Best New Tracks Of The Week: 4/21/24
Yet another busy week with a lot of exciting contenders, let's get into it.
5. Baddy On The Floor - Jamie xx (feat. Honey Dijon)
Even though Jamie xx's drops haven't hit with the most consistency in the years since his stellar solo debut album, his high potential makes them a must-hear moment the second they drop. While Baddy once again failed to utterly knock my socks off I think this is one of his stronger cuts in the past few years with an irresistibly fun beat straight out of Daphni's Sizzling. It's a punchier and more direct dance cut than I expected but it didn't take much to fall into its whims.
4. Raat Ki Rani - Arooj Aftab
The announcement of Arooj Aftab's upcoming new album immediately shot it up near the top of my most-anticipated records of the year. That's both because I've enjoyed her output this decade so far, but also because I think this is a strong lead single and increased industry embrace of her music is well deserved. This song is eerie and occasionally quite sparse developing across five very well-used minutes. Most importantly it shows the still commanding presence that Arooj is vocally even without needing her peaks of intensity.
3. Only One - Casandra Jenkins
A few years ago Cassandra Jenkins released an album that made me totally think how I listen to singer-songwriters. While her decisive minimalism and gentle touch is still present on Only One I was surprised right out of the gate to hear a bit more tempo and instrumental presence here than I was expecting. While it didn't make for the best first impression, breaking down the lyrics and simple but memorable repetition on the track eventually cracked me and I came around to it in a big way.
2. In The House Of Angel Flesh - Agriculture
Last year, Agriculture made themselves a band to pay attention to in the contemporary black metal space. Now they have a second excellent single under their belt this year once again pushing the genre's boundaries with a combination of frenetic intensity and methodical focus. As this song blasts along it's hard to know whether to pay closer attention to the layered vocals and blistering guitar leads or the wired sonic shifts the song makes near constantly. It's a technical marvel that I like even more than the band's previous single.
1. WAKE UP - Backxwash
Isn't Backxwash just extraordinary. The pummeling, socially charged Canadian rapper continues to find brand new way to use her intensity to spectacular results. This stellar new single is a multi-faceted 7-minute epic which combines some of her harsher metal influences with some vintage soul-sampling hip-hop. The throughline throughout is that she has a lot to say and the lyrics she serves up is even more of an odyssey than the song built around it. What an epic beginning to a highly-anticipated new era.
