The end of last week brought forth a deluge of new music from veteran artists, spanning the genres from pop to rock to hip-hop and R&B. Here’s a quick recap, in case any of you missed anything in the avalanche. Hell, I’d be surprised if I didn’t miss anything in the avalanche!
De La Soul “Trainwreck”– I’ve been patiently waiting for well over a decade for a new De La record. Pos, Dave and Maseo have certainly kept themselves busy without creating new sounds (under their own name), but I leapt at the chance to contribute to a Kickstarter for their new album. Now completely funded and recorded, And The Anonymous Nobody finally arrives in late summer. To tide their fans over for the next couple of months, the hip-hop legends gifted the EP For Your Pain And Suffering to their campaign supporters. One of those tracks, “Trainwreck”, has made its way over to Spotify. It’s a funky little groove-reminiscent of 2004’s “Shopping Bags”. My appetite certainly doesn’t need to be whetted any more for new De La Soul…I’m open.
Justin Timberlake “Can’t Stop The Feeling”– I had no idea there was going to be a “Trolls” movie and I have no plans to see it. However, I can already tell you that “Can’t Stop The Feeling” (which comes from said movie) is going to be getting major play from me at least until the end of summer. JT teams up with Max Martin after a decade and a half absence and comes up with a perfectly upbeat pop classic. Justin’s still recording his fifth solo album, but even as much as I appreciate his (slightly) less commercial side, I still hope he drags one or two songs like this into the final mix. ALL the happy feels with this one.
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dark Necessities”– I pretty much gave up on the Peppers two albums ago (I think I’ve listened to I’m With You exactly one time.) Needless to say, I wasn’t holding out a ton of hope for good new music from them. I was fully prepared to let the foursome’s new track, “Dark Necessities”, slide by without giving it my attention. However, in a rare moment of “why not?”, I decided to check it out. Holy shit, it’s good! It’s been a solid decade since I’ve given a shit about any of Anthony Kiedis’s lyrics, but this groove is slammin’. No surprise that Danger Mouse-who makes just about anything listenable-is behind the boards for this one.
Zo! “Lifelines (feat. Dornik)”– You know how much I love The Foreign Exchange and all its affiliates. Multi-instrumentalist and producer Zo! has a new album called SkyBreak out in about a week and a half (5/20), and “Lifelines” is the first new music released (at least that I’ve heard) from it. The hazy banger (not a contradiction in terms!) features R&B up-and-comer Dornik (whose self-titled album from last year is worth a listen) and renaissance man Phonte delivers a verse towards the song’s end. I don’t know that I’m buying a lot of new music this month, but Zo!’s album is at the top of that short list.
What have you been listening to lately?