Each week the Music Feeds team hunt down their favourite new tunes, bundle them up in some (often highly legible) words and bring them to you. It’s Music Feeds Faves.
Majical Cloudz – Downtown
Montreal-based duo Majical Cloudz go straight for the heart in the latest single Downtown taken from their forthcoming new album due out next week. Heartfelt lyrics delicately sung over sparse organs, what we have on our hands here is a straight-up, honest song about being in L-O-V-E love.
“Nothing you say will ever be wrong, ’cause it just feels good being in your arms,” sings frontman Devon Welsh. It’s a sentiment that could easily border on the saccharine, but is delivered with such conviction and gravity, that you immediately feel a sense of the inevitable sadness that somehow always sits adjacent to love.
“One thing I’ll do, if it ever goes wrong, I’ll write you into all of my songs,” he continues. “And if suddenly I die, I hope they will say, that he was obsessed, and it was OK.” Ooooof. Let’s forget the hot mess that is that Macklemore song and make this the ‘Downtown’ we remember from 2015. / Nastassia Baroni, Editor
Powell – Insomniac
An email from legendary rock producer Steve Albini about his hatred of dance music was recently used by electronic artist Oscar Powell to promote his gritty new dance track Insomniac, because the music world is a whacky place sometimes at all times.
After emailing Albini for clearance on some samples of his voice to use in Insomniac, Powell received the most Albini reply possible, in which the producer allowed him to use the samples and also explained why he detests dance music.
The song at the centre of it all has since hit our ears, and it sounds like what LCD Soundsystem may have become if they’d smashed up all their synthesisers and played them in a washing machine — well, a washing machine in Steve Albini’s house.
In another genius move, Insomniac’s glitchy video overlays the track with Powell and Albini’s email thread. ALSO: The video should probably come with an epilepsy warning.
Insomniac is being released with the B-side Should’ve Been A Drummer on 16th October, but please don’t try to stay awake until then. / Tom Williams, Staff Writer
Kiiara – Intention
This is Kiiara’s fourth track and yet we’re still no closer to finding out more about 20 year-old Illinois singer who basically appeared out of nowhere. All we know right now is she’s had four phenomenal tracks in a row and it’s one of the hottest streaks for a fresh artist that I’ve seen in a long while. Intention does nothing to disrupt that streak. It’s another glitchy, warm pop tracks driven by her woozy, addictive vocals.
In all her four tracks so far she’s really effortlessly walked this line between pop and hip-hop and while it sounds familiar it’s really hard to compare her to anything that’s going round today. No word of whether or not there’s an EP or album on the way but Zane Lowe at Beats 1 has been spinning her tracks on the regular so it won’t be long before her growing fanbase apply the pressure for a proper release. / Sam Murphy, Staff Writer
Megadeth – Fatal Illusion
Megadeth have made good on their promise of new material, this week unveiling their new track Fatal Illusion online. Kicking off with some scratchy pick scrapes and plenty of dissonance to set the tone, it’s not long before bassist Ellefson takes centre stage. The rest of the band then come crashing in with the iconic heavy Megadeth sound, with the new lineup proving they have what it takes to live up to one of the biggest reputations in metal.
Mustaine is at his histrionic best, his layered and aggressive vocals backed up by some astonishing guitar work from Kiko Louriro and the brutal chops of new drummer, Chris Adler, of Lamb Of God.
Sporting everything you could hope for from a Megadeth track, Fatal Illusion shows that despite innumerable line-up changes over the years (most recently with the departure of guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover), Mustaine and Ellefson are still focused on the same vision that brought them together over 30 years ago. And hey, if it ain’t broke. / Mike Carr
Floating Points – Elaenia (Teaser)
Avant dance meets anti-trance in this video teaser from Floating Points’ forthcoming album Elaenia. While the track on it’s own is definitely more of an intro to the rest of the album (being the first track so I’m told) it’s this mad video with dancer Kiani Del Valle that really has me frothing.
Opening with some sharp and stiff movements from the while leotard-ed dancer, things really open up when we are introduced to Del Valle black clad evil twin, moving with the languid fluidity of an octopus on the perfect amount of Ketamine. Something about the way she wiggles and whirls those arms does things to me, and while I can’t put it into words (despite that being my job) I’ve watched it about a dozen times while trying to recreate the moves in the mirror and coming out somewhere between drowning man and epileptic seizure… nailed it. / Mike Carr, Staff Writer
Violent Soho – Like Soda
You know that feeling… when it’s been a stinking hot day, sweat has basically fused your undies to your arse like glue, you’ve cracked a just-cold-enough tinny as the arvo Southerly starts rolling in, and you’ve got no idea what the fuck you’re doing with your life but somehow everything still seems right with the world anyway? That pretty much sums up Violent Soho’s new cut, Like Soda. The uplifting Aussie punk anthem is our first lick of the band’s forthcoming album, which may or may not end up being called Shitpants: A Memoir, and Mansfield’s finest have delivered the goods.
Summer’s pretty much here and passed out on the couch already. You supply the sound system, let Violent Soho supply the good vibes and I’ll supply the 4 Litre goon sack. Let’s party. / Emmy Mack, Staff Writer
