In a week that saw a bunch of men writing a handbook for ‘rebel girls’, ABBA teasing at finally filling the 35-year void they’ve left behind, a surprise BLUR reunion, and Kanye resurrecting his Sunday Service for Coachella 2019 – yeah, we get why you might have been slow on the uptake of new music this week. It’s cool. No worries.
We’ve kept our eyes peeled and ears open for the hottest tracks to drop this week and oh boy, have we got some belters for you. Five, in fact. Fresh ones. Five Fresh Tracks for New Music Friday, actually. Check them out below, featuring Orla Gartland, Kishi Bashi, LIBRALIBRA, Le Boom and Snoha Aalegra.
Orla Gartland – ‘Flatline’
Dublin-born, London-based Orla Gartland has announced plans for her new EP, Why Am I Like This, accompanied by a brand new digital single: ‘Flatline’.
It’s in keeping with the unique brand of upbeat, relatably confessionary lyricism – aptly coined “existential pop” – that the singer-songwriter has been steadily building for herself.
Gartland has described the track as “A song about giving everything to a friendship and getting nothing back … I’ll do everything I can to keep someone happy, but often turn a blind eye to the reality that they wouldn’t do the same for me.”
Gartland’s forthcoming 4-track EP Why Am I Like This? drops 24th May.
Kishi Bashi – ‘F Delano’
‘F Delano’ is the second single to be taken from Kishi Bashi’s forthcoming album, Omoiyari.
Set to be released via Joyful Noise 31st May, the LP is set to detail the experiences of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans, incarcerated in camps for the duration of WWII by President Roosevelt in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour.
Kishi’s latest offering melodically tackles the conflicting feelings behind the track, contrasting the dark nature of the topic with an upbeat, blithesome melody, as the songwriter explained: “A lot of complicated emotions inspired this song, mainly because of FDR — a hero to a generation of people from The Great Depression”.
Speaking of the inspiration behind the forthcoming album, Kishi explained: “I was shocked when I saw white supremacy really starting to show its teeth again in America, My parents are immigrants, they came to the United States from Japan post–World War II. As a minority, I felt very insecure for the first time in my adult life in this country. I think that was the real trigger for this project.”
LIBRALIBRA – ‘Loverboy’
‘Loverboy’ is the latest single from Brighton fourpiece, LIBRALIBRA.
It comes accompanied by a nostalgic video inspired by ‘90s “secret admirer board game” Dream Phone – all filmed, directed, and edited by Elliot Tatler.
On the new single, LibraLibra frontwoman Beth Cannon said: “When I was younger I was told I ‘went off the rails’, when I was actually struggling with my mental health and had PTSD, but to everyone around me I was wild; a loose cannon, pardon the pun. This song harks back to young me getting drunk at parties, failing madly in love, fucking it up being labeled a slut, failing hard again and not really knowing what to do with all the feelings, other than to keep getting fucked up and searching for that one.”
If you’re Brighton based, you can catch the group performing a free entry ‘Prom Night’ launch party to celebrate the new single on 12th April at Brighton Electric.
Le Boom – ‘Just Want To’
Dublin-based electronic-pop duo Le Boom have shared introspective electronic banger, ‘Just Want To’.
‘Just Want To’ pulls apart the soaring insecurities that come with social engagements, presenting a pretty compelling countermeasure: dancing, a notion demonstrated in the track’s stunningly choreographed accompanying visuals. Check those out above.
Snoha Aalegra – ‘You’
And finally: Snoha Aalegra has shared ‘You’, her soothingly soulful latest single.
Speaking of the track, The Swedish born singer said: “’You’ is a very special song to me. It’s about the unconditional love you have for that person you can’t live without. No matter how much pain they put you through, you’re always right back in their arms.”
You can soundtrack your weekend with all these fresh tracks and more at our weekly-updated Spotify playlist.
