Rejjie Snow — Weekly Finds

Well, damn. Last week I sent out the newsletter to your inbox with the entirely wrong date simply because I was losing my mind over K-pop videos (as mentioned in the previous letter), and lemme tell you: that K-fever hasn’t waned. Between the Olympic games opening in Pyeongchang last week, my nine-step nightly facial routine, the music, and North & South Korea’s budding public political relations coverage, all things Korea have been thrusted in front of me this week. Naturally, I progressed deeper into the Korean music scene (with my pal Agnes) and we both managed to find a handful of sweet indie artists - one of whom is featured in my top 5 selections for the letter this week.

Please go forth and enjoy these five fantastic songs I’ve hand-harvested for you to enjoy this week. Hopefully these inspire you to check out more music from these artists, or lead to introducing you to another artist you’ve never heard of before!

Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.

You can contact me by replying directly to the newsletter that is mailed to your inbox every Friday, via my Twitter account, or using the contact page on the cmd+f website.

P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!

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“Faded Love” - Tinashe feat. Future | While most of y’all may already know the name Tinashe, she’s (unrightfully) still a Who and (unfairly) slept on. Tinashe is my Ride or Die. I will join a #Justice4Joyride campaign and preach the gospel of Tinashe until she’s back on the Top 40 radio circuit. While homegirl hasn’t had a break since her smash single “2 On” a few years ago, she’s managed to throw down a gazillion features across nearly every genre, collaborating with virtually anyone, and taking on absurd marketing campaigns. She’s a hustler. On her latest single “Faded Love,” Tinashe is back to doing what she does best: sexy, slinky, repetitive hooks over watery synths. Future jumps on the track to sing about how he’s ready to give up the player life (and surprisingly not to shit talk CiCi). While repetitive, the beats are more mesmerizing than grating. The end of the track loops perfectly with the beginning, and I spent well over an hour Wednesday night perusing Target with this blaring through my headphones on repeat. Listen here

“Game Ova” - Tobi Lou | Blessings to my pal Agnes for unearthing this gem. While this song has been floating around the net since 2016 (damn!), it’s held up. While “Game Ova” is admittedly a bit of a fuckboy anthem, the hook channels some serious Chance the Rapper vibes, meaning it’s absolutely undeniable. Highly recommend listening to this one in a car on a sunny day with the windows down. Listen here

“Valentine (What’s It Gonna Be)” - Rina Sawayama | Hallelujah! cmd+f alumni Rina has pushed pop further into the hyperactive, futuristic R&B we CRAVE. This jam is a feast for the ears, packed on with lush, dense layers of jerky synths snaking their way beneath guitar licks and melodic hook after hook. There are approximately four different varieties of choruses interpolated throughout, and honestly, the first time I heard it I lost my mind. Lyrically, it’s refreshing to hear an ode to Valentine’s Day with the promise of a short-term fling, and not dripping with corny confessions of undying love: “Making promises is dangers / I’m just a phase / I’m just your Valentine” Listen here

“찰나 Ksana” - Love X Stereo | Love X Stereo are an electro duo from Seoul producing delicious, dreamy synth-pop. Their latest single, “찰나 Ksana,” was released in a Winter Olympics-inspired compilation featuring a handful of other K-Indie artists. It sounds like an outtake from the beloved and iconic Drive soundtrack, bouncing between near silence and nervous vocals over an unrelenting bouncing bassline, to a soaring chorus. Listen here

“Heart to Break” - Kim Petras | Kim Petras’s name has been floating around a lot for the better part of 7 months, and I don’t think her name is going away anytime soon. This week, Interview Mag has dubbed her the “new Charli XCX” (which has me wondering which identity Charli XCX is morphing into next???), and she unleashed a brand new face melter. “Heart to Break” is honest to god a Grade A, solid pop bop. In stark contrast to dear Rina’s anti-Valentine anthem, Kim goes the distance with a reckless attitude, risking her heart and loving for love’s sake. When you’ve got the bubbliest of pop hooks in your tune, I say bring me some wine with that cheese–let’s class this bitch up. “Heart to Break” is pure poptimism at its finest. Listen here

New Music Friday Selects

I know most of y’all are PERCHT to see the new Black Panther film this long weekend. Kendrick Lamar, the music supervisor behind the music inspired by Black Panther has gone and released the most fire homage to LA in a new music video for “King’s Dead.” The video opens with Kendrick sitting at the top of a palm tree eating elotes. Truly an icon. Watch here
Everyone’s favorite lesbian Americana singer Brandi Carlile has dropped her latest masterpiece, By the Way, I Forgive You Listen here
Ireland’s freshest rapper Rejjie Snow has released his latest album Dear Annie, and it’s got some pretty tight production and features from the likes of Anna of the North, Jesse Boykins III, Caroline Smith, et al Listen here
And as for the world’s favorite Irishman, Niall Horan’s released an “alternate version” (ahem, a shorter radio cut) of his Fleetwood Mac-lite-esque new single “On The Loose” Listen here
The highly anticipated Khalid and Normani collab “Love Lies” is out today and I have listened to it exactly one time and can’t remember enough to elaborate beyond that Listen here
Frank Ocean covered “Moon River” this week and every music critic on the net bust a nut. It was deserved, to be honest. Listen here
Aussie pop icon Delta Goodrem is back with her sexy new jam “Think About You” - written by Julian Bunetta and John Ryan (of Niall Horan’s “Slow Hands” acclaim), this is a new direction for Delta that I am HERE FOR Watch here
You have to listen to this Everything Is Recorded by Richard Russell album - it’s got new songs featuring vocals from Sampha, Giggs, Ibeyi, and PETER F*CKIN GABRIEL!!! Absolutely beautiful. Listen here
Ride have a new EP out called Tomorrow’s Shore - great for fans of shoegaze Listen here
My favorite music project to ever be put out has been iamamiwhoami - a creepy, maxi-minimalist experimental music project that started ten years ago in which a new song was released every few weeks with an entire fucking music video. Every year and a half, iamamiwhoami would upload a series of well produced, beautiful music videos for every song - and for ages, fans tried to unfold the mystery of who was RESPONSIBLE for the freaking project. Anyhow, word got out a defunct poprock artist name Jonna Lee decided to completely reinvent herself into this Scandinavian Tilda Swinton of synth-pop, and SUCCESS. She gained a loyal following, and entirely new identity… and now she’s thrown the towel on iamamiwhoami and rebranded her music project to IONNALEE. The debut IONNALEE album EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN is out today, and I honestly have butterflies in my stomach Listen here
Stumbled across this interesting article on why most people don’t listen to new music once they “get old” (mid-20s on up) - and appaz the music we listened to as Young Teens is so impressionable, it forms all our opinions on music during those ages! Read here

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As I mentioned above, 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.

New month, new playlist! If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my February 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!

Holy CRAP, this week’s new music Friday releases are incredible. It feels like how October and early November music releases used to feel - brimming with fresh pop bops, jams, and bangers left and right. This week we’ve got a host of artists making a comeback with new albums and album announcements, solid singles, intense music videos… and extremely embarrassing rap careers from 1999 being unearthed from the depths of the earth. I’ve put together just enough content to distract yourself from living in the IRL for the rest of the MONTH! If you don’t have that kind of time, at least you can digest most of it this weekend while you try and muster up the energy to find enjoyment in cleaning your toilet.

Check out my top 5 songs by emerging (and established!) artists that may have flown under your radar.

If you like what you hear, spread the cheer.

You can contact me by replying directly to the newsletter that is mailed to your inbox every Friday, via my Twitter account, or using the contact page on the cmd+f website.

P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!

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“Mind Hijacker’s Curse” - Chad VanGaalen | Chad VanGaalen is by no means a new artist. In fact, he’s been releasing music for the past 15 years - before the rise of music downloads and streaming. I’m almost sure I poached a couple albums off someone’s iTunes in the Bellarmine Lobby using a music sharing software my freshman year of college and listened to maybe half of an album. Anyhow, Chad’s a veteran to this whole music artist thing, and he’s got a solid, established fanbase who’s been sustaining his work for well over a decade. His latest album Light Information dropped last year in September, and I’m gonna be frank: my eyes definitely glazed over that press email from SubPop. This past weekend I made a last minute trip to San Diego to visit with a friend. Her friend was driving us to dinner when “Mind Hijacker’s Curse” came on. The twang of the guitars, and lilting, wavering synths pecked through the speakers dancing around our conversation about a New Zealand restaurant that opened in North Park (I think). It’s high key melancholic, with lyrics clamoring for the preservation of evaporating time. If this is your first time listening to Chad VanGaalen, take some time out this weekend to sift through his discography - it’s chock full of gems like “Mind Hijacker’s Curse.” Listen here

“Lottery” - Jade Bird | As an avid anti-country pop music listener, I’m 1000% sure if most country pop music sounded like the material Jade Bird is throwing down, I’d happily become a country music stan. “Lottery” is a colorful, sweet friends-to-lovers anthem stacked with a big chorus and even bigger vocals on par with Brandi Carlile. While digging up some background info on ol’ Jade, she cites her greatest musical influence as Loretta Lynn, who seeps through her vocals. What shocked the hell out of me more than anything is finding our Jade is only 20 years old and British. A Brit! Nailing this Americana music game! Listen here

“Slower Than Usual” - Ariel Beesley | This was such a pleasant surprise - Ariel Beesley’s first official single! You may recall first hearing Ariel in a previous cmd+f letter as the featured vocalist for Love Thy Brother’s pop belter “Love Me Better.” Her debut single is virtually a Blondie tribute, and that’s definitely nothing to be ashamed of, innit. The tune is about a stranger Ariel met in Stockholm that she essentially fell in love with during her time there, but as the greatest love stories go, timing wasn’t right for either of them. The two lovers shared their very own Call Me By Your Name moment (this particular comparison is likely highly exaggerated, but it brings the drama) where they were very much in love during the time they were together, and they savored every moment they had together. The pre-chorus chimes in with a desperate plea for time to wane: “smoke your cigarette slower than usual/here with me.” Listen here

“Infinite” - solace | Soulful songstress solace’s single “Infinite” is sublime. From the innovative LA collective Milky Wayv, the track transforms from minimal to a full blown atmospheric slow jam. It’s absolutely breathtaking. Listen here

“Egyptian Luvr” - Rejjie Snow feat. Aminé | The first time I properly heard Irish rapper Rejjie Snow, he opened for Years & Years at the Fonda Theater in LA a couple years ago. I’m 100% he is the first and only Irish rapper I can recall of the top of my head. His song “Blakkst Skn” featured a hook sung by the lovely Rae Morris, and was produced by the beloved Kaytranada. Since that performance, he’s chipped his way up the ranks, dropping tunes with cool kid heavyweights Jesse Boykins and Joey Bada$$. Today he dropped a new EP, Dear Annie: Part 1, featuring the opening track “Egyptian Luvr.” The tune’s got a funky groove produced by none other than Kaytranada, features guest vocals by Dana Williams on the hook, and a guest verse by Aminé. “Egyptian Luvr” is slick as hell. Listen here

BONUS

My prayers and good energy sent out into the universe last week have been answered: George Ezra has dropped a BRAND SPANKING NEW SINGLE call “Paradise,” and it’s surpassed all expectations. My new editor, Kimmie, described the sound of the single as making her “want to fall in love immediately like a teen movie” or “when [she] would skip school to drive to the beach with the windows down.” Not only has George inspired playing hookie and falling in love, the bellowing cherub has announced his highly anticipated sophomore album Staying At Tamara’s will be out March 23, and he has 2018 tour dates in UK, Europe, USA, and Canada. Word on the street is First Aid Kid (the folksy Americana Swedish duo who have released their very own album Ruins today) will be featured on a track on the album. PHEW! Big year for Georgey - it’s good to have you back, sir. Listen to “Paradise” here
Today really is better than a post Christmas shopping trip - Rita Ora has also released a new song! It’s sponsored by Absolut Vodka - which, before you say “I can’t believe she has a song sponsored by vodka,” remind yourself it’s Rita Ora we are dealing with here. The finest pop musique hustler in all the land - now enjoy “PROUD,” a mid-tempo generi-pop tune sponsored by Absolut Vodka, and don’t you dare forget it. Listen here
Troye Sivan has released ANOTHER single!! “The Good Side” is a gorgeous ballad that Harry Styles wishes he released as his debut single. Judging by Troye’s first two comeback singles, it’s evident he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this year on the pop music scene. Listen here
Looks like Rae Morris is pulling a Dua Lipa and continues to release a new single each week leading up to the release of her debut album to the point that we will likely only have three songs we’ve never heard by the time the album drops, but who cares? Who actually friggin’ cares when Rae is satiating that hunger for her album? It’s a blessing. Listen to "Lower the Tone" here
Bad week to drop a single with Offset, Tinashe… what kinda fucked up karma does she have for the universe to keep sabotaging her career? Ironically titled “No Drama,” this single with the human pigeon issa bop. Listen here
Porches’s highly anticipated album The House is now out. From the select tunes I’ve heard, it’s dark, melancholic, and got enough drum machines in it to make you wanna dance. Listen here
Cashmere Cat has finally lived up to this unending hype and released a song I can fuck with, but it’s more than likely because Major Lazer also had their hands on the track. Featuring breathy, distorted vocals from Torey Lanez, “Miss You” is a winner. Listen here
Jorja Smith turns into a hired assassin in Italy in the video for her newest single “Let Me Down” featuring Stormzy Watch here
Lady Leshurr’s got a siiiiick new freestyle video, "R.I.P." Watch here
Unsure if the gays will rejoice, but it appears Kylie Minogue has gone full Joanne for her boot-kickin’ come back single, “Dancing.” What sounds like a long lost STEPS track is a lot of fun, but I really miss the “sticky, bruised knees in a sweaty club and feeling pretty slutty after 3 tall drinks” Kylie, you know? Listen here
SG Lewis has shared another brilliant single, “Aura,” featuring J Warner, and it’s brilliant. No SG Lewis album or extended projects have been announced, but please put in a prayer circle for a damn album. Listen here
Ah, yes, I did mention embarrassing mixtapes up at the top, didn’t I? Well, Tommy No 1, aka Hollywood Heartthrob and director Christopher Nolan’s golden boy Tom Hardy, had an unsuccessful rap career in the late 90s. Tommy No 1’s beatmaker and partner in crime, Eddie Too Tall, was TV writer Edward Tracy. The lost gems surfaced Thursday when Edward dropped the mixtape on Bandcamp. It’s reeeeeally rough, and I’m grateful Tom’s spared himself a lot of grief and become an actor. Read all about it 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 January 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!