Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations. This week we encourage you to spend some time looking after yourself and provide you some tuuuunes for doin’ just that.
It’s been a long year. The environment is a mess. World and national politics would be laughable if they weren’t so scary. David Bowie is dead. I wouldn’t want to assume, but I’d be willing to bet that you probably had your fair share of personal challenges, no? We live in a culture that glorifies stress and glamorises problems/drama. It’s considered desirable to be run off your feet constantly because that means you’re #killingit. Not to say anyone shouldn’t be endlessly proud of their achievements and hard work, but it can be all too easy to get caught up in a stress-head cycle that seems impossible to escape from. Pretty soon you’ll even be fooling yourself that you’re okay, you’re not that tired, you’re not overworked, you’re fine. And that’s a biiiiig problem, because you can only trick your body and mind into a state of anxious energy that actually allows you to function properly for so long. And when it all catches up with you? That could have some serious repercussions for your physical and mental health, long and short term. My advice is to turn off your phone if you can and make it your weekly (at least) mission to practice some radical self-care. My personal fave way to do this is to fill the tub, drop a bath bomb in, pour myself a glass of wine and read a good book while listening to some nice music – but you don’t even need to be that extravagant. Self-care can be as simple as drinking herbal tea and doing breathing exercises before bed. It can be driving out to a secluded rural place and sketching the trees. Whatever makes you feel calm and at peace with yourself. If music features in your perfect self-care vision, here are my suggestions.
Best Coast – Feeling Ok
Leave it to music’s queen of Feelings to get you in the right headspace to be nice as fuck to yourself. Sure, many of her tunes are so depressing that they’re probably a valid excuse to call in sick to work (Sorry boss, can’t come in, Bethany Cosentino spoke the truths of my soul and I wept) – but this isn’t one of them. Feeling Ok is not outwardly, transparently uplifting. But it is honest, and that’s better. If you’ve been neglecting yourself emotionally, a trite Walking On Sunshine-esque effervescent tune might just kinda feel like being beaten over the head with a fish. Gee thanks, undisclosed artist, you might think to yourself. You’ve really driven home just how displaced and adrift I feel. Not so with this. It sees your dark times, validates your feelings, and encourages you to achieve “ok” status and feel proud of it, even if it doesn’t seem like much. “But I’ll keep trying to stay this way/I know it’s love that’s got me feeling ok”. BTW for the purposes of this playlist, I am ruling that the “love” BC talks about is “self-love” not romantic love in this case so don’t even start.
Totally Mild – When I’m Tired
I had a good day, todayyyyyyyy. Sometimes hearing someone say the words can help make them true, or maybe they can be aspirational. There’s nothing in-your-face or obnoxious about the statement, either. Elizabeth Mitchell’s dreamy vocals pair with beautiful lilting guitar work and the rest is woozy bliss. This is the one to chuck on just as you submerge yourself in the tub with Lush bath bomb remnants fizzing away at the bottom (or you know, whatever your fave self care activity is). Lyrically, When I’m Tired could even be seen as a bit of a Super Polite Fuck You (TM) to the things/people/thoughts/feelings that have been messing with your vibe lately.
Le Pie – Better The Devil You Know (Kylie Minogue cover)
Before I begin here I want to emphasize how Important it is for Le Pie to release more music soon, thank you for your time. I realise the irony of saying that and including a cover rather than an original in this playlist, but holy smokes it’s such a bloody lovely cover. This might be one to skip if you’re down in the dumps about a specific on-off toxic relationship thingy, but otherwise you can just tune into the blissful nostalgia and keep your distance from the literal meaning. Le Pie’s doo-wop sensibilities shine through and you’re going to be physically unable to restrain yourself from a lil sing-a-long. Which is perfect – singing releases endorphins and you deserve to feel nice. If you haven’t really got on board with Le Pie before I’d recommend checking her out – start with Mio‘s Neverland (on which she features) and her own bangers Secrets and Up All Night. This cover isn’t on Spotify, so you can stream below.
Mallrat – For Real
This one comes with a little content warning for suicidal thoughts, but – stay with me here – the context is largely positive (You didn’t even wanna die once this week/And when you’re around I feel less of a freak). The Hannah Montana of the rap game herself once said she’s not sure if this song is happy or sad, and that she’d like to leave it open to individual interpretation. To me, this is a perfect self-care song. It appears to address the messy, wonderful bond of female friendship, but could just as easily be a love letter to oneself. If you can talk to yourself through this song, there’s a pretty sizeable chance you’re going to feel very warm and fuzzy afterwards. How could you not, with all them relentlessly uplifting synths? Giving me major early nineties movie female empowerment montage vibes.
LAZERTITS – Boss Bitch
Time to shake things up right at the end here (sadly also not on Spotify). Floaty, dreamy tunes are all well and good, but sometimes you need brash punky attitudes and crass language to remind ya just how capable you are. LAZERTITS, who are relentlessly excellent, smash through patriarchal structures and attitudes all while reminding you that you’re a fucking boss. This can be tough to swallow when you’re feeling anything but, which is why this song is sitting where it is, a bold cherry on top after strategically-placed layers of gently encouraging icecream. Yes, that analogy is weak as piss (especially because most people would eat icecream from the top downwards). No, I’m not apologising for it. I’m a boss. And so are you.
Image: Purple Clover/Pretty Woman
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet, of this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
Spring King – Rectifier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yONyEewXraU
We’re starting out the gate with a bang this week, not being ones to be here to fuck spiders of course. It’s Rectifier, the new single from UK noisemakers Spring King. Punchy, heavy and, like all good garage rock, the amps turned up to 11 on everything., Rectifier is a track bristling with raw power and energy and will have you hooked as soon as you hear it.
The music video follows drummer and vocalist (boy do we have a whole lot of respect for those guys) Tarek Musa as he fleshes out the song in his basement before taking it to the jam room and eventually the stage playing to a huge sweaty crowd.
We’re hoping for a whole lot more outstanding stuff like this from Spring King in 2016.
Gideon Bensen – Talk Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqFbYI-M1dA
Also making some noise this week is Gideon Bensen, well-known for his duties on guitar and backing vocals for The Preatures but currently enjoying a stellar run as a solo artist. We loved his first track and its accompanying video last year and we had the chance for a great old chat with him earlier this year. This week he’s released his second single and music video for Talk Talk.
It’s a short and sharp smashing together of rock and roll with some deliciously new wave synth flavour, Bensen’s smoky baritone snaking its way around the track, showing a pretty remarkable vocal range as well. The video is lo-fi cool and features Bensen’s head replicated and warped in front of a travelling background, the bursts of red and blue complementing the bursts of different noise sparking off throughout the song.
The Kills – Doing It To Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=498zUzNGQxY
Hard rocking duo The Kills have put out a brand new single and music video this week in anticipation of their next album Ash And Ice that’s scheduled for release in June of this year. Doing It To Death is the title, the riffs gigantic, the rhythm deliberate and a definite touch of ice behind the vocals of frontwoman Alison Mosshart.
The music video wins the title of Best Funeral Procession ever. There’s rap squats atop hearse hoods, a parade of black clad pallbearers dabbing their way through a Los Angeles cemetery, Mosshart giving a eulogy with a durry in hand. It’s a song and video combination that kicks so much ass, do yourself a favour and watch it.
Ash And Ice is out June 3rd via Domino.
Bad Vision – Goons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DEBvHq9lgc
This next one comes from Melbourne rockers Bad Vision, who have this week released the first single from their upcoming album Turn Out Your Sockets. Titled Goons, it’s fantastically dance-y and jangly rock and roll with shouted choruses about looking for good times and verses about Miley Cyrus eating at shopping malls. Glorious.
The video is a nifty one-taker, so picture that scene in Goodfellas where Henry Hill takes Karen on a whirlwind tour through the back door of his nightclub, only replace gangsters with the titular ‘goons’ and the nightclub with a suburban share house and you’ve just about got it.
Turn Out Your Sockets is out May 2016 via Adagio 830 Records.
Boys Noize – Overthrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQD_WpsYtiU&feature=youtu.be
The latest single from German producer Boys Noize is Overthrow. Dark and twisting and starkly industrial, pulsating rhythms building up before a confronting and harsh drop full of squealing synths mid-song.
The music video, directed by Lil Internet and Boys Noize himself, takes the industrial tones of the track and visualises them. Shot mainly in black and white, it focuses on street life in Los Angeles after dark and the intersecting of a pair of rival gangs. Apparently no actors were used in the video, upping the authenticity of the video entirely.
There’ll be more to come from Boys Noize this year.
Le Pie – Up All Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3rRe2D23us
Sydney singer-songwriter Le Pie goes full badass on her latest single and video for Up All Night. Combining punk rock with pop hooks while losing none of the edge of the former, the track is as catchy as the flu, full of clever lyrics too.
The video does it justice and then some, shot in beautiful black and white and opening with Le Pie tagging a brick wall before her and her gang of greaser girls legs it from ‘the fuzz’. From there they wander the streets looking like a more menacing version of the T-Birds, boozing it up, swinging baseball bats and golf clubs and raising general hell.
You can catch Le Pie and the Sha La Las on the Up All Night tour this weekend, where they’ll be rolling in to rough up the Lass O’Gowrie in Newcastle on Saturday night. Look out!
NxWorries – Link Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsXaSRBO5kM&feature=youtu.be
If NxWorries is a name that’s still unfamiliar to you then it won’t be for long. It’s a super-duo made up of producer Knxwledge and vocalist Anderson .Paak. Link Up is their newest single, the second from their debut EP Link Up And Suede that capped off a massive 2015 for both men.
The song is funky as all hell, smooth vocals from Anderson .Paak layered masterfully over some lights out production from Knxwledge. The music video is fantastic, featuring a very disgruntled Eric Andre confronting Knxwledge the convenience store attendant and wondering aloud how he’s supposed to get fucked up on only three pinots (before being knocked the FUCK out).
The rest of the clip features an impossibly cool dance party hosted by .Paak and Knxwledge in the chilled section by aisle three, the duo turning all kinds of up. None other than Earl Sweatshirt shows up at one point (apparently he does sometimes like going outside) to buy a 40.
We need an album out of these two real soon.
DMA’s – Step Up The Morphine (Live Acoustic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe9Tn9n50sg
The sky is presently the limit for DMA’s. They’re a week post the release of their debut album Hills End, which landed to rave reviews across the board. The band are going on tour both in Australia and internationally, with a guest spot on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that promises to see their star rise even higher.
This week they’ve released a brand new video for one of the standout tracks on Hills End, the stunning Step Up The Morphine. They’ve reworked it into a stripped back acoustic version recorded live on a sunny afternoon in Kings Cross that will take your breath away. The steel guitar from Matt Mason adding some very welcome extra smoke to the song.
Catch DMA’s on their Hills End tour across Australia in May and June.
This week once again brought the goods, as every week does, when it comes to brand new music. It’s a difficult job narrowing it down to just ten top tracks, but someone’s gotta do it (even though we secretly love it). Spanning a multitude of genres, this playlist has something for everyone. Enjoy!
Spookyland, God’s Eyes
Sydney band Spookyland have returned, not only with a brand new song, but also with the announcement of a debut album due for release in May. God’s Eyes is the first taste of that record, Beauty Already Beautiful, and it is fucking awesome. The one-of-a-kind vocals courtesy of Marcus Gordon gives an extra element as he sings the powerful lyrics whilst the song meanders its way into a roar. It feels like an Australian rock anthem waiting to happen.
SMILE, Holiday
Droning guitars, scuzzy vocals, a sluggish drum beat and a vibe that sounds like a male fronted Yeah Yeah Yeahs on xanax, Melbourne band SMILE are onto something really good here with Holiday. Gearing up for the release of their forthcoming record, Rhythm Method, Holiday serves as a pretty great taste tester, and we can’t wait to hear what is going to come next!
Urthboy, Second Heartbeat (Ft. Sampa The Great and Okenyo)
Three of Australia’s best all on one track, Urthboy has done himself a huge favour teaming up with not just one, but two of the most exciting up-and-comers around right now. Sampa The Great and Okenyo each bring their own unique flavour to this uplifting track that will put you in a good mood within seconds of listening to it. Its got soul, swagger and a hook that has been stuck in my head since I first heard it a few days ago – but it sounds so good I don’t even mind.
Yuma X, Keep Me Up
Yuma X are a mysterious duo that keep to themselves mostly, apart from when they release sublime tracks like this one. Keep Me Up is the latest in a slowly growing number of Yuma X tracks, and it’s also one of their best. Gentle, sparse and delicate, you almost feel like you’re being let in on a little secret. It’s quiet and soothing, and yet another example of just how much these two can do.
GoldLink, Zipporah (Gravez Remix)
GoldLink will be touching down in Australia in just a few weeks for St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, and whilst my excitement levels were already pretty damn high to see him action, LA producer Gravez has shared a remix of his track Zipporah that has tipped me over the edge! Amping up the soul, he keeps it light with airy synths and tinkering beats, and shows off a whole new side to the rapper – a side we really enjoy.
AlunaGeorge, I’m In Control
AlunaGeorge have made their long awaited return to the scene this week with a new single, I’m In Control. Featuring Popcaan (who was also on Jamie xx’s I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)), the duo have made their return loud and clear with this one. It’s got a really awesome dancehall feel, with Aluna’s commanding vocals sounding better than ever. It’s been a while since we’ve heard new stuff from these guys, but we’re glad they’re back!
SG Lewis, All Night (Ft. Dornik)
Dornik reminds me of Michael Jackson which is a very good thing, so basically any track he has anything to do with is more than alright in my books. This latest, a collaborative effort with SG Lewis, is a sultry RnB number that shows off both artists in all their glory. Deep bass, swirling synths and funky guitars, All Night is a fun, uplifting track but still maintains a relaxed, mellow quality that might come in handy in the, uh, bedroom. All Night indeed!
Poliça, Wedding
This song only came out this morning, and immediately landed itself as one of the best songs of the week. Thumping drums, trickling synth sounds, droning guitars and commanding vocals, Wedding is full on in all the best ways. Having triumphantly returned at the end of last year with Lime Habit, this latest single is the second cut from the band’s forthcoming record United Crushers – a record we are increasingly keen to hear after listening to this.
Majical Cloudz, Wait & See
Majical Cloudz released a new EP this week called Wait & See, and the title track is one that immediately caught our attention. Having already released their critically acclaimed Are You Alone? record last year, vocal Devon Welsh said of the release that they were a collection of old tracks that didn’t really fit on the album, but they still wanted them to be released and we’re really glad they did.
Le Pie, Up All Night
Sydney artist Le Pie is an act you may or may not have heard of. If you have, this latest song is for you. If you haven’t, this latest song is also definitely for you too. Energetic, punchy and lots of fun, her voice gives an angsty-teen feel over the rolling guitars and sharp, fast drums to give it a sense of urgency. It’s a great track, and is the perfect move for her as she builds on the success she saw last year.