The Predatory Wasp
Moody rap for you today, elevated way above the crowd thanks to highly distinctive vocal performances from both Mezraa and Kris the $pirit, alongside subdued but beautiful production and drum programming that doesn’t just follow the usual trappy patterns. Sad, addictive and as atmospheric as it gets.
The latest single from matt mcwaters – who collaborates with Ta-ku as the duo Please Wait – Morning Dew was written after mcwaters and his guitar player Ilan Karasik spent countless hours listening to D’Angelo’s Voodoo at their day jobs, then jamming together after work. mcwaters also cites artists like Brent Faiyaz and Jordan Rakei as key influences, but for me the largest presence here is Thundercat, both in the vocal performance and the languid bassline and general hazy atmosphere. Whatever else it sounds like though, the main takeaway is that it sound great: ideal soundtrack to a stupidly hot day in London – or wherever you happen to be.
BLACK METAL 2 arrived pretty much out of nowhere today, and I’m already completely obsessed. The follow up to 2014’s BLACK METAL, it immediately transports you back into that heady, dreamlike world, pulling you into its thick, fuggy atmosphere and sounding like nothing else out there. People will write far longer, vastly more eloquent reviews of this over the coming days and weeks: all I can say for now is that it’s in a class of its own and deserves all the plaudits its inevitably going to get.
Kiwi-French artist Kazra makes his TPW debut with new single, Welcome To My Stream which serves as the opening track from his upcoming debut album Reconnected. Influenced by iconic rap stars like Travis Scott and Post Malone, it strikes just the right balance between chest-puffing aggrandising and floating, nihilistic melancholy, especially in the glorious mid-section.
With both the overwhelming grandeur of Sevdaliza’s bombastic, electronic-inflected pop and the hushed intimacy of Portishead, Penelope Trappes’s new album Penelope Three which landed on Houndstooth last week is not to be missed. This collision of the extra and introvert are perfectly realised on Red Yellow, a sparse, delicate and extraordinarily punchy highlight.
I mean COME ON. How much insane talent can you pack into a single track. It’s amazing, because obviously it is. Absolutely ridiculous.
I can find out absolutely no information whatsoever about D’sinatra online except that’s he’s from Toronto, but this is a fucking brilliant, moody, atmospheric hip-hop track that more people should be listening to, so here you go.
High Season is the title (and final) track from Poolside’s new album which landed last week, and features a load of pretty diverse collaborators including Satin Jackets, everyone’s favourite garage OG Todd Edwards and – most excitingly for me – Buscabulla, who can basically do wrong as far as I’m concerned. This is a perfect lazy summer BBQ jam, so couldn’t have been timed better for anyone living the UK.
Loscil has been making consistently brilliant, deeply atmospheric electronic music for two decades now, and over the course of 15 or so albums has established himself as a producer with a clear and precise vision. Lumina is taken from his latest album, Clara, which came out last week, and is a perfect example of his patient, haunting approach to production, with reassuringly warm, sweeping pads accompanied by a winding, bubbling synth line that both soothes and invigorates.
The Predatory Wasp 