them make some music together? Unsurprisingly, songs that bring out the best in all their creators. This isn’t a batch of material that had been collecting dust, unfit for their proper solo work. No, the Boygenius project feels as essential as any of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, or Phoebe Bridgers‘ masterful offerings. It’s enough to make music fans feel lucky just to experience it.
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Smoko Ono and Kami Feat. Chance The Rapper & Joey Purp — “Reboot”
When Chance The Rapper took to social media to announce “Reboot,” it seemed like it might be a new song with him as the primary artist. The thing is, it doesn’t quite matter that it’s just a feature, as the track finds him linking up with his friends Kami and Joey Purp, along with producer Smoko Ono, for a standout few minutes. Chance, of course, steals any song he’s a part of, but this one really feels like everyone is at the top of their game, particularly Smoko who provides a memorable canvas for them to work.
Soccer Mommy — “I’m On Fire”
In what is one of the most covered songs ever, with standout versions coming from the likes of Mumford & Sons, Chromatics, and Johnny Cash, Soccer Mommy takes a classic and makes it her own. The Springsteen tune is so sturdy that it stands up to most aesthetics, but really, this version makes you realize just how fully formed Soccer Mommy’s sound already is.
The Blaze — “Faces”
They may be the second French electronic duo on this list, but The Blaze share little in common with Justice sonically. Rather than the dancefloor, The Blaze is music made for big screens, choosing the meeting point between sound and sight as the place for their songs to exist. “Faces” is built around stutter-steps and glitches, with its goal not being to leave the listener unsettled, but, rather, inspired. Every sound serves this end purpose, as the song builds and corrodes simultaneously.
Empress Of — “When I’m With Him”
With a fair amount of lyrics for her new single in Spanish, Los Angeles’ Empress Of is proving that she can impress is multiple languages. But her music speaks a universal language of pop bliss, and “When I’m With Him” might be her most accomplished release yet. Her upcoming album finds her working with outside producers, but make no mistake, Empress Of has the final word when it comes to her music. “It’s just more fun when there’s other people in the room,” she says.
