The Predatory Wasp
Never let it be said that I only post niche music from artists you’ve never heard of. Perhaps it’s because I recently shelled out a ludicrous amount of money for a couple of tickets to see her next year, but this is making me very emotional.
Yaya Bey’s new album Fidelity is a companion piece to last year’s do it afraid. Where the previous record was framed by grief, Fidelity pushes further, examining how that grief is processed and centres on what Bey describes as the “Three Deaths”: personal loss following her father’s passing, the erosion of community through displacement and fragmentation, and a wider loss of innocence tied to cultural and societal shifts. Built around a light, disco-funk rhythm “Forty Days” is a stand-out moment: a meditation on transition and mourning and drawing on the belief of a 40-day passage into the ancestral realm.
more eaze is the moniker of Brooklyn-based composer, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist, mari rubio, and her new album sentence structure in the country is a collection of compositions across ambient and experimental pop, each beautifully realised, self-contained worlds, with influences stretching from country to jazz. The album’s compositions evolved over a number of years, with each updated version informed by both the context of rubio’s performances and the musicians she chose to create them with.
https://moreeaze.bandcamp.com/album/sentence-structure-in-the-country
Every Mariah the Scientist album so far has included a track that’s reduced me to a helpless mess: All For Me from RY RY WORLD and Reminders from MASTER, so anticipation was high for her latest, HEARTS SOLD SEPARATELY. Sure enough she’s done it again, this time with the Kali Uchis collab Is It a Crime made with producers Mat1k, Oliver Easton, and Nineteen85, the latter of whom is part of the duo Dvsn with which this track shares notable similarities. It’s so good!
To celebrate the best Glastonbury lineup in years, here’s a recent track from one of the many acts I’m extremely excited to see. Mega Circuit presents a darker, guitar-driven sound, reflecting on contemporary masculinity and the search for identity in challenging times. The track features renowned drummer Jim Keltner, known for his work with artists like Jackson Browne and Dolly Parton. The accompanying music video, co-directed by Zauner and collaborator Adam Kolodny, complements the song’s introspective themes. Which, yes, isn’t exactly three pingers deep in a field vibes, but is still excellent.
https://michellezauner.bandcamp.com/album/for-melancholy-brunettes-sad-women
I can’t quite get over how great this is; without doubt one of his best songs to date. Completely ridiculous. For the full experience listen to the segue from the previous album track. Just astonishingly good.
Shura is back, and it feels like a long time coming. Her new album, the amazingly titled I Got Too Sad For My Friends, lands May 30 and she’s just dropped the first single, Recognise, which kicks off with dreamy, otherworldly synths and hushed, almost ghostly vocals before bursting into this messy, beautiful chaos of drums. Shura says it’s about coming out of a dark period and learning to find peace in the little things and quotes Arthur Russell as saying “being sad is not a crime”, which feels apt.
https://shura.bandcamp.com/album/i-got-too-sad-for-my-friends
Ok yes, this record is 46 years old. But I only fairly recently discovered it was the main sample for my favourite Mylo track, Need You Tonite, and I’ve become increasingly obsessed. So that’s a song from the 70s and a Scottish producer who has barely made anything for two decades featured on this new music blog. But it’s great, so I don’t feel bad about it.
Becky and the Birds is the project of Swedish artist Thea Gustafsson. Her sound blends neo-soul, electronic, and R&B influences, drawing inspiration from artists such as Bon Iver and Frank Ocean and her new album Only music makes me cry now landed today. Opener Star hints at a slightly more abrasive, glitchier style than some of her previous releases which have leaned more into atmospheric dream pop, but her voice remains as beguiling and fragile as ever.
https://shop.4ad.com/release/472790-becky-and-the-birds-only-music-makes-me-cry-now
Loads of interesting albums out today – from Thee Sacred Souls, Dawn Richard, Alessandro Cortini and others – but this is the song that’s made me happiest this week, and even though it officially came out months ago the album it was released on landed last week, so it still counts as new music. Ok? Good. Efterklang was a new name to me and it was Mabe Fratti’s involvement that initially piqued my interest, but after multiple daily listens I think I can now call myself a fan.
The Predatory Wasp 