Mallrat – Better
Aussie teen Mallrat first came up on our radar last year with “For Real” off her debut EP, Uninvited. Her electro pop influence is reminiscent of her musical and geographical neighbor Lorde’s Pure Heroine, with liberal use of synthesizers and vocal harmonies building up to bright choruses. However, on her new song “Better,” Mallrat trades in a bit of the heavy booming bass and her sing-song rapping for a lighter and much more consistent melody. The clarity in the music reflects that of the lyrics, leaving room for the newly graduated Mallrat to muse, “Everyone’s alive, so everything’s alright/ But maybe when the summer ends, I’ll drift away from all my friends.” And who better to remind us what it was like to be a teenager than an actual teenager?
Read the rest of this article at Stereogum
John Maus – Teenage Witch
John Maus’ upcoming album, Screen Memories, burrows into the retro-futuristic tones of analog synth technology; the squat cathode ray tube TV on the cover of the album, blasting static, only reinforces the 1970s and 1980s palette sampled within. His new song offered from it, “Teenage Witch,” is nostalgic without being overly sentimental, suggesting a tender side to Maus as he excavates his teenage self.
Maus isn’t the first artist to look to teen memories, but for one who’s traditionally been poised to the point of detachment, “Teenage Witch” narrows the focus to a striking degree. He sings into curtains of reverb about, presumably, his past: “Teenage witch/Want to start a fire witch,” he intones, hinting at the rage of stifling high school years. He’s accompanied by a rickety synth bassline so artificially cheery it might have been borrowed from his past collaborator Ariel Pink. This contrast between the song’s light, retro instrumentation and its sinister lyrics makes for a sharp portrait of the teen psyche. For Maus, it’s a time where innocence and all-consuming anger can mingle in the same hormone-addled brain. “Teenage Witch” distills those distant memories into soft, vintage pop where violence lurks just beneath the surface.
Read the rest of this article at Pitchfork
A Grave With No Name – Wreath
Alexander Shields has been releasing music under his A Grave With No Name moniker for a good while now, but doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. He has announced that he will release his sixth album Passover on January 19th through Forged Artifacts.
For this album Shields found a particularly poignant source of inspiration in the death of his grandmother, and he proceeded to write the whole of Passover in the family home where he grew up living alongside her. The album is said to be a collection of stories inspired by the emotions this brought up. This can certainly be heard in the spare and atmospheric lead single ‘Wreath’.
Shields says of the song, “‘Wreath’ is exploration of the relationship between humanity and the land which we inhabit. Whereas nature once provided mankind with a source of spirituality, education and sustenance, it has now been tamed, despoiled and commodified, and is used to justify the waging of wars, prejudice, and greed. The song asks for a moral awakening, and a return to a simpler, more considered way of living.”
Read the rest of this article at The 405
Makeness – Loud Patterns
Scottish producer Makeness, aka Kyle Molleson, has released ‘Loud Patterns’, a thundering slice of electronica. Makeness has also signed to Secretly Canadian, the Indiana label home to Anohni and The War on Drugs. His music usually falls on the harsher, more industrial end of the musical spectrum. On ‘Loud Patterns’, however, he combines raw, organic drums and grating synth lines with ghost-like vocal melodies to create a track reminiscent of pop-laced EBM.
last year Molleson, who grew up in Scotland before attending University of Leeds, relocated to London from the Outer Hebrides. Since then he has performed and recorded prolifically – ‘Loud Patterns’ is Makeness’ first new music following support slots with Midland and Avalon Emerson and June’s self-released Temples Works EP.
Read the rest of this article at Mixmag
Curtains Don’t Crack – Hands Off
We’re not at liberty to tell you any more than “Hands Off” is the first track from a currently anonymous Norwegian singer and producer (whom Best Fit may or may not have covered in the past) who has created every aspect of the track themselves.
Combining Drake-esque R&B with watery Balearic beats, echoing synths and ’80s vocoder kitsch, “Hands Off” doesn’t mess around when it comes to what CDC wants from a relationship. Within the first few lines, pants and shirt are off, and it’s all about making sure this singer gets some explicit self-satisfaction. Looking after number one never sounded so good.
“’Hands Off’ came after me just playing around with soundtoys in Logic,” CDC tells us. “I knew I wanted to get back to the Daft Punk vibe but mix it with some rhythm and blues chords, as well as the sound being smooth and sultry in an electronic way. It was such a fun experience and I hope people like it. The lyrics basically encircles what it feels like to be the one who doesn’t want to get serious in a relationship but just wants to have fun.”
Read the rest of this article at The Line of Best Fit
