Now that we’re into February, there’s been an uptick in new and interesting releases. These five tracks survived a cull of 500 songs from the past week. Comments and evaluations welcome.
1. Declan McKenna, Beautiful Faces
Zeroes (Tomplicated/Q Prime))
Recommended If You Like: Musical prodigies
McKenna is just 21 but he’s already played Glastonbury, Coachella and Lollapalooza plus had a song that greatly annoyed the corrupt people who run the FIFA World Cup. His has one major album entitled What Do You Think About the Car from 2017 and is headed toward a second called Zeroes which will be out May 15. This is the lead single from that record. Let’s see where this goes.
2. Slaves, Bury a Lie
To Better Days (SBG Records)
RIYL: Confusing names
Uh-oh. We have a problem. If you’re into British indie, you might think I’m talking about the raw punk duo from Kent called Slaves. This band is a five-piece from Los Angeles with the same name and includes vocalist Matt McAndrew whom you might remember from NBC’s The Voice. I’m sure there are legal teams working on the situation right now. Meanwhile, please enjoy this advance single for an album that will be out later this year.
3. lovelytheband, Loneliness for Love
Order of Mind (The Orchard)
RIYL: Disregard of traditional capitalization and spacing
More poppy, hummable earworm-y stuff from the LA trio who scored big with the song Broken a few years back from their debut album, Finding It Hard to Smile. Now it’s time for a second record and this song—with lyrics much more melancholy than the melody—is the lead single. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, right?
4. Incubus, Our Love
Single (for now) (Incubus/ADA)
RIYL: Memories from the late 90s and early aughts
Has it really been more than two decades since Incubus appeared with their breakthrough album, Make Yourself? Yep. The band is currently working on a follow-up to their eighth record (cleverly entitled 8) with a new album due at some point this year. Expect them to drip out more singles like this throughout the rest of the year.
5. Bedouin Soundclash, Born into Bad Times
MASS (Frontside)
RIYL: Canadian reggae rock
That was one long hiatus (nine years!), but Bedouin Soundclash—Jay Malinowski and Eon Sinclair—have returned with a record mostly made in New Orleans using members of the famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Watch for them on tour across Canada this winter.
Listen here.