Another week, another batch of incredible new music. It’s time to turn up the volume. We’ve curated a fresh playlist of the hottest new music to kickstart your weekend.
B*WITCHED – RIPPED JEANS
Currently in the middle of a summer tour which has seen them take their infectous energy and feel good vibes to big outdoor shows across the country, including Mighty Hoopla and SuperBoxx, B*Witched today share their new EP ‘Ripped Jeans’. Their first collection of new songs in a decade, the EP is launched alongside the new single ‘So Into You’. Listen HERE.
‘So Into You’ sets the supercharged dance-pop addictiveness to the max as B*Witched launch a powerful contemporary sound that’s so fresh and full of the vibrancy that they’re renowned for. Set to pulsating beats and fast-driving rock guitars, its energizing sound captures the exhilaration of suddenly being ‘So Into You’. It may well be a quarter of a century (!) since B*Witched first shot to superstardom, but ‘So Into You’ shows that they have lost none of their youthful zest from the first time around.
THE SCRIPT – SATELLITES
The Script today release their new music album ‘Satellites’ the crowning moment in a new stage for The Script, who have continued to inspire international audiences with the record’s previous singles ‘Both Ways’ and ‘At Your Feet’. The band are one of the biggest success stories in the history of Irish music, having scored six UK #1 albums and sold-out huge shows all across the world. Their global total of 10 billion+ streams also resulted in a recent BRITs Billion Award in honour of exceeding that landmark figure in the UK alone.
Beyond its singles, ‘Satellites’ is an album in which The Script often accelerate their pulse with higher energy songs and more experimental touches than fans have come to expect. It’s a trait that powers the pure, pulsating pop of ‘Unsaid’ which makes its mark in a little over two minutes, as well the joyous, fleet-footed ‘Run Run Run’. But it goes deeper, too, with ‘Gone’. Danny’s tribute to his gone-too-soon friend and bandmate Mark Sheehan is defiant and celebratory, its poignancy underlined by the observation, “Why do stars that shine twice a bright only burn for half as long?”
USNA – REPRESENT
USNA (pronounced OO~SH~NA) is doing things on his own terms as he prepares to take his underground hip-hop to a much broader audience with today’s release of his debut EP ‘REPRESENT’. The Irish hip-hop artist has built momentum ahead of the EP’s release by sharing inventive DIY music videos for all three of its previous singles, while his eagerness to defy conventions was again underlined by his raw and succinct 38-second track ‘RUNNING’.
The ‘REPRESENT’ EP captures an era of change in USNA’s personal life. After his mixtape ‘OOSHNA’ made waves last year (Radio 1 airplay and a Radio 1 Big Weekend performance as well a Track of the Week at BBC Introducing), USNA decided to leave his home in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland to go all-in on his career by relocating to London. After all, if not now, when?
The excitement and insecurities of the move inform his charismatic rhymes throughout the set. But also, sometimes you have to leave somewhere to realise its importance to your story: nostalgia, family and friends are all imprints that never really leave you. And while ‘REPRESENT’ is USNA’s personal story, it’s also a relatable narrative for the countless young people who leave their quiet hometowns to follow their own ambitions.
HANA LILI – BEDROOM FLOOR
With numerous big moments behind her, Hana Lili’s rise is now reaching full bloom. Her previous single ‘Figure It Out’ was greeted with airplay from Sian Eleri for Radio 1’s Future Artists and John Kennedy at Radio X, while it also landed on an array of key Spotify playlists led by New Music Friday. Further boosted by the confirmation of her first ever headline tour, Hana Lili now powers forwards with the new single ‘Bedroom Floor’. LISTEN HERE
‘Bedroom Floor’ finds Hana Lili whipping up a potion of effervescent emo melody with distorted waves of shoegaze guitar. But, as ever, she ensures that such rock influences are grounded within the framework of an instantly memorable pop song. Her authenticity again informs the lyrics, which explores the kind of intense feelings that will speak to her growing audience. While her vocals are sweetly saccharine and on point throughout, she also gives the track a shot of personality by including a take of her voice breaking into laughter during the song’s final moments.
Hana says, “‘Bedroom Floor’ is a song that describes the drama and cathartic feeling of living in the moment. I had a lot of fun with the lyrics when writing this song but also realised the vulnerability when talking about your feelings, even happy, celebratory ones. When producing the track I had a lot of fun running the synths through a multitude of different guitar pedals and really enjoyed playing around with the juxtaposition of creating dramatic production sounds to contrast with talking about making out on a bedroom floor. Justification for the ‘big light’ being OFF!”
FOSTER THE PEOPLE – PARADISE STATE OF MIND
RIAA Multi-Platinum and Diamond-certified group Foster The People unveil their eagerly awaited new album, Paradise State of Mind, available now HERE.
Produced by Foster The People lead singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Mark Foster and bandmate Isom Innis with contributions from Paul Epworth, Jack Peñate, Chrome Sparks and Asa Taccone, at studios in London and Los Angeles, Paradise State of Mind is further highlighted by such acclaimed tracks as “Chasing Low Vibrations,” “Take Me Back” and the cosmically catchy first single, “Lost In Space.” Hailed by Consequence for “(invoking) moments of psychedelia, the space age, the anthemic of the ’80s, and dramatic disco strings,” the latter track arrived alongside an official music video.
Foster The People marked the arrival of Paradise State of Mind earlier this week with a sold-out pair of intimate live dates at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and Los Angeles, CA’s The Roxy Theatre as well as an electrifying performance of “Lost In Space” on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
CHILD OF THE PARISH – GOOD FOR NOTHING
Building anticipation for the September 6th release of their debut album ‘Sweet Surrender’, Child of the Parish have won admirers for their compelling contrast of psychedelic disco with darker, reflective lyric themes. That approach continues with a fresh twist on the new single ‘Good For Nothing’. Listen HERE.
Ben Vella’s vocals examine the insecurity of not feeling good enough for a partner, but also the deeper self-doubt of being ‘Good For Nothing’. They say that comparison is the thief of joy, but Ben’s words suggest that social media is the fuel of insecurity too: “Some boys are good at looking good on your ‘gram and shit, some boys work out and read. Some boys will take you round the world, but I won’t because some boys are more like me.” The juddering stop-start rhythm of the song’s production creates a tension that complements that theme, although their patented effervescent electro-pop gives it a subversive, positive feel.
Ben says, “Good For Nothing is one of the most fun tracks on the new record – we wanted to try something that experimented with multilayered cut-up samples and multilayered backing vocals. The song is about being the useless one in a relationship – write about what you know they say!”
WILLY COBB – EXTENDED EDITION COUNTRY PUNKIN
Willy Cobb’s debut EP ‘Country Punkin’’ made for a smoking, scorching introduction. Now the Southern alt-rocker and new musical outlaw digs deeper into his songs by sharing the Extended Edition of the EP, out now via War Buddha / Warner Records. Listen HERE.
The Extended Edition features the original EP, a dynamic crash course highlighting his blend of down-home pride, country grit, rock ‘n’ roll spirit and punk attitude, which was produced and co-written with Jaren Johnston of The Cadillac Three and Willy’s cousin, the Grammy-nominated country artist Brent Cobb. It adds stripped down intimate acoustic versions of all five songs, three of which are previously unreleased.
Willy says, “I wanted to add the acoustic versions to this EP, because it holds true to my roots where I’d sit on the front porch with my family. We never really had amps and stuff so we’d just play acoustic songs for each other for everyone to sing along to.”
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