Best New Tracks Of The Week: January 16th, 2022
Last week indie got off to a ridiculous start in 2022 and this week it was raps turn to have tons of notable releases within just a few days. The only difference, these tracks average out to a MUCH weaker group and other genres of music still managed to sneak into the ranks of the best singles this week. With some major disappointments these are the tracks that still managed to rise to the top.
5. Jackie Down The Line - Fontaines D.C
I've been one of the bigger critics of this band over the last few years but this may be their best single yet. The driving rhythms and monotone delivery make for a confrontational sound but I could never call the song overly aggressive or loud. This is also the first time I've thought the band used vocals in a really effective way to combine with the dark sound of the instrumental to create something really interesting.
4. Surround Sound - JID (Feat. 21 Savage & Baby Tate)
This was a collection of talent that was always going to turn heads. Even though (Yung?) Baby Tate's appearance on the song is blink and you'll miss it short, Savage and JID feel like a match made in heaven. While JID has all the technical skill in the world but occasionally comes off silly 21 Savage delivers a hit of balancing intensity with the blunt directness we've come to expect from him.
3. Crazy - Spiritualized
A swaying acoustic love ballad from Spiritualized, yeah that still works. The band shows off their touch for emotional rawness hasn't lost a step in all these years with one beautiful refrain after another and a seemingly simple package that has a lot more than you'd expect hiding underneath. By the end of the song I've completely fallen for their charming sentimentality.
2. Wild - Spoon
In a week of drastic straying from expectation of course we had ol' reliable. Often called the most consistent band in all of rock Spoon unsurprisingly delivered once again with this earnest and steady piano jam. Britt Daniel's voice is the perfect smooth accompaniment to the tight grooves while still delivering that classic rocker edge we expect from him. It's hard to even imagine a world where Spoon doesn't show up every few years with a handful of killer singles.
1. Tintoretto, It's For You - Destroyer
Dan Beyar's newest quirky indie jam is coming to liven up an independent coffee shop near you. It's a hard-hitting and instrumentally dynamic track on his style that his unique style as a singer-songwriter and his distinctive vocals that manage to have such a grand prescence despite being so reserved. It's more sophisti-indie than sophisti-pop but Dan feels just as poetic and charming as ever.
