Staff Pix 10/25: New Releases

It’s that time again to celebrate the best new releases of the past few weeks! Check out the staff’s pix, and tune in on Friday from 3-4pm to hear them played…LIVE!

“Instant Psalm” by The Smile

Straight off of The Smile’s newest record Cutouts, “Instant Psalm” is an instant Thom Yorke classic sure to inspire melancholic reflection. Beginning with a flourish of layered violin and ambient synth, the track takes the listener on an emotional journey of clear uncertainty. The lyrics of “We overflow in a hurricane/ We can feel no pain” and “And we feel you near/ But so close that you disappear” speak to feeling so overcome with emotion that you begin to feel nothing at all. In a storm of personal entanglements, Yorke’s voice is unchanging and soft beneath the layers of orchestral harmonies. The track ends with some impression of a resolution as the overwhelmingly pensive sound fades out with only the guitar left for the listener to ground themselves with.  —Sophie Parrish

“Attaway” by Phantogram

After quite a drought, electronic-rock duo Phantogram has finally released their latest LP, Memory Of A Day. My admiration for this band primarily comes from my steadfast nostalgia–their tunes littered my father’s playlists and various Pandora radios growing up. I do believe that 2009’s Eyelid Movies is practically perfect, so there’s that as well. Transparently, I don’t find Memory Of A Day great by any means, but “Attaway” easily stands out amongst an otherwise dim project. It’s brash and heavy. It’s got that good kind of repetitive energy that manifests into addiction for more. I wouldn’t say it has the electronic spirit of earlier Phantogram tracks, but it definitely utilizes the expansiveness the duo is praised for. —Sofia Giarrusso

“SHELL (OF A MAN)” by Saya Gray

“This will be the last song about you”...a famous lie for a fabulous song. “SHELL (OF A MAN)” is Gray’s first single release teasing her album, SAYA, coming this February. It’s sonically spirited and lyrically upfront: how do you move on? The questions Gray is grappling with are anything but simple:  “How do I get past the past” if “I’m still hung up on cobwebs”? What's the “difference in visiting / A memory and living in the past”? In Gray’s book, there is one clear step that must be taken. Talking about it. “Speak now, or forever hold your peace”, she repeats. Opening up may not mean that it’ll be the last song, poem, playlist, film, collage, short story, journal entry, wine drunk yap session, or solo karaoke performance you initiate, but it will certainly be a step towards that for-real final melody about them. —Monika Krueger

“Just a Western - Boy Harsher Remix” by Nilüfer Yanya

Britain’s lush, ultra-cool Nilüfer Yanya already knew what she was doing with “Just A Western,” released in her latest album My Method Actor. In this newly released remix, the sweet and atmospheric twang of the original is transformed by Boy Harsher’s hollow, ‘80s dance production, displaying the multitude of contexts in which Yanya’s honey-smooth vocals fit right in. Boy Harsher’s production is not complex; it incorporates the right amount of expansive, chiming, and synth-heavy sounds reminiscent of ‘80s pop, transferring audiences to a slow-moving dance floor, or a dramatic late night drive.  —Adelaide Russell

“Awards Season” by Bon Iver

It’s no secret that Justin Vernon is an emotional guy. For two decades, the Wisconsin-based indie folk legend behind Bon Iver has proven time and time again that he’s capable of baring his soul like few others, whether it be the on unvarnished isolation ballads of For Emma, Forever Ago or in the outlandish existential musings sequestered within the cryptic whirs and glitches of 22, A Million. And yet, despite so many years of constant exposure to his sad, sad music, why did I still get hit like a truck when I first heard Vernon sing, “But you know what will stay/Everything we’ve made” at the end of “Awards Season”? Maybe it’s because, after years of listening to him speak in tongues and invent his own words (a la “fuckified”), to hear Vernon write with such directness is like an audial system shock. Or maybe it has to do with the music itself, all muted synth and obfuscated splotches of piano just barely accenting Vernon’s trademark baritone, the palpable stillness eventually giving way to a beautiful gaggle of saxophones to create what may be – dare I say – one of the most emotionally gratifying songs in the entire Bon Iver catalog. —Lucca Swain

“Heart You Hold” by Jordana

Jordana’s new project Lively Premonition can be summarized with one word– confidence. Jordana sounds better than ever before through a series of nonchalant performances that bring out the record’s wide range of production choices. “Heart You Hold” stands out as not only a pretty nod to the Carpenters through Jordana’s effortlessly layered harmonious singing, but brings out the most common theme of this record: catchy choruses. When “Like A Dog” came out early August, it quickly became my song of the summer strictly streaming numbers wise. I'm excited to ride out fall living through a new slew of Jordan’s earworms. —Sam Shipman

“Aquamarine” by Addison Rae

It would be both very easy and horrendously stupid to categorize Addison Rae as nothing more than a TikTok star. Over the last few years, she’s been releasing increasingly exciting electropop that brings to mind the glossy, smooth-brained thrills of 2010s top 40. All of this progress comes to a head on the luminous “Aquamarine,” a shimmering, bite-sized piece of deep house that recalls 90s Madonna, Grimes circa 2015, and Debut-era Björk. If this were done by a lesser pop star, it would come off as a cheap, pandering bit of pastiche, but Addison takes these smaller, more idiosyncratic sounds and blows them up to stadium proportions. “Give me moreeee,” Addison coos on the spectacular bridge. Who could deny her? —Bennett Himmel

“Elephant” by jasmine.4.t

The elephant is in the room, but possibly in a different way than singer-songwriter Jasmine Cruickshank intended. Her new single “Elephant” dissects the entanglement of isolation and joy involved in identity discovery. The build, the production, the raw emotion of this song is masterful and addicting, gripping listeners until the very end. Cruickshank’s evocative rollercoaster of dynamics, instruments, and coping mechanisms forces the audience to the edge of their seat until the song’s end. Originally self-releasing, she just signed with Saddest Factory Records (Phoebe Bridgers’ production company), so be on the lookout for her imperative and incredibly important rise to fame, starting with her first album out January 17th.  —Anna Chalupa

“Rise” by Kelly Lee Owens

This track from Kelly Lee Owens’ new album, Dreamstate, is a cathartic, technicolor anthem perfect for your late-fall walks. Owens creates a propulsive, vibrant beat that feels like rays of sunlight beaming through orange and yellow leaves. The wind is blowing, and Owens is chanting about a new dawn: “I see the sun coming up.” It’s the kind of rebirth you typically expect from spring—clarity, confidence, feelings rising again like buds in the frost. But no, the moment is now: “Dance it away, till I feel again/ Let go the pain resurfacing.” Break that cycle of hurt from the past—it doesn’t define you. The light at the end of the tunnel is here. Say it twice so you believe it: “I’m myself again/ I’m myself again.” Manifest the brightest possible version of yourself: “I want it, I got it.” Listen and rise like a neon phoenix from the ashes of yourself. —Christian Jones

“Club Classics featuring bb trickz” by Charli XCX

Released just in time for the Halloween party antics, Charli XCX and Bb trickz’s remix for “Club classics” is a song you could leave on loop without anyone leaving the dance floor. The track is one of many bass and rhythm-driven amalgamation of songs off of Charli’s hit album BRAT including tracks “365” and “b2b”—alluding to her own hits as “club classics,” and well deservingly so. The mass recognition of BRAT prompted her to release a follow-up album with gem-filled remixes that feature iconic pop culture collaborations with artists like Lorde and Bladee. In the “Club classics” remix, Charli features Bb trickz, a Spanish rapper relatively new to the scene whose verse merges well with the punchy beat and overall attitude of the track. If you’re at a function at a loss of what to queue next, this remix will always be a crowd-pleaser.—Rachel Charles

“I Think About Heaven” by Christopher Owens

Imagine you’re a medieval peasant: Everyday is dirt. You sleep in dirt. It’s cold. Your work. The taxes are harsh. The King is mean. There’s even more dirt. And every Sunday you enter the most beautiful building you’ve ever seen. A man in clean white robes tells you that everything will be okay. Light streams through colored glass and the sight makes tears well up in your eyes, Who knew light could do that!? “I Think About Heaven” from Christopher Owen’s newest album, I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, looks upward with a peasant’s simple grin. Owens’ lyrics feather in and out of shining guitar lines: “All I have left is the memory of our love / I think about heaven and I smile.” Life is pretty crummy and things rarely go your way. So sit back and imagine how wonderful heaven’s going to be. —Nathan Hilyard