EP4 is Wolf Parade's first release in six years. During that hiatus Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner kept plenty busy with their myriad side projects (Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, The Handsome Furs, The Divine Fits... the list goes on and on!) but everything snaps back into place for the Canadian band with the EP's opening track "Automatic." The wiry guitars, jittery vocals and witty word play of their Apologies to the Queen Mary days are all intact. And given the the revitalizing time off, they sound just as fresh today as they did a decade ago.
Father John Misty - Real Love Baby
Since the release of last year's stellarI Love You Honeybear Josh Tillman has kept busy being indie rock's biggest chameleon. Sometimes he's a heartless smart ass, sometimes he's a big-hearted romantic. Sometimes he's ironically covering Taylor Swift. Sometimes he's sincerely writing for Beyoncé. But rarely is he quiet. With "Real Love Baby," a song he insists isn't from any upcoming album, he indulges his softer sensibilities. With a yacht-rock smoothness and a desire for "real love, baby" you can't help but groove along, or wonder if the joke is really just on us.
Jenny Hval's upcoming album Blood Bitch lays its influences bare in its title. Inspired by 70s horror films, menstruation and the power of the female gaze, debut single "Female Vampire" combines them all in a most haunting way. The Norwegian singer's eerie girlish vocals hum over droning beats to spellbinding effect. It's just as supernatural as its name suggest.
Jessie Ware - Till the End
The British R&B singer's sultry voice is tailor-made for love songs, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that she contributed a new track to the soundtrack for romantic drama Me Before You. "Till the End" is an amorous ballad impeccably timed for wedding season. Despite the sappy lyrics, Ware's rich croon will convert even the most romance-averse cynics to the power of love, or at least her voice.
"Get My Bang" is an unapologetically sexy romp. Hayden Thorpe's piercing falsetto zig-zags its way over swaggering beats with a dark, vaguely sinister confidence. If the song is any indication the band's upcoming album Boy King will provide enough libidinous energy to get you through the year.
The ever-prolific folk singer has already released a collaborative album with the Skiffle players earlier this year, but now he's back with another solo record due out in August. Its first single "Opposite House" is reminiscent of Elliott Smith's best work - intimate, claustrophobic with ample lyrical melancholy ("Why does it rain inside?"). Plus it features vocal contributions from country riser Angel Olsen, as if it wasn't gorgeous enough to begin with.
File this one under duets we never expected. Interpol's Paul Banks joined forces with Wu Tang Clan's RZA for a new project called Banks & Steelz. Their first single "Love + War" also features a guest spot by fellow Wu member Ghostface Killah. The jazzy hip-hop track also gets a great video - a darkly humorous take on Reservoir Dogs and all the violence that entails.
There is a pause the size of an ocean before Nao drops the song's title word. "If I was your…." Wait for it…"GIRLFRIEND!" And therein lies this electro-soul jam's biggest asset - tension. Rarely can a song succeed in creating such suspense, especially when it references an iconic Prince track, but that's what sets the burgeoning London R&B singer apart from her peers. That, and her commanding voice, that is.
Chance the Rapper - No Problem feat. 2 Chainz & Lil' Wayne
Earlier this month, Chance the Rapper dropped his eagerly anticipated third mixtape Coloring Book. One of the standout tracks from the critically acclaimed tape is "No Problem," featuring 2 Chainz & Lil' Wayne. Put this feel good track on the list as an early contender for song of the summer.
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