July’s over. Eaux Claires happened, Summerfest happened, Pitchfork happened, and Lollapalooza will mercifully be over before next week. Have you gone down a waterslide yet? Even once?? Well before you start to panic, someone recently reminded me that we’re technically only about a month into summer. There’s plenty of time to schedule a trip to the local swimming hole! As much as I’d like to live without the perpetual fear of the arrival of autumn, that three-week-long season of leaf death and sweaters, I guess it’s fair to acknowledge that the Midwest just can’t do it all. At least we still have Culver’s.
Anyhow, here are four excellent new songs solid enough to sink down to the deep end of your city pool. Hold your breath, dive to the bottom, and see how many you can get to.
Yves Tumor: “Void”
Imagine, if you will, a karaoke bar. The bouncy, melodic ’60s pop-sample of the intro to a Jens Lekman track starts to play, and the ashen vocalist with mic in hand instead begins to sing their favorite Lil Peep track over it. Excuse this crude cartoon, but it’s what I hear with the new Yves Tumor song, and that uncomfortable blend is what I love about it. Most Yves Tumor tracks so far in his career have been knotty, dark instrumentals. The addition of prominent vocals to this backdrop does wonders at embellishing and deeping the uneasy experience of hearing the song’s sunny introduction begin to crumble. Here’s hoping for more of this on an upcoming record, but nothing’s yet been announced.
Charli XCX: “Girls Night Out”
Longtime unreleased stan favorite “Girls Night Out” finally saw its official release this week. This song, featuring a collaborative production from SOPHIE and Stargate, feels fairly straightforward poppy considering how uncanny the late ’90s-focused PC Music approach can get. There’s even those weird Backstreet Boys “ooh-a, ooh-a” flourishes at 0:28, and a dance break, and then an a cappella moment two-thirds through the song. As with all of Charli’s recent releases, vocals are a solo affair — notable because the bulk of her massive 2017 release catalog (as with most Top 40 tracks this year) was very feature-heavy.
Blood Orange: “Charcoal Baby” / “Jewelry”
I hope this doesn’t come off as a criticism, but when I first heard “Charcoal Baby” I was surprised at how much I felt it would seamlessly fit on Blood Orange’s amazing 2016 album Freetown Sound. As much as it can be tempting to expect a songwriter as outstanding as Blood Orange to be consistently (and productively) navigating more challenging waters, the Freetown Sound vibe is an extremely good pocket to be in. And since this was only the lead single from the upcoming album Negro Swan, there was plenty of room to shake things up with future singles.
Well, mere hours after “Charcoal Baby” hit the internet, its follow-up appeared: the sparse, shadowy “Jewelry.” “Jewelry” delivered handily in the “shaking things up” department; despite technically being a single (featuring a stunning video!), it otherwise fits the form of a great album track. The dual release of these singles provides disparate perspectives, alike in their quality, of an album that’s almost sure to be one of the year’s most important and loved.
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