Australian singer/rapper/producer Mallrat (aka Grace Shaw) released her third, and most polished, EP Driving Music earlier this month. From it, “Drive Me Round” is at first a gentle, drifting tune (complete with echoing background chants), but when the beat drops the track turns into a rich, synth-driven bop. Concurrently melancholy and upbeat, the song is a glittery couple of minutes long, and sees the Mallrat’s vocal prowess growing stronger than ever.
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Fog Lake is the moniker of prolific lo-fi pop artist Aaron Powell of Glovertown, Newfoundland and Labrador*.
Written while living in near isolation, these mostly quiet songs are quirky gems that whir with a gentle doo-wop swing.
Please take a break and get into this goodness.
Fog Lake’s a grower.
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Cashmere Cat has released PRINCESS CATGIRL, a new album featuring contributions from SOPHIE, Tory Lanez, Benny Blanco, Tove Styrke, Kota Banks and more as well as samples of songs by Christina Aguilera and XXXTentacion. The record was first announced through a conceptual video in which Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actress Margaret Qualley portrays the titular Princess Catgirl, a feline manifestation of Cashmere Cat’s personality.
“WATERGIRL” features a sample of Christina Aguilera’s “What A Girl Wants,” while “BACK FOR YOU” includes production contributions from SOPHIE and Benny Blanco, as well as uncredited vocals from Tory Lanez. “EMOTIONS” features uncredited vocals from Tove Styrke, “MOO,” samples XXXTentacion’s “Moonlight,” and “WITHOUT YOU” features vocals from Kota Banks.
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Colombian-Canadian artist Valerie Teicher, better known as Tei Shi, has shared a new track called “Even If It Hurts.” It features Blood Orange, who also co-produced the song with Noah Breakfast. It comes with a music video, directed by Cara Stricker. Watch below.
The new song is from Tei Shi’s sophomore album La Linda, which comes out November 15 (via Downtown). The record includes her recent singles “A Kiss Goodbye” and “Red Light.” Find the tracklist below.
Tei Shi and Blood Orange previously collaborated on Negro Swan’s “Hope.” Read Pitchfork’s feature “Blood Orange’s Devonté Hynes Breaks Down Every Song on His New Album, Negro Swan.”
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Melbourne’s SIMONA CASTRICUM has been hard at work honing in on her forthcoming record which we’ll get to hear in full this July, 2019. The record sees her enlisting the production skills of James Cecil (Architecture in Helsinki) and Evelyn Ida Morris (Pikelet).
In the meantime while we sit patiently waiting for the record, she’s given us not one, but two dreamy pop songs dripping in her signature, cleverly evoked feeling of nostalgia.
‘The Half Light’ is an instant pop anthem. You know that feeling you get when you finish watching The Breakfast Club and you’re sitting quietly letting the sounds of Simple Minds‘ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ wash over you? That element of that finale song is fiercely present in ‘The Half Light’. There’s an instant relatability about the track, and through its themes of human disconnection told through her beautifully composed synth-pop, you’re left feeling both whole and connected.
Of the track, Castricum said “’The Half Light’ is that moment scrolling endlessly through your social media at the end of the day in bed; watching all you friends and followers lives—people you know, the people you knew, and people you don’t—wishing you were with them, wondering how you could be closer; only to realise your trapped in this cruel paradox of being ‘connected’ to so many people yet feeling so alone and detached. As if communication and relationships have become so dehumanised by technology through our need for visibility is consumed. Where is that place I can feel connected?”
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