LISTEN LIVE Music Department Summer Newsletter – Issue 3
Written by AKENNEDY on November 12, 2024
By: Akina-Naomi Kennedy
☆indie/pop
clairo – charm
an indie darling returns with an incredibly rich, feeling-full release (which is the inspiration for the title of this newsletter!). if there was one word that could encapsulate this record, it’s production. collaborator and producer leon michels’ work is staggeringly beautiful here, especially on tracks like terrapin, juna, and nomad. older, more vintage sounds and acoustic elements support the analog, authentic musicality of an artist who just keeps getting better. clairo brings us into her musical world and lets us leave with something to write home about ten times over.
riyl: ley soul, tv girl, alice phoebe lou, orion sun, crumb
rec tracks: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10
armlock – seashell angel lucky charm
this one reminds me a lot of animal kingdom-era cavetown–just with a slower, more indie rock approach. the vocals are mixed very interestingly in this one, and mixed with the clean electric and acoustic guitars (with little moments of electronic flair), seashell angel lucky charm is a solid listen.
riyl: cavetown, alex g, teethe, duster
rec tracks: 1, 2, 3, 6
fcc warning: 7
girl ultra – blush
latin art/club pop! taking you through a journey of sounds in the pop sphere, this album evokes the feeling of looking at a skyline at night from a gorgeous view. airy yet grounded in its infectious rhythms (served on a platter of delicious pop production), each song is night-out ready and made to be danced to.
riyl: rosalia, kali uchis, shygirl
rec tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5
fcc warning: 6
loma – how will i live without a body?
a haunting, ethereal exploration of introspection and self-actualization. recorded in a cold cabin in the middle of the winter, how will i live without a body encapsulates the feelings of isolation paired with the setting it was recorded in. flurries of instrumentation and emily cross’ voice soothing voice, like snow, give glimmers of humanity to it all. a slow, intentional listen.
riyl: h. pruz, liana flores, norah jones, adrienne lenker, lisa hannigan
rec tracks: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11
yndling – mood booster
speaking of ethereal, this one is more on the psychedelic side. very reminiscent of the marias’ most recent release, submarine–it evokes a floating, suspended feeling, using out-of-this-world sounds and incredible production. a top recommendation of mine
riyl: the marias, men i trust, beach house, aurora
rec tracks: 1, 5, 6, 8
fcc warning:
maita – want
i find excellence in every track on this album. both in production and lyric, want effortlessly and effectively explores different worlds of sound and emotion. an encapsulation of all of the best lyrical and instrumental parts of femme indie rock.
riyl: tops, julia pratt, mitski, lucy dacus, adrianne lenker
rec tracks: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12
fcc warning: 2
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
☆hip hop
denzel curry – king of the mischievous south pt. 2
this one carries its weight as the only hip-hop record this time around, and it does that by having impeccable production all the way through. from nostalgic soul, old-internet, and movie soundtrack samples, to r&b interludes, to songs whose bass you’d hear from a mile away. combining these with elements usually associated with soundcloud rap makes each song absolutely infectious and able to stand on their own. putting them together in an album only made them more powerful–a non-stop collection of the best of today’s hip hop. each fcc track contains the n-word and cannot be aired as is–reach out to me for clean edits!
riyl: ski mask the slump god, vince staples, jid
rec tracks: 2, 3, 5, 11,
fcc warning: all but 8, 10, and 15
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
☆jazz/soul/r&b
skilaa – tiger in the river
if you’re looking for a smaller artist in the same bag as greats like hiatus kaiyote–combining jazz, hip hop, neo-soul, folk, pop, and psychedelic–then this group is for you. delicious textures and stylistic combinations, as well as insane vocal performances and works of spoken word/rap, make for a solid work of neo-jazz (as i like to call it!) ₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆
riyl: hiatus kaiyote, catpack, domi & j.d. beck, willow
rec tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
fcc warning: 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 (reach out if you need clean edits!)
fana hues – moth
an encompassing mix of r&b, house, hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, indie, rock, and psychedelic. the harmonies are everything, the melodies are infectious, and the vibes are on 10. fana hues injects an irrefutable energy into every song throughout this album.
riyl: sza, cleo sol, hiatus kaiyote, childish gambino
rec tracks: 1, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13
fcc warning: 11
aladean kheroufi – studies in a dying love
a stunning example of today’s vintage-pop resurgence. kheroufi is the same class as thee sacred souls, and his vocal range and timbre resemble moses sumney, making for a refreshing, sunday morning coffee-sipping vinyl-spinning record.
riyl: thee sacred souls, moses sumney, johnny burgos, omar apollo
rec tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 9
fcc warning: 5, 8
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
☆experimental
childish gambino – bando stone & the new world
experimentation comes at the helm of many a crossroads in artists’ creative journey, and childish gambino‘s last album under this name is a materialization of this concept. boasting features from all across the popular musical diaspora–foushee, yeat, amaare, ludwig göranssen (who produced 2016’s redbone), chlöe, jorja smith, khruangbin, and his son–donald glover utilizes the talents of his collaborators and the sonic cannons of different genres to create an unapologetic collection of expansive songs. apart from a semi-professional description (that this release so deserves), this album is just so fun to listen to, and to use as a marker of gambino‘s growth as an artist. featured are acoustic ballads, trap, psychedelic neo-soul, indie/rock, and everything in between and outside–as well as a variety of topics, from unserious and comedic triplet-rap, to a whole diss track, to explorations of the forms of love and adventure he’s experienced in his time away from music. he shows here that he’s able to do any song in any genre, and he’s happy to let us revel in it. a hit album, and a beautiful display of artistry from a generational talent. *tracks in red contain the n-word.*
riyl: foushee, tyler, the creator, jpegmafia, tame impala, brockhampton
rec tracks: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17
fcc warning: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14
(be careful with the lithonia music video, there’s a jumpscare in it if you don’t like that stuff)
lava la rue – starface
another psychedelic journey through styles coming from an expansive british jamaican artist–big up! another beautiful example of the importance of experimentation and creativity in music. this time around, lava la rue explores messages of self-love, resilience, and the world at large, and afro-futuristically touches on the wonders of outer space. glam, psychedelic, and indie rock are melded with la rue‘s own flair to make this album one to sit down and absorb!
riyl: dreamer isioma, tame impala, orion sun, the marias
rec tracks: 2, 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 17
fcc warning: 3, 4, 7, 9, 10
hakushi hasegawa – mahōgakkō
math rock. jazz. glitch. distortion. acoustic. electronic. instrumental. vocal. japanese. ever-shifting time signatures, using the voice as a percussive instrument, hyper-speed blast beats, and a slew of other concepts and executions. mario kart music turned up to twelve. this sounds like what would happen if the internet of the early 2010s was distilled and made into an album. it exudes that same feeling of excitement and overwhelm that came with the novelty of the time. thankfully, hasegawa occasionally remembers to slow it down, and those moments are just as rich and mind-bending. another “you had to be there” record, for sure!
riyl: sophie, clarence clarity, dorian electra, ado, hatsune miku, glass beach, 100 gecs
rec tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10
fcc warning: 2
klein – marked
hazy, electronic, entrancing, obscure soundscapes; a blend of ambient, noise, and hyperpop, and more words to describe a sit-down-and-listen experience of an album. this release is vast, with incredible experimental electronic production for every minute of each intentionally-paced song. this feels like gen z’s everywhere at the end of time–big props/big ups to klein for recreating what brainrot and doomscrolling feels like in the same space as caribbean expression and dance music. that combination makes this album a relic, and one that i’ll be keeping on repeat for the time being.
riyl: 100 gecs, felt out, la timpa, lolina, mhysa
rec tracks: 1, 3, 6, 9, 14, 17
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
☆rock
blood – loving you backwards
post-punk goodness–there’s just something about this album. it’s quiet, but the drive is still there and just as felt. cathartic and chill at the same time. lead singer tim o’brien explores more of his feminine vocal features in this album, and it opens up a range of emotions for him. his voice floats and treads among grungy instrumentals, injected with their fair share of atmosphere. a favorite of mine.
riyl: hotline tnt, joyer, teethe, honeywater
rec tracks: 1, 4, 7, 10
fcc warning: 8
this house is creaking – this house is creaking
the fuzzy haze of shoegaze of it all–this album combines indie rock/modern emo with a genre that’s seeing an uptick in popularity. many modern artists use the element of fuzz to their own ends, and this house is creaking is no exception, masterfully using distortion (and autotune) to synthesize strong vibes in the form of rock songs.
riyl: sweet trip, cavetown, diiv, left @ london
rec tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8
fcc warning: 5, 7, 8
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
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