The biggest premieres this week all centered around, well, macks. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis dropped their first new song since 2013 in “Growing Up,” Mac Miller unveiled his new video for “100 Grandkids,” and Doug Funnie did his best to rap “Trap Queen.” That third one didn’t really have anything to do with macks — it’s just funny. Maybe it was edited on a Mac, who knows?
Anyway, there were far more songs and videos released this week than that. Here’s what you may have missed.
Atmosphere – “Sunshine”
Normally, artists don’t go back and release videos for tracks from older albums, but in Atmosphere‘s case, an exception should clearly be made. “Sunshine” dates all the way back to 2007, from their Sad Clown Bad Summer 9 EP, but the hip-hop duo decided to make a video for the clip eight years later under one condition: The clip could be filmed using only solar power. The result is a pretty cool visual for a great track that probably should have had a video in the first place. But good things take time, as they say. Not usually a decade, but still.
Silversun Pickups – “Nightlight”
The Los Angeles band Silversun Pickups must be big fans of True Detective season two. (See, someone is!) Their new short film for their single “Nightlight” is a dangerous and murky noir tale set against the backdrop of California.
Bright lights, fancy hotels, and blood stain this mysterious clip helmed by famed music video director Mark Pellington. His most famous clips include Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,” Alice In Chains’ “Rooster,” and Foo Fighters “Best Of You,” just to name a few. You can add this seductively dark clip to his already fine resume.
Earl Sweatshirt – “Off Top”
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From the introspective album, I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside, “Off Top” is an animated clip which allows Earl Sweatshirt to explore his dark imagination even further.
The cartoon style of the video is late ’70s/early ’80s, almost reminiscent of underground comix, which is a fair comparison as those comic books were deeply anti-authority and explored incredibly personal issues like depression and other taboo topics. The visual is short, but incredibly impactful in the time that it has you.
Tune-Yards – “Rocking Chair”
Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards is maybe one of the most creative forces in indie-pop today. Her 2014 album, Nikki Nack, was full of vibrant tracks pulsing with energy. This week, she released a video for “Rocking Chair” from the album that’s just as colorful and arresting as the track. Part stop-motion, part-kaleidoscope test, the clip is one you’re going to want to full screen and just zone out while watching, and then possibly find the rest of the album.
With You. – “Ghost” Feat. Vince Staples
Major Lazer is wildly successful, known the world over for their genre bending electronic music. The group was founded by Diplo and Switch back in 2009, however Switch would eventually leave the group in 2011 and go on to produce for M.I.A., Santigold, and more. Well, now he’s back in a new group called With You. and his first single is with the on-fire rapper Vince Staples.
“Ghost” is a U.K. Garage/house track that Vince glides across with incredible ease. It’s a little less dancehall or reggae influenced like Switch’s work in Major Lazer, but the undeniable bounce is still there. With You. is definitely something to keep an eye out for.
