It’s been a pretty normal week in Britain. England are out the World Cup, we’ve got rain due for Glastonbury and Wimbledon, and people are taking selfies with the Queen. But what about in the world of music? Has that been nearly as exciting? To help you find out I’ve picked my favourite tracks and news stories, and had a look at who’s had a good, or not-so-good, week.
New Music
Lots of new tunes to be enjoying this week, from established names to emerging gems below is my pick of the bunch. There seems to be a summer vibe running throughout this week, which is fitting considering everyone’s finishing up exams and the festival season is upon us. Did I mention it’s forecast to start raining?
Lucy Rose – Cover Up
Lucy Rose, who made her name lending vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club, has taken some inspiration from her collaborator’s exotic new album and produced a rather colourful track of her own. The wonderful, groovy Cover Up takes a different, more upbeat path than her first album and is available as a free download. Lucy has also confirmed she’s finishing up her second album which is due early next year.
Crystal Fighters – Love Alight
Originally recorded during sessions for last summer’s anthem-filled record Cave Rave, Love Alight is set to be released as a stand-alone single in August. The psychedelic videos lends itself perfectly to another huge, upbeat number from Crystal Fighters that is once again guaranteed to get you dancing. They play Glastonbury, Latitude and Lovebox festivals this summer.
Dutch Criminal Record – Outside
I reviewed newcomers Dutch Criminal Record’s latest EP last week and have had single Outside on repeat since. The catchy surf-rock number suits the sun perfectly, and if you get in touch with the guys on Twitter or Facebook, they might be able to hook you up with a CD.
Crash Island – Howl (Come On!)
Crash Island describe themselves as dark, tropical indie rock. They’re based in London but have more airmiles than most of Primark’s stock, with band members hailing from France, Spain and South Africa. The international influence can be felt on new single Howl (Come On!) which features catchy riffs, a fast-paced pop beat reminiscent of the early 00’s indie scene and infectious vocals. Their new EP, Stormy Nights, is due out in October.
M+A – When
Continuing the international theme are an Italian duo with a rather internet-unfriendly name. M+A are Michelle Ducci and Alessandro Degli Angioli from Italy. They’ve already got two albums out back home but their unknown presence on our little island qualified them for Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition, which they won, bagging themselves a slot at this year’s festival. If that’s not impressive enough, the pair have also made that weird rap interlude thing everyone is doing at the moment actually work in new single When, a glorious piece of chilled out electro-pop. Check out their album These Days, which sounds like a bit of Daft Punk, a bit of TEED and a hint of Beck thrown in for good measure, on SoundCloud.
Music News
The week’s controversy comes courtesy of Lana Del Rey, who decided it would be a good idea to tell a Guardian reporter she wished she was dead. It all got a bit blown out of proportion when Courtney Love’s daughter weighed in and people started acting like Miss Ray (real name Elizabeth Grant) had been bigging up Dignitas or something. Anyway, it served as good publicity for her new album… but let’s not be cynical.
American alt-rockers Ok Go are back on the scene with a brand new track. The band, most famous for their treadmill dance video which is probably responsible for a number of gym-related injuries, kept up their run of amusing videos with a new one full of optical illusions. Check it out.
Good news for people going to festivals on their own! You’re now on the growing list of subcultures (term used very loosely) with their own dating site. mysingletent.com has been launched by the people over at mysinglefriend.com with the aim of creating some smelly, muddy, sweaty romance in fields across the UK this summer. Sounds a bit creepy, but it’s got to be better than Tinder.
French electro-connoisseurs Daft Punk are to be the subject of a BBC documentary next year. BBC Worldwide have confirmed the hour long film, commissioned by French channel Canal+, will provide an ‘insight into the artistic world’ of the duo who have sold over 12 million records worldwide.
Glastonbury has flung open its doors for another year. Britain’s biggest music festival with be broadcast live across the BBC all weekend, with streams from six stages online and headline sets from Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian on BBC Two.
Good Week…
…for Kasabian. After scoring their fourth straight number 1 album with 48:13 the Leicester lads played a triumphant homecoming gig in front of 50,000 fans at Victoria park. If that wasn’t enough they’ve got the honour of closing this year’s Glastonbury festival at Worthy Farm on Sunday. Playing your two biggest ever gigs in the space of eight days? Eez-eh.
Bad Week…
…for feminists. Robin Thicke is back. Yes, the bloke who released last year’s controversial Blurred Lines has dropped a delightful new song and details of his new album . Paula is due to be released on July 1st, is dedicated to his ex-wife and includes the rather desperately titled single Get Her Back. If that wasn’t weird enough the video is full of what appear to be texts between Thicke and his ex, plus creepy imagery of women drowning. Apparently it’s meant to be romantic, but it looks more like Thicke stacking his claim for ‘Stalker of the Year’ at the Grammy’s.
If you’ve got any feedback, or better yet have some new music you reckon I should check out, please get in touch with me on Twitter or email mattj.davies1994@gmail.com (common names mean difficult emails, unfortunately.) Cheers for reading.
Nonchalant Youth 