Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update. We’ve got fabulous fresh cuts from Rear Window, Anna Erhard, Quivers & lots more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!
Until next week
Helen (Futureproof) x
Rear Window – Head Above Water
On point spoken word verses that ooze attitude make a bold statement on this second release from Rear Window – the moniker for Gang of Four’s JJ Sterry & Canarian Santi Arribas. Dry beats with a funk inflected guitar riff are augmented with angular chords that keep the contemporary feel well on course – but it’s all change when the chorus drops & you find yourself in a totally different world of ambient floaty vocals with impressive harmonies that give it a celestial vibe. “I’m doing my best, to keep my head above the water” is the key line in the song which I guess points toward the ever evolving cost of living crisis engulfing all corners of the world at the moment. Felt both collectively & as individuals, the verses use imagery that only expands on the feeling of each & every one of us common people living on the edge – where will it all end?
Gurriers – Top Of The Bill
Irish post-punk outfit Gurriers have shared new single Top Of The Bill, taken from their upcoming debut album Come and See. Vocalist Dan Hoff states: “Top Of The Bill is a new studio version of a song previously released, a distorted love story, a warning to myself of a person I could have been.” Video Director Adam Hart added on the visuals: “It’s a one shot film. I think the buzzword for the band was Twin Peaks as the lads are huge fans, but apart from that there are a few Shane Meadows tropes in there too, showing small vignettes of characters that populate the world of the bar.” The sloping guitar lines have a post-punk appeal, while you can almost make out aspects of early Pavement in there, too.
Yannis & The Yaw – Rain Can’t Reach Us (Ft. Tony Allen)
Uniting the genre-blurring drumming skills of the late, legendary drummer Tony Allen with a fresh perspective on the songwriting flair of Foals’ frontman Yannis Philippakis, the Yannis & The Yaw project has become one of the most fascinating new collaborations of the year. New single Rain Can’t Reach Us is taken from upcoming EP Lagos Paris London and the track builds layer-upon-layer from an insistent Afrobeat-tinged loop into Yannis’s full-blooded hook and then the cathartic release of its outro. Its thunderous style fits its lyrics, which imagine the panic and futility of trying to escape from the results of apocalyptic environmental degradation. Yannis states: “We actually referred to Rain Can’t Reach Us as The Tornado for a long time because it feels like a gale blowing through your house and it’s just cool to hear Tony at the heart of that.”
Amyl and The Sniffers – Chewing Gum
Punk outfit Amyl and The Sniffers have shared new single Chewing Gum, taken from the upcoming album Cartoon Darkness. Vocalist Amy Taylor states: “The adversity of life is desire never fulfilled. Doing the dishes cleaning, but never the one eating the meal, so close but it’s never enough, and trying to celebrate the ignorance of youth despite it being robbed away, so choosing ignorance, choosing to be dumb and choosing love, despite everything, choosing bad decisions for love, for life, because it is short, or is it long?” Of the album, Amy says: “Cartoon Darkness is driving headfirst into the unknown, into this looming sketch of the future that feels terrible but doesn’t even exist yet. A childlike darkness. I don’t want to meet the devil half-way and mourn what we have right now. The future is cartoon, the prescription is dark, but it’s novelty. It’s just a joke. It’s fun.”
Jack White – That’s How I’m Feeling
That’s How I’m Feeling is taken from Jack White‘s new album No Name and it’s a rude slab of fuzz that finds White in brazenly self-actualizing mode. Since disbanding The White Stripes, White has built a few institutions of his own in amassing an unlikely rock and roll empire. But No Name sheds any pretense to legacy building; it’s an exhilarating, scorched earth blast, stripping back the sound to a bare-bones rawness that crackles like an exposed wire. Comparisons to White’s old band are unavoidable, not just in the blunt immediacy of the attack, but in the sounds themselves, spearheaded by a visceral guitar tone. With its soft-loud dynamic from verse to chorus, quirky phone dial tone and great lyrics, White has produced a belter of a rock anthem.
Anna Erhard – Not Rick
Sassy Anna’s ‘heading straight for enlightenment’ on her new single Not Rick – referring to mr super-producer Rick Rubin & his thought-provoking one liners that inhabit our social media feeds, the elemental melodies on this most charming of tunes draws you like the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey. With lyrics that touch on tarot & the desire to know every detail of life’s eventual outcome, the track’s impressive production features a dense arrangement of self assured guitars that support the ‘lyrically beautiful’ vocal performance – a truly great record.
Warmduscher – Fashion Week
Post-punk outfit Warmduscher have dropped new single Fashion Week, taken from their upcoming album Too Cold To Hold and its a joyous account of fashion’s die-hard fans. “Those that will do anything to become that thing. That creation. And live it. It’s real artistry when you don’t have the means and you’re doing it,” said Clams Baker Jr, describing the inspiration for the song. “You’re hustling to get on the guest list, you get in, you’re done up by means that you can’t really afford, whatever you do… It’s a celebration of people who will do whatever to look good and feel good and step above wherever they are in their own minds.” The album sees the band stretch their boundaries and deliver what they hope will be their most eclectic and honest release to date. The video for Fashion Week juxtaposes ridiculous clips from the runway with footage of shoppers rioting at store sales, fighting over shoes and more.
Hinds – Superstar
Spanish alt-rock duo Hinds confront heartache on their new single (taken from upcoming album Viva Hinds) and state: “Superstar talks about the disappointment and the pain you feel when someone you love deeply, disappears with no explanation. You feel worthless .. People need closure, and this song is ours.” It’s an energetic anthem that builds from nervous, dazed verses to a howling, defiant chorus. Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote sing the whole song together, and there’s a great energy to the way their voices and guitars bounce off each other. They directed their own video for the song, playing in what appears to be an abandoned train station.
Ellur – God Help Me Now
Ellur has shared the title track from her forthcoming EP God Help Me Now and states: “I approached co-writers Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Jack Leonard back in September with my heart on my sleeve, opening up about how I had so many things I wanted to write about that scared me .. I wanted to write someone’s favourite song. In a nice way, it’s become my favourite song I’ve released so far and after taking inspiration from the likes of Sam Fender, The Killers and Sharon Van Etten, the fully produced version was born. The sonic world of this song is a true demonstration of exactly how I’ve always wanted my music to feel and sound. The perfect combination of synth, guitar and snare that, to me, makes an indie anthem.” With its thought-provoking lyrics and huge choruses, we’re loving this one too!
Quivers – Oyster Cuts
Indie quartet Quivers have shared their new album Oyster Cuts and the title track keeps the synth and loop train rolling even more prominently. They state: “This song was a wildcard. We wanted one really simple song to be trapped inside a warm feeling, like some abstracted memory. Bella and then Holly sing together from the perspective of someone surfacing from difficult things into falling for someone again. In a way, for such an underwater album, it’s about swimming away from grief.” The album is an ambitious assortment of jangly and synth-pop tunes. With their trademark expansive sound and crisp production by Matthew Redlich, the Melbourne-based outfit’s music rests alongside a thoughtful mix of lyrics discussing grief, breakup, longing, and love.
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