Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this best new music segment.
On this week’s list, we have the latest offering from Fever Ray’s upcoming album, the alluring and playful ‘Kandy’, co-written and co-produced by Karin Dreijer’s brother and the Knife bandmate Olof Dreijer; Katie Gately’s devilishly haunting ‘Brute’, one of two title tracks she released from her forthcoming LP; ‘4th of July’, the lead single off PACKS’ new album Crispy Crunchy Nothing, which evokes a feeling of disorientation while hinting at a more dynamic (and indeed, crunchy) sound; ‘Empty Heavy’, a pensive cut from deathcrash’s new LP that erupts at just the right moment; ‘Breathing Song’, a gut-wrenching highlight off Samia’s Honey; and Kevin Morby’s gorgeous ’Like a Flower’, which appears on his soundtrack for David Siegel’s film Montana Story.
H. Hawkline has released a new song, ‘Plastic Man’, lifted from his upcoming album Milk for Flowers. It follows previous entries ‘Suppression Street’ and the title track. Check it out below.
“The last song written for the album, need more than must, twirling cane and top hat gliding down a molten stairway in the middle of summer,” Huw Evans explained in a statement. “Tim Presley wrote that opening guitar line — I watched him piece it together like a scribble, animating itself into a Muybridge offcut.”
‘Plastic Man’ is accompanied by the same video used for ‘Milk for Flowers’. Explaining his approach, Evans said: “‘I’m going to make one video and just change the music’ I laughed to myself, thinking about it, and then I thought about it and it made sense. Sometimes your song changes but everything else stays the same; it causes previously dormant plates of emotion to grind against the familiar and mundane, new monuments jut up from your earth, empty buildings, a landscape rearranged.”
Wings of Desire, the UK duo of Chloe Little and James Taylor, have released the new single ‘Runnin’. Check it out below.
Commenting on the song, the duo said in a statement: “Running endlessly in circles under the tight grip of a culture designed to distract us from ourselves. Do we still believe that the internet knows what’s best for us? Maybe it’s time to get off the wheel and see what’s outside.”
Last year, Wings of Desire shared the singles ‘Perfect World’ and ‘A Million Other Suns’. According to a press release, they have “a longer-project due later this year.”
Barret Strong, the Motown artist who sang the label’s breakthrough hit ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ and wrote songs for the Temptations, has died. He was 81.
“I am saddened to hear of the passing of Barrett Strong, one of my earliest artists, and the man who sang my first big hit,” Gordy wrote in a statement shared by Billboard. “Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, but he, along with his writing partner Norman Whitefield, created an incredible body of work, primarily with the Temptations. Their hit songs were revolutionary in sound and captured the spirit of the times like ‘Cloud Nine’ and the still relevant, ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today).’”
Born in West Point, Mississippi in 1941, Strong grew up in Detroit, where he became one of Gordy’s earliest signees. He was the piano player and vocalist for ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’, which was released early in 1960 and reached No. 2 on the U.S. R&B chart. It went on sell more than one million copies and was later covered by acts including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Flying Lizards, the Kingsmen, and Buddy Guy.
In the mid-1960s, Strong collaborated with producer Norman Whitfield to form one of Motown’s most successful songwriting partnerships, turning out hits such as Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, Edwin Starr’s ‘War’, and Paul Young’s ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)’. For the Temptations, the duo wrote hits like ‘Psychedelic Shack’, ‘Cloud Nine’ and ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)’, as well as ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)’, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. In 1973, ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone’ earned Strong a Grammy for Best R&B Song.
Strong left Motown in 1972 after the label had moved to Los Angeles. He focused on his solo career and signed with Epic and later Capitol, where he released 1975’s Stronghold and 1976’s Live & Love. Strong was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.
Lil Baby was the musical guest on last night’s Michael B. Jordan-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live. Making his debut on the show, the Atlanta rapper performed the tracks ‘California Breeze’ and ‘Forever’. Watch it below.
‘California Breeze’ and ‘Forever’ are taken from Lil Baby’s latest album It’s Only Me, which arrived back in October. In September, he shared the Tears for Fears-sampling ‘The World Is Yours to Take’, which appeared on the official soundtrack for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Coldplay are set to perform on next week’s episode of Saturday Night Live, which will be hosted by Pedro Pascal.
Tom Verlaine, the legendary guitarist, songwriter, and frontman of Television, has died. The news was confirmed by Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Patti Smith, who said he died following a “brief illness” on Saturday. “He died peacefully in New York City, surrounded by close friends,” Smith wrote. “His vision and his imagination will be missed.” Verlaine was 73 years old.
Born Thomas Miller in Denville, New Jersey in 1949, Verlaine grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, where he moved with his family at the age of six. He was trained as a classical pianist before switching to saxophone and eventually took up guitar after being inspired by the Rolling Stones’ ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’. During high school, he became friends with Richard Meyers, who would later adopt the stage name Richard Hell, and the two ran off and eventually settled in New York City at the dawn of punk. It was that there that Miller changed his last name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine.
In 1972, Verlaine and Hell formed a band called The Neon Boys with drummer Billy Ficca. Within a year, they rebranded themselves as Television after recruiting guitarist Richard Lloyd, and spent the next couple of years honing their sound at downtown clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. Hell left the band in 1975 and was replaced by Fred Smith, and the group released their debut album, 1977’s classic Marquee Moon, via Elektra. They followed it up with the more reflective Adventure in 1978 before disbanding that same year, though they reunited in 1992 for a self-titled album.
After Television broke up, Verlaine would embark on a fruitful solo career, releasing his eponymous debut in 1979. He released a total of ten studio albums, including 1981’s Dreamtime, 1982’s Words from the Front, and 1984’s Cover. He also collaborated with a number of artists, including his one-time girlfriend Patti Smith, contributing to her albums Horses (1975), Gone Again (1996), Gung Ho (2000), and Banga (2012).
Verlaine was part of the supergroup the Million Dollar Bashers, which featured Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel, and keyboardist John Medeski. In the mid-’90s, sessions Verlaine produced for Jeff Buckley were scrapped, although the material was later released as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. In 2012, Verlaine worked with Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha on his second solo LP, Look to the Sky.
“I have lost a hero,” Michael Stipe wrote. “Bless you Tom Verlaine for the songs, the lyrics, the voice! And later, the laughs, the inspiration, the stories, and the rigorous belief that music and art can alter and change matter, lives, experience. You introduced me to a world that flipped my life upside down. I am forever grateful.”
“This is a time when all seemed possible,” Patti Smith wrote in a tribute on Instagram, where she posted a photo of her and Verlaine. “Farewell Tom, aloft the Omega.”
Sunny War made her televison debut today (January 28) on CBS Saturday Morning, where she sat down for an interview and performed her songs ‘New Day’, ‘No Reason’, and ‘Whole’. Watch it happen below.
Sunny War’s new album, Anarchist Gospel, is set to arrive next Friday, February 3 via New West Records. In addition to ‘New Day’, ‘No Reason’, and ‘Whole’, the LP includes the previously released ‘Higher’ and a cover of Ween’s ‘Baby Bitch’.
Parannoul, a one-man shoegaze project from Seoul, has released a new album titled After the Magic. It’s available to stream now, with physical copies arriving in April via Topshelf. Check it out below.
“This album is not what you expected, but what I always wanted,” Parannoul wrote in a statemet. “I’m always afraid when what I have now will disappear and when people will leave me. I think these are some kind of magic, that will shine bright for a while and then lights out, like nothing happened. This is an album that I made with my dreams I dreamed after my 2nd album. Thanks to people all over the world for the help.”
Rae Sremmurd have released a new song called ‘Sucka or Sum’. Produced by Jaxx, the track arrives with an accompanying video by Matt Swinsky. Check it out below.
‘Sucka or Sum’ marks Rae Sremmurd’s first single of 2023. Last year, the Mississippi duo shared the songs ‘Torpedo’, ‘Denial’, and ‘Community D*ck’ featuring Flo Milli.
Last year, I realised why most parodies don’t work for me. As I see it, it’s an unfortunate truth that the majority of those who work in parody absolutely hate whatever they’re parodying. To me, that’s not really parody – it’s just shouting about how much you dislike something and passing it off as art. Sure, there are exceptions to this – hello, Spaceballs! – but it seems to be standard that those who work in parody consider themselves (or their work, or both) above whatever it is they’re parodying. That might sound a bit harsh, but trust me – as a lifelong Godzilla fan, I’ve endured endlessly flaccid riffing on poor dubbing, low budgets, “cardboard” buildings, the lot – none of which adequately (or accurately) reflect what’s being parodied.
For me, two things are paramount to an effective parody. The first is affection for whatever it is you’re sending up, and the second – perhaps even more crucial – is knowledge of it. Using Godzilla as an example again, this is where so many spoofs fall short: jokes are almost always based on ideas of the character and genre he belongs to, obtained through indirect pop-culture osmosis rather than an intimate knowledge and affection for the character and his films themselves. To this end, parody begets parody, and we usually end up with inaccurate, unfair perceptions of a film, genre, character, or performer. If you don’t believe me, give William Shatner’s dynamic Star Trek performance a go. See beyond the decades of over-the-top impersonations and caricatures, and you’re gifted with the singularly charismatic performance that birthed a pop-culture icon – one that only Shatner could’ve delivered.
All of this leads me to Mike Myers. Despite a slow but steady return to on-screen roles in recent years, Myers has been largely absent for the last decade and a half (I’d be personally remiss if I didn’t mention his standout cameo in Inglourious Basterds, however) – a stark departure following his ‘90s big screen comedy superstardom. Back then – hot off the heels of So I Married an Axe Murderer,Wayne’s World, and its sequel – Myers unleashed his comic pièce de résistance in the form of one of the most endearing characters in the history of screen comedy. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) is an overflowing love letter to Swinging Sixties fashion, culture, and sensibilities, an intricately crafted homage to retro spy and espionage fiction, and the beginning of a trilogy – followed by The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, and concluding with Goldmember in 2002 – that remains unrivalled in the realm of parody.
Myers and Hurley as Austin Powers and Vanessa Kensington.
Despite being generally regarded as exclusively a 007 spoof, the character of Austin Powers is so much more. On top of liberally borrowing from the likes of Jason King, Adam Adamant Lives!,and the Derek Flint films, Myers also – allegedly, if you believe Elizabeth Hurley – based the character on BBC DJ Simon Dee. Austin may have very traceable pop-culture roots, but it’s the sincere, honest celebration of ‘60s mod culture and groovy goodwill to all running through the trilogy that so defines him, and makes him an unbridled joy to watch.
It’s easy to write off the Austin Powers phenomenon as a dated ‘90s craze, but if you’re shagadelic enough to treat yourself to a rewatch, I reckon you’ll be richly surprised at just how well they hold up. Sure – like practically any comedy more than a decade or two old – there are jokes here and there that may offend (depending on your sensibilities), but the trilogy has aged remarkably well, especially in direct comparison to other studio comedies of their time. Take the moment in International Man of Mystery, in which a drunken Vanessa Kensington (an under-appreciated Hurley) makes a pass at Austin, which he immediately (and sensitively) rebukes on the basis of her inebriation:
Vanessa: “Oh, kiss me.”
Austin: “I can’t, darling”.
Vanessa: “Why not?”
Austin: “’Cause you’re drunk. It’s not right.”
It’s hard to recall a similar exchange in any other contemporary studio comedy (or indeed, one that even acknowledges consent in such a tactful, direct manner). The quietly tender moment that follows – in which Austin recalls Vanessa’s mother, with whom he was in unrequited love – illustrates the key sensitivity that belies his trademark libidinousness, and is crucial to understanding why he has become a beloved cross-generational character.
Indeed, Austin’s resurgence in popularity in recent years is no ironic fad or passive trend – he’s someone who knows exactly who he is and what he’s about. He loves life, is unapologetically himself, and isn’t afraid to be outwardly passionate about what and who he loves, all the while remaining sensitive and mindful to the comfort of others. Isn’t that something we all wish we could be?
Myers, Hurley, and Burt Bacharach in Austin’s debut feature.
The oft-recounted fable of how Myers first conceived the character – that upon hearing Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love” on the radio on his way home from ice hockey practice, he wondered, “Where have all the swingers gone?”) illuminates why Austin and his films work where so many others fail. Myers, director Jay Roach, and co-writer Michael McCullers aren’t poking fun at something they hate – through Austin, they’re joyously celebrating something they love through the lens of humour. That something they love isn’t just Bond films (homages to which are still fast, frequent, and very funny), but practically all the big hitters of ‘60s culture, popular or otherwise: mod music and fashion, sexual liberation and freedom, and peace, love, and the jubilant expression of them – and, yes, even the Carry On films.
Myers is utterly, sincerely, and unapologetically steeped in these passions, and the good faith with which he explores and celebrates them makes the Austin Powers trilogy essential, addictive viewing. These films aren’t a sneering, snarky putdown of a time gone by, but a genuinely passionate celebration of all the things that made the ‘60s a world-changing decade. As noted by Myers, Roach, and McCullers in their audio commentary for The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers isn’t a fish out of water – he’s a fish that brings his own body of water, one that others can’t help but want to swim in. His resurgent popularity and endearing sincerity – over 25 years since his debut – are a testament to that.
