The Predatory Wasp
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.
Banoffee has previously toured with Taylor Swift and Charli XCX, and her music sits fairly comfortably between the two, although probably a little closer to the latter. Really fantastic production and fun vibes on this, which is taken from her new album Look At Us Now Dad.
Eerie, dark alt pop from Grimes taken from her new album Miss Anthropocene. Unlike what seemed like pretty much everyone else I wasn’t a massive fan of Art Angles, but have really been enjoying this on the first few listens.
We Forgot Love is taken from Nicolas Godin’s solo album Concrete And Glass, and is very reminiscent of his work as one half of Air – not that that’s a bad thing. The album’s a bit of a mixed bag, but this – with a blissfully fragile vocal from Kadhja Bonet – is lovely.
You could probably make a fairly convincing argument that this isn’t really doing anything massively original and is a bit beige. I take this on board, but ultimately it makes me feel warm and happily nostalgic and sometimes that’s just what you need.
A wonderfully joyous record. Hope it sticks around for a while as it’s got summer written right through it. Kinda reminds me of Alt-J, but in a good way.
I was a little bit disappointed by her new album as I loved the previous one, but this track is a clear standout. Hauntingly weird.
Kicking this off with one of my favourite records from the last couple of years. Definitely should have got way more attention that it did. Just amazingly beautiful.
The Predatory Wasp 