G Flip – About You
Georgia Flipo knows a thing or two about multitasking. She doubled as a drummer and backup singer with the Melbourne band EMPRA, and when she wasn’t touring, she taught guitar and drums to elementary school kids. On her debut solo single as G Flip, the Australian musician takes up just about every instrument she can get her hands on: The glitchy, kinetic video for “About You” shows Flipo laying down chords on a keyboard, plucking out an electric bass line, and rattling her sticks across a drum pad, then a full kit. Who needs a backup band when you can alchemize a ridiculously catchy synth-pop gem all by yourself?
Flipo’s smooth, multi-tracked vocals can make her sound like all three Haim sisters at once, but the way she builds a rock-solid pop song out of a simple, juicy synth riff aligns her more closely to Grimes. If it took a few albums for Grimes to go right for the throat in her hooks, though, G Flip is already there, as “About You” holds nothing back in its catchiness. “Just let me go,” Flipo demands in the song’s bridge, and then immediately contradicts herself: “Give me one more chance, baby.” Those two lines repeat in a circle until the song’s final chorus—delivered after a delightfully over-the-top drum fill—interrupts Flipo’s equivocating. It’s a familiar pop strategy, brewing tension and then breaking it with an amped-up refrain, but G Flip pulls it off effortlessly, like she’s already done this a hundred times.
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Janelle Monáe – Make Me Feel
Janelle Monáe has assumed many different forms in her career: singer, producer, actress, model, android. Though such ambition has made her difficult to peg, it’s also endeared her to a wide audience. Across three full-length albums and an EP, Monáe has captured the essence of her forebears—Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, and Michael Jackson—while maintaining her own unique afrofuturist bent. Even though Monáe has always pulled from the past, she’s found the perfect balance of old and new, paying homage to iconic black music with grace, style, and reverence.
On “Make Me Feel,” one of two new singles from Monáe’s Dirty Computer (the musician’s first LP in five years), the polymath unpacks a rubbery funk tune that recalls the likes of Prince and Sheila E. Her 1980s influences are clear, down to each massive synth line and the feeling of raw sensual energy woven throughout the song. Much like her previous work, “Make Me Feel” is a flashy mix of modern bounce and old soul that puts her dulcet voice on full display. Perhaps inspired by her recent success on the big screen—in films like the Oscar Best Picture-winning Moonlight and Oscar nominated Hidden Figures—the video for “Make Me Feel” is equally theatrical, taking colorful cues from “Black Mirror” (think Season Three’s exquisite “San Junipero” episode) and the wide-open feel of the Purple One’s “Kiss.” With its irresistible, sugary pop ethos, “Make Me Feel” could be Monáe’s most straightforward single. Yet at this point in her trajectory, where Monáe is the most visible she’s ever been, the song is a clear statement of strength, freedom, and continued evolution.
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Wiki – Hands Out
Wiki drops off a pair of solid bonus tracks, including “Hands Out.”
Lyricism is not dead. New York’s Wiki previously dropped off No Mountains In Manhattan, a smoke-fueled voyage from project alleyways to the finest Chinatown establishments. If you haven’t yet checked for that yet call yourself a hip-hop head perhaps you need a revaluation. Lyrically, Wiki is reminiscent of pinnacle underground rap, without the tired backpacking cliches. With a clever penchant for weaving imaginative imagery, the Raking emcee has long strived on the strength of his cult following. Today, he’s back with a few bonus tracks, including “Hands Out.”
As of now, the pair are exclusively available in select international markets, but that will change shortly. The track finds Wiki going in over a decidedly “modern” beat, which is to say “trap-inspired.” Over hypnotic synthesizers, Wiki continues where No Mountains left off, although this one remains a stylistic departure the project. Either way, it’s dope, so check it out.
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A.A.L. – I Never Dream
Nicolas Jaar’s last album, the sprawling sonic collage Sirens, had the producer exploring electronic music’s more avant realms—the record sounded better suited to an art gallery than a club. But lest we forget, when Jaar emerged at the start of this decade, he was pegged as the next big techno star, a wunderkind who made brainy and studiously produced tracks. While he’s generally moved away from that dance-friendly style since, he still teases fans with upbeat cuts now and then—especially on the down low. Case in point: Since 2013, his label Other People has released excellent tunes from an energetic producer named A.A.L. (Against All Logic), who turns out to be Nicolas Jaar himself.
Late last week, Other People quietly—almost silently—released the first A.A.L. album, 2012-2017. Its immediate highlight, “I Never Dream,” is the most heart quickening, fist-pumping, and downright funky thing Jaar has made in years. A master class in J. Dilla-level sample slicing-and-dicing, the song orbits around a beautiful vocal fragment that Jaar loop-de-loops into mesmerizing shapes. Amid intricate breakbeats and blissful synth lines, he magically contorts the sample ever so slightly to meet the changing moods and paces of the six-minute track. And to Jaar’s credit, he hits the dopamine button without bonking you over the head. Not one element is glitzy, but it comes together with such seamless confidence, you can’t help but shake your head and wonder how he pulls it off. It’s with these hidden talents—the quiet dancefloor chops—that Jaar shows how complete a producer he is.
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Computer Magic – Perfect Game
It’s out of this world – Computer Magic has dropped her new single, “Perfect Game”, which will appear on her brand new record, DANZ, out February 23rd. The LP is released via her very own Channel 9 Records. Brooklyn-based Computer Magic (DJ/Producer Danielle “Danz” Johnson) releases “Perfect Game” as the fourth single off DANZ. She has previously released nine EPs and four LPs (three of which were Japan-exclusive); DANZ will be her second official full-length album. She will celebrate the release of her record with a release party at the Knitting Factory in NYC on March 3 “Perfect Game” is a synth-and-guitar filled track highlighted by Danielle’s smooth vocals that will take you to another universe with its extraterrestrial vibes. This song displays not only the talent of Johnson as she works as an entirely solo project, but also her ability to create something both personal and accessible. We can’t wait to hear the rest of DANZ when it drops later this week.
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