The Predatory Wasp

Music

Coi Leray – No More Parties

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date February 2, 2021

In times gone by Coi Leray’s No More Parties would sound more like a hungover pep talk delivered to yourself after yet another write-off of a Sunday than a grim prediction of just how little fun we’ll be having this year, but regardless: it’s still really fun and I really like it, and lyrics like “I’m only doing shit that’s gonna make me elevate / Only want people around that’s gonna make me better” is making me feel significantly more motivated to Get Shit Done than 1000 ham-fisted open letters from our utter fucking moron of a leader ever could.

https://www.instagram.com/coileray

Tags coi leray, no more parties, r&b, rap

Music

Anna B Savage – BedStudy

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date February 1, 2021

I’ve now started this post in about half a dozen different ways, considering how to approach why BedStudy is so brilliant from various angles, but the main point is: Anna B Savage’s voice is absolutely extraordinary, managing to be both fragile and devastatingly powerful in the same breath. It’s taken from her debut album A Common Turn which came out last week, many of the tracks from which exist in a similar space, between vulnerability and invincibility, and builds from scarcely strummed guitar to an electronic crescendo as all-consuming as anything I’ve heard for quite some time.

https://www.annabsavage.com

Tags anna b savage, bedstudy, electronic, gothic, indie rock

Music

Kota The Friend – 200 Dollars

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 29, 2021

Kota The Friend’s wonderful 2020 album Everything really didn’t get the attention it deserves. Not that it seems to have affected his disposition, which is as sunny as ever on his latest mixtape Lyrics To GO, Vol.2, a collection of sub-2 minute tracks clocking in at an incredibly manageable 15 minutes. 200 Dollars is like everything else on there: brief and breezy with KTF’s silky smooth flows leading the way.

https://kotathefriend.com

Tags 200 dollars, hip hop, kota the friend, lyrics to go vol. 2, mixtape

Music

Versalife – Shadow Warrior

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 28, 2021

I first heard this on a live set Versalife (aka Conforce) posted a little over a year ago (it’s great – you should listen to it!), and have been thinking about it daily ever since. He really does do this kind of emotional, hypnotic, breaks-driven techno better than pretty much everyone else. Especially Bicep. Ouch! Bet they’re smarting from that one. This is one of the tracks on his new Present Shock EP, which includes three more of a similar ilk. One day clubbing shall return, and I hope this gets played fucking loud every single day when they do.

https://soundcloud.com/conforce

Tags breaks, conforce, electronic, shadow warrior, techno, versalife

Music

Yu Su – Xiu

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 27, 2021

Written and recorded across various continents, Yu Su’s debut album Yellow River Blue attempts to capture the transient nature of touring, being constantly on the move and trying to be accepted in different places over the course of several years. An homage to her home beside the Yellow River in China, it is an extraordinary tender LP, even in its more upbeat moments, with the now Vancouver-based producer occasionally utilising her ethereal voice to create an additional texture alongside electronic drums and melodies that are rarely anything less than sublime.

https://yusu.bandcamp.com

Tags downtempo, electronic, xiu, yellow river blue, yu su

Music

Sal Dulu – Girl

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 26, 2021

Girl is the latest single to be taken from Irish producer Sal Dulu’s forthcoming debut album, Xompulse, which is set for self-release via his own Duluoz Records this February. The last track I featured of his was the impeccable Alien Boy 96, and while Girl is similarly constructed of hazy, sun-bleached sample, it’s loser and more laidback, sitting somewhere between the carefree nostalgia of The Avalanches and the free-wheeling beats of J Dilla. I’m a big fan of everything he’s been putting out recently, so consider this your formal warning to jump on the hype train before the album lands next month.

https://saldulu.bandcamp.com

Tags girl, hiphop, indie, sal dulu, samples

Music

JUNKHEART – Typhoon

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 25, 2021

JUNKHEART is – in their own words – “a mixed-race romantic, making gloomy-pop tunes for comic-book nerds and nostalgic rollerbladers”. God I miss rollerblading. Also, Typhoon is apparently for “fans of thinking about stuff too much”, so it’s bascially made for me. It’s just so good: a gloomy pop banger with both hope and heartbreak enough to spare. It’s an incredibly impressive debut, and Typhoon is the first of six track to be released over the coming months, leading up to the EP in summer, so I’m excited to hear where they take us next.

https://soundcloud.com/thejunkheart

Tags junkheart, pop, r&b, typhoon

Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Elori Saxl

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 22, 2021

The US musician and filmmaker writes about the delicate balance between improvisation and composition in big dog little dog’s Panorama

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Today we welcome US musician and filmmaker Elori Saxl to the blog, whose album The Blue of the Distance has just been released. Combining digitally-processed recordings of wind and water with analog synthesizers and chamber orchestra, The Blue of Distance is an enchanting blend of ambient and neo-classical pieces, with the album taking its title from a phrase coined by Rebecca Solnit in A Field Guide to Getting Lost, referring to the phenomenon of faraway mountains appearing blue due to light particles getting lost over distance.

For her One Track Mind feature, Elori has written about big dog little dog’s Panorama with an eloquence and level of detail that makes me want to massively up my game. Over to her…

Tags ambient, big dog little dog, electronic, elori saxl, one track mind, panorma

Music

Rhye – Come In Closer

Post author By The Predatory Wasp
Post date January 22, 2021

Rhye’s debut album Woman seemed to come out of nowhere in 2013, with a sound so distinctive and fully-formed it was hard to believe the group – led by Mike Milosh – hadn’t been around for years, if not decades. That album was produced by Robin Hannibal, who was notably absent from the next two albums, both of which were fine, but lacked the delicacy and intimacy he brought to the table. Released today, Rhye’s new album Home feels like the spiritual successor to Woman, returning to themes and textures Milosh hasn’t quite managed to nail until now. Nowhere is this more in evidence than the incredible Come In Closer, which is vintage Rhye: yearning, heartbreaking, fragile, hopeful and addictive AF.

https://www.rhyemusic.com/

Tags alt pop, come in closer, home, rhye