Lav's Music Corner

This week some big favorites dropped duds and the best songs came from a few surprising places.  5.  Life  - Jamie xx (feat. Robyn) Even lacking the variety of his legendary debut album, the singles from Jamie xx's long-awaited follow-up have still been satisfying. Life  sees him teaming up with Robyn, who appears to be fully back in 2024, for what may be the most satisfying of the bunch. Jamie's vibrant house beats combine with Robyn's unmistakable direct swagger for a crossover that meets the moment perfectly. Listen 4.  TGIF  - GloRilla Glo isn't slowing down off the release of her admittedly pretty solid mixtape earlier this year. Her voice continues to be one of the most commanding in all of rap and the sparse popping beats she chooses to lend it to make things hit even harder. Even if this track has one or two lyrical moments that tend to drag down the energy with silly punchlines it's still an absolutely thumping song.  Listen 3.  Favourite...

5.  The Dream Of Delphi  - Bat For Lashes I was already a Bat For Lashes fan and even I wasn't prepared for this. Hearing her step further than ever before into this specious opulent dreamy landscape is very compelling and her vocals are ready to meet the moment. By the time reaches it's eerie shimmer of electronic instrumentation and the fluttering nature sounds on its way out it feels entirely beyond what I thought Bat For Lashes Was capable of.  Listen 4.  All The Same  - The Voidz Never accuse The Voidz of being predictable. After releasing a hard-hitting, blistering hard rock jam last year of course the band would shift focus to an electronic-tinged autotune ballad for All The Same . In a new era that's bizarre even by their standards, this might be the strangest song yet. Even though it doesn't blast you away with any truly random sounds is does seem to jangle it's way through a number of seemingly easy listens that get fed through The Voidz filter and com...

This was an all-time strange week where some of the big releases left me very underwhelmed. Here's my best attempt to make clarity out of the mess. 5.  Deeper Well  - Kacey Musgraves This was probably the new single I was most excited for this week but I just can't quite say I'm in love with it. I do like the novelty of Kacey essentially offering to pass you the blunt for a few minutes. But the song also doesn't really evolve in any way that's satisfying and. I also think her attempts at vulnerability in the lyrics kind of come up short even if she is being honest in her writing and delivery, it just doesn't feel like it's actually revealing anything.  Listen 4.  Auset  - Jlin Even though this kind of grinding metallic electronica will be familiar to Jlin fans I still like this song. It has a much more direct house and dance influence than much of her EP last year with stuttering hand claps and tight drum looks worked into certain parts of the song. Even if ...

For the first time in 2023 and covering the first two weeks of the year, let's recap the best tracks of the week.  5.  Sideways Skull  - The Hold Steady Part of me is a little bit scared of dishing out praise to yet another witty, reference-heavy bar-rock anthem from The Hold Steady since they've been doing this for a LONG time now, but sometimes they just do it well. Aside from the messy guitar lick that sticks around for almost the entire song, this is another Craig Finn lyrical expose that will require some googling for even the music nerds. Once the keys rush in on the equally wordy hook it strikes a level of catchy that the band is capable of when at or around their peak.  Listen 4.  Flowers  - Miley Cyrus Color me surprised. One of the early treats of 2023 from Miley Cyrus who I'm not normally the biggest fan of musically. While this disco-flavored self-empowerment anthem could be argued as Jessie Ware-lite, it's still a style that's new for Miley and...