Whoa. Welcome to 2018.
It’s a brand new year full of brand new flavors and feelings. So far in this first week it’s been a bit of a shitstorm - quite literally on the East coast as y’all suffer it out under a deep freeze (stay toasty, buds).
This year, I wanna take steps to make cmd+f to feel more like a community. After the response to cmd+vent, I believe it’s feasible. I know I spend every week telling y’all what you could be listening to, but that’s from one perspective. To accomplish this, I’d love to hear from you about your music experiences throughout 2018. Was there a song on your Discover Weekly that blew your mind? Were you stopped in your tracks in the middle of picking out a detergent and heard a wicked tune humming over your head? An above average concert opener? How about a song from that party you went to last weekend when your friend’s cousin DJ’d? As I said last year: your new favorite music act is always looking for new fans. Give us the goods, and everyone wins.
If you like what you hear, spread the cheer.
For now, it’s business as usual: strap in for 5 exciting emerging artists to slip onto your radar.
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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“Prune, You Talk Funny” - Gus Dapperton | Gus Dapperton has the full package to dive headfirst into 2018 as one of the most buzzworthy and compelling acts to watch this year. He already has a loyal following of fans trickling in by the day from all corners of the net, racking up millions of streams on YouTube bootlegs and authorized streaming platforms. Gus not only has a formative, definitive aesthetic about him (eccentric art school weirdo who clearly worships David Byrne), but he’s got off-kilter earworms that’ll burrow into your brain for days. “Prune, You Talk Funny” is a whimsical, breezy bop. What’ll assure your love for this tune is the music video - so please watch that before skipping straight to the song stream. You’ll understand this elusive charm that just oozes from him and his music; from his bowl cut, to his oversized polyester suits with deck shoes, and teal eyeshadow. Gus is at the top of my list of artists to watch this year. I have a feeling he’s going to catch on with a large audience. Watch here // Listen here
“Fever Thoughts” - Louis III | This is a debut single. This! A debut single! What in the hell?! “Fever Thoughts” sounds exactly like that hazy, nauseated restlessness an insomniac feels when trying to go the f*ck to sleep. The production is definite Frank Ocean-esque, paired with crisp R&B vocals. The dizzy sample loops scratch at your spine and try to seduce you to sleep. Listen here
“1986” - HÅN | Perhaps the most cinematic single plucked out for the letter this week, “1986” is magical. Italian songstress HÅN’s creamy vocals glide over an increasingly confident chorus of melancholic synths. This song is begging to get tipped by a music supervisor for an episode of Shadowhunters (which, yes, please) - the sweet intimacy and honesty in the lyrics is like fresh, powdery snow. Listen here
“King of Pop” - Roy Irwin | New Zealand artist Roy Irwin churned out one of the catchiest tunes about battling with depression in 2017. The lyrics are pretty vague, but there’s mentions of leaving the house wasted but coming home jade. Sonically the tune sounds like a bike ride in the park on a perfectly sunny day. Irwin’s entire album, also titled King of Pop, is littered with catchy tunes about avoiding Your Actual Feelings to Avoid Getting Into How Bad Things Are Actually Going With Someone You Don’t Really Care to Get Into It With. That was a mouthful, but people with depression will get it: sometimes you gotta fake it, or you gotta circumvent your reality to make it through the day, or a single conversation. Irwin’s managed to bottle this essence of irony so effortlessly. Listen here
“Don’t Fade” - JGrrey | After living with this song for a few weeks, I found out this song was almost never released as a single. Rising South London artist JGrrey whipped up a recorded version for a performance on YouTube channel COLORS (in which artists are invited to perform live in a brightly painted monochrome room), got a rave reaction (duh), and released a proper studio recording. It may be a cheap shot to suggest JGrrey is a “mini Adele,” but girl got pipes and incredible song lyrics. Listen here
BONUS
- Running out the gate, the best release of the week is Liam and Rita’s “For You” for the Fifty Shades Free OST. The quality of the tune has come as a surprise to virtually every pop fan who’s laid ears on it, but I knew they had it in ‘em. Is 2018 Rita’s breakout year? Will she finally stop getting lucrative yet shoddy TV hosting gigs and finally be a music artist? Anyhow, ISSA BOP. Listen here
- An official press release came out this week announcing Kendrick Lamar and TDE are supervising Marvel’s Black Panther soundtrack, including his new collab with Grammy nominee SZA - “All the Stars” Listen here
- Bruno Mars out here, continuing to be the king of releasing the song of the summer in January. He’s dropped a remix of “Finesse” featuring none other than America’s sweetheart from the BX, Cardi B. The music video, an homage to 90s comedy sketch show In Living Color, has caused quite a buzz. I even shared it with my mom and she bumped to it. Watch here
- Last week Allie X and VERITÉ officially released a music video for their soon-to-be sleeper hit “Casanova” Watch here
- Charli XCX has covered Wolf Alice’s “Don’t Delete the Kisses” and transformed it into a distorted, desperate hyper-pop ballad. Listen here
- Interscope labelmates Lana del Rey and BØRNS join forces on a euphoric collab, “God Save Our Young Blood,” and honestly, it’s okay, and isn’t a total waste of your time listening to it Listen here
- THE VACCINES ARE BACK Listen here
- Raunchy rapper and frequent Charli XCX collaborator cupcakKe has dropped her new album Ephorize. Please proceed with extreme caution if considering playing this around prude co-workers - “Spoiled Milk Titties” in particular is not safe for work (in case the title didn’t give that away). Listen here
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The New Year has brought on a clean slate - thus, a fresh playlist is born. A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I am going to share in the cmd+f newsletters this year will be 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 lists 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!