FKA Twigs- I’m Your Doll– This eerie song is beautiful and strangely compelling. It shows the messy grey area where love and obsession become nearly indistinguishable. The arhythmic and atmospheric instrumentation compliment the singer’s almost childish voice as she sings lyrics like “I’m feeling like a loaded gun/And when it’s done I’m the only one/Wind me up/I’m your doll.” The video encompasses all of M3LL155X, the EP “I’m Your Doll” comes from, and each song tells a different story. The clips fit together into an unsettling abstract whole. “I’m Your Doll” starts at 3:21 but the entire video is worth watching. Suggestion by K. Hules.
Foals – A Knife In The Ocean -‘A Knife In The Ocean’ is an intriguing mixture of ghostly vocals and surfer rock. It is trippy and beautifully haunting, with a transcendent chorus and a good building verse. The track is off of the British band’s new album What Went Down. When listened to through headphones, the song engulfs you in the soundscape of Foals. Suggestion from Sarah Elliott.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ed Sheeran- Growing Up (Sloan’s Song)– ‘Growing Up’ is an open letter from a soon-to-be dad to his daughter. It is a touching, yet down-to-earth vision of her future life, revealing the rapper’s fears, his hopes for both of them, and full of not always politically correct advice (including a mistake where Macklemore attributes A Raisin in the Sun to Langston Hughes. It is in fact by Lorraine Hansberry, though the title comes from a Hughes poem.) The song is raised to beautiful heights by Ed Sheeran’s voice in the chorus. The song is available for free download from the artists here.
The Mynabirds- Orion- The Mynabirds is Los Angeles based singer Laura Burhenn. Her breathy, smokey voice is reminiscent of Cat Power with a slightly more pop edge. The latest album, Lovers Know, is riddled with soft, melodic tunes. ‘Orion’ starts with a classic upbeat guitar riff that doesn’t pick up again until minute three. Think adult lullaby. Suggestion by Emily Swinsick.
Halsey-Gasoline– Singer-songwriter Halsey reaches out to the disillusioned masses in this compelling track off her debut album, Badlands. The lyrics are poignant, pulling from distinct vignettes and imagery to give the listener a peek into the mind of the singer (“Do you tear yourself apart to entertain like me?/Do the people whisper ‘bout you on the train like me?/Saying that you shouldn’t waste your pretty face like me?”). The words are framed beautifully by simple instrumentation and a soaring chorus. Suggestion by K. Hules.
Edited and Complied by K. Hules.