After the onslaught of epic new releases throughout all of February, March isn’t looking to slow things down and we start things off with a big first week of the month. Nilüfer Yanya is a star on the rise and her new record, PAINLESS, shows no signs of slowing down. She brings together fierce guitar with R&B and pop sensibilities that make her one of the most unique songwriters of the moment.
Band of Horses return with their delayed new album, Things Are Great. The early singles suggest that this could be the band’s return to their early golden-era with straightforward alt-country tendencies. Vein.fm (you can drop the .fm when you say it outloud) are also back with their first new album in four years and it is supposed to be a punishing, heavy affair.
Following last year’s critically acclaimed Ignorance, The Weather Station returns with another new record, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars. We also have a new one from the mostly instrumental group El Ten Eleven and if instrumental records are your thing, the surprise release this week from Channel Tres should also satisfy your listening needs. There’s also a new one from the prolific Dave Harrington (perhaps best known as one-half of DARKSIDE) and it’s yet another collaboration, this time with Ilhan Ersahin and Kenny Wollesen.
British post-punks Wet Leg shared yet another single from their forthcoming debut. This one has more of a ‘60s pop sound and furthers their sonic spectrum. Aussie quintet Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever offered up the second single to their new record, this one isn’t quite as frantic as past singles, but is still another solid jam in their repertoire.
After a stunning opening set for Mdou Moctar at BAM last week, Bartees Strange announced that he has signed with 4AD and shared a new song called “Heavy Hearts.” HAIM also dropped a one-off single in anticipation of their upcoming tour. It’s a mostly acoustic number that sparkles with off the cuff brilliance. Pusha T is back as well following last month’s comeback “Diet Coke.” This one features Nigo and it’s called “Hear Me Clearly.”
It’s also a great week for covers. Danish punks Iceage shred on an out of nowhere cover of R&B singer Abra’s great “Pull Up” mixing their snarl with her rapturous beats.Elsewhere, Robyn hooked-up with Mapei for a new twist on Neneh Cherry’s timeless classic “Buffalo Stance” and while the original was a club-ready banger, this one feels better suited for an end of the night comedown.
Jack White dropped not one but TWO new songs this week, one from each of his albums expected later this year. The first, a collaboration with the almighty Q-Tip, is rather chaotic and crammed together that was perhaps better in concept than it is as a finished product, but the second, acoustic-driven song is more on par with expectations and has hints of the White Stripes’ late career gem, “The Nurse.”
Finally, in a move that has shocked the indie world, Bandcamp, the artist-forward retail and streaming platform which has been a pivotal force for artists (especially in the pandemic) was acquired by Epic Games this week. It feels like a potentially deathly blow to the independent community and was received with some pretty big outrage from fans and artists alike. Although the CEO insists the platform and company won’t be making any changes, it’s hard to believe artists have much of a future in which selling their music turns a profit. Nonetheless, today is Bandcamp Friday and as of now, all of the sales on the site today will go straight to the creators. Who knows how long this will last so today would be a great day to buy an album and support a band.
Albums:
Nilüfer Yanya | PAINLESS
Vein.fm | This World Is Going To Ruin You
Band Of Horses | Things Are Great
The Weather Station | How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars
El Ten Eleven | New Year’s Eve
Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington, & Kenny Wollesen | Invite Your Eye
Channel Tres | refresh
Songs:
Wet Leg | “Angelica”
HAIM | “Lost Track”
Bartees Strange | “Heavy Heart”
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever | “Tidal River”
Robyn | “Buffalo Stance” (ft Mapei) [Neneh Cherry cover]
Pusha T | “Hear Me Clearly” (ft Nigo)
Jack White | “Hi-De-Ho” (ft Q-Tip) / “Queen of the Bees”
Belle and Sebastian | “Unnecessary Drama”
The Linda Lindas | “Talking to Myself”
Sharon Van Etten | “Used to It”
BADBADNOTGOOD | “Open Channels”
Iceage | “Pull Up” [Abra cover]
Weird Nightmare | “Searching for You”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!