Happy day after international women’s day!
To keep the festivities rolling, I’ve handpicked five songs fronted by female vocalists, and I’m so excited to share them with you. I’m keeping this opening short n’ sweet, and will let these gals do all the talking.
As always, I hope these five songs inspire you to check out more music by these artists, or lead to introducing you to another artist you’ve never heard before!
Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.
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“The Game Remix” - Gabriel Garzón-Montano feat. Junglepussy | I spent Tuesday night leaning over a kitchen counter reading a book whilst getting myself reacquainted with Junglepussy’s discography. She’s hands down one of the best rappers from New York ever, armed with solid bars, and oozes levels of self love and confidence that I can feel myself start believing I have within me just listening to her voice. Her latest release is a collab with Gabriel Garzón-Montano, completely commandeering the instrumentals and replacing his lyrics with her own groove. This reimagination is thrilling, just turning the jam on its head. I wanna swim in this song. Listen here
“Wayside” - Renata Zeiguer | For those of you trapped in a snowstorm, and those of you sleeping off the days of the late summer sun, prepared to be swept off your feet by the punchdrunk, hazy folk jam ‘Wayside.” Listen here
“Like You Like That” - L Devine | This choice is an absolute curveball: I heard it back in November when it came out. Well, I actually tried to listen to L Devine’s EP back then, but it was likely an evening I was too overwhelmed by a barrage of higher profile releases, and it was sadly swept under the rug. “Like You Like That” came back to me this week after finding its way onto the formerly-collaborative Popjustice playlist, “POPJUSTICE EUPHORIA COME ON YOU FUCKERS LET’S FUCKING HAVE IT.” Peter’s been slowly chipping down the list from a whopping 1600+ entries, and I dip in the list every other day to see what remains. “Like You Like That” took me by surprise – it’s a highly calculated bop crafted to appeal to pop purists. It’s got the whimsical repetitive vocal inflections a la Terror Jr, and the curious sensuality of a Tove Lo track. Listen here
“Twentytwo” - Sunflower Bean | This song is absolutely gorgeous. I’m a bit annoyed with myself for putting off listening to this until this week, but I’m glad it found me. Sunflower Bean caused a bit of a buzz in 2016 around the release of their debut album Human Ceremony, and were noted to be fresh out of high school despite their sound being beyond their years. “Twentytwo” is a divine, dreamy mid-tempo track boasting a message of resilience on societal expectations for young women. If you can spare a moment, I can’t recommend the glossy, Olivia Bee directed music video enough. Listen here // Watch here
“Cat’s Cradle” - Hannah Epperson | Hannah Epperson is a phenomenon. A trained violinist, Epperson composes two versions of all her tracks: an Amelia (a devoted experimental pop interpretation), and an Iris (a stripped, minimalist interpretation). Using vocals and her loop-pedal, it’s mind blowing how the same song can sound from two worlds – each like a long lost fraternal twin living on separate ends of the galaxy. Highly recommended listening for fans of Andrew Bird, Patrick Wolf, and Sufjan Stevens. Listen here (Amelia version) // Listen here (Iris version)
New Music Friday Selects
Years & Years have finally returned with their first single since the release of their 2015 debut album Communion. Sticking with the lite-Catholic theme, the lead single is titled “Sanctify,” a low key Catholic guilt BOP about dear Olly Alexander engaging in intimate relationships with straight dudes. The music video also introduces us to Years & Years’ fictional universe of Palo Santo, a reversed-Blade Runner-esque society in which the androids are running shit and humans are a commodity. In the video, we see Olly: grind a chair, crawl on the floor, and is really just feeling hisself. 20gayteen is really out here. Watch here
Remember Vera Blue from the November 17, 2017 letter? Homegirl has released her Women’s Reckoning anthem “Lady Powers” as an official single this time throwing Kodie Shane for a verse on the track. YOOOOW! Listen here
Bellowing cherub George Ezra pulls through with yet another taste of his forthcoming album Staying at Tamara’s with the heartfelt ballad “Hold My Girl.” George’s kindly dressed up like a goofy dad for an equally sweet lyric video Watch here
James Bay has cut off all his hair and has apparently shed all that sadness from his shoulders. His latest single “Pink Lemonade” is a surprisingly upbeat, thirst-quenching delight Listen here
Editors return with their 9-track album Violence, and it’s a complete melter. Highly recommend “Hallelujah (So Low) Listen here
My favorite girls MUNA are celebrating 1 whole year since the release of their debut album about u with the release of an acoustic EP, About U: One Year On Listen here
Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard’s band Calpurnia have shared their debut single “City Boy” Listen here
ZHU and Tame Impala have linked up for the track “”My Life” Listen here
WSTRN jumped on a remix of Mabel’s “Fine Line” and somehow make this jam BETTER Listen here
[yodels] WET ARE BACK! If you’re in need of a bit of a Mood for a light cry after being rejected by someone, please consider bumping “There’s A Reason” Listen here
Sail away with Lil Yachty’s new tape Lil Boat 2 Listen here
The Wrinkle In Time soundtrack has arrived and it has the first officially released Sade track in, like, a decade. How blessed??? Also, please support seeing this film this opening weekend if you can. Listen here
The Neighbourhood, aka American The 1975, have a new self-titled album Listen here
Not only has Vince Staples launched a GoFundMe campaign for $2million to fund his retirement after receiving swashes of criticism for his new live stage arrangement, he’s also kindly released a new track, “Get the Fuck Off My Dick” Listen here
Run the Jewels have remixed Lorde’s “Supercut” and it’s dope, obvi Listen here
The bottom half of the new Beach House song, “Dive” is far superior. Stick out listening to the 2:30 intro and you’ll be rewarded greatly Listen here
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A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I have shared in this week’s letter are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.
Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.
If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my March 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!
See you next week!