The Predatory Wasp
Hooray! It’s a new song from TENDER: one of my favourite musical discoveries of the last few years, and a band that I have somehow still managed not to see play live. Currently have tickets to a show in November… how’s that looking lads? Lads?? Ah well, one day we shall be together. And until then, please keep delivering the goods. Namely, big, anthemic, synthy, emotional tunes like this. Cool? Coooool.
I’ve spent about half an hour looking for any background information at all about whattodo, but as a search time it’s a tough one, and I keep getting reccomendations for “what to do in London on a shoestring budget”, etc. Their Bandcamp page simply states “producer, songwriter, dogwalker”, and at the time of writing Weekly has two views on YouTube, so it doesn’t look like self-promotion is high on the agenda here, which is a shame as it’s a beautiful, subdued, melancholic record that more people should hear.
I’m a big fan of Kaleida’s 2017 debut album Tear The Roots, especially Echo Saw You and their cover of 99 Luftballoons, which is completely inspired. Other Side is the first single from their forthcoming album Odyssey and seems to pick up where the previous LP left off: breathy vocals, ethereal atmospheres and hushed tones over a gently pulsing mid-tempo beat. Like much of their music it’s quietly beguiling, and a welcome glimpse into what I hope will be another excellent album.
Flower was released back in February, but I’ve only just heard it on my first listen of her new album TO LOVE IS TO LIVE which came out today. It starts life as a brooding electronic pulse with her closely mic’d vocal barely raising above a whisper. And then the chorus, which takes us from Portishead-like restrained anguish to full blown OTT drama in a single swoop.
Brooklyn-based synth enthusiasts Nation of Language have just released their latest album Introduction, Presence, which sounds exactly like the soundtrack of your favourite offbeat 80s drama where the protagonists embark on nihilistic but ultimately seductive adventures until someone dies of a drug overdose and they have to question their behaviour but ultimately just end up lighting yet another cigarette and saying “fuck it… where’s the party?”. If that sounds like the kind of film you’d enjoy, then you’ll probably really like lead single September Again.
I had never heard of I Break Horses until about half an hour ago, but I’m pretty sure that after listening to Turn three times on the bounce they are my new favourite band. Granted this is the only song of theirs I’ve ever listened to, and that may seem premature, but just listen to it: it’s absolutely spectacular. Not sure I even want to listen to the rest of the album as surely it can’t live up to the epic magnificence of one of the best, most powerful opening tracks I’ve heard in recent years. Can it?
Taken is from Hayley ‘Paramore’ Williams’s debut solo album Petals For Amor, which on first listen is a little hit and miss but with a few real highlights. This is one of them, as is the opening track Simmer, which was released as a single earlier this year. Taken has a fantastic swagger about it and a Haim-ish quality that makes me like it straight away.
I have to admit to a shameful lack of prior knowledge of Katie Harkin, which considering she toured with two of my favourite acts – Wild Beasts and Kurt Vile – is fairly unforgivable. Decade is completely wonderful, and her self-titled debut album which came out last week is also well worth checking out.
Ultraísta is a trio of Atoms For Peace members Nigel Godrich and Joey Waronke, and singer/songwriter and producer Laura Bettinson. Save It ’til Later is taken from their second album Sister, and has more than a touch of Warpaint about it, like a less grimy, slicker, more electronic-obsessed cousin.
Sometimes I find it utterly baffling how a particular group or record has slipped so far under the radar, and this is a prime example. This has 26 (26!) plays on YouTube, and less than a thousand on Spotify, and it’s so good, as is the entire EP, Gold Metal Money. It must be pretty disheartening as an artist to create something so beautiful and to have it pretty much ignored. Also it sounds quite a lot like a Kate Bush record, so I’m fully on board.
The Predatory Wasp 