Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Tommy Genesis, Stephen Malkmus, Rhye, Transistor, Kehlani and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – ‘Middle America’ An instant Malkmus classic Only Malkmus things: rhyming ‘nerve’ with ‘nerve’; following that with a line that goes “open the door and piss if you … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Lawrence Arabia, UMO, Yo La Tengo, Dry Dive, Justin Timberlake, Bromelain/Manzanza and more… Lawrence Arabia – ‘Solitary Guys’ Welcome to the singles club Imagine if somebody ten years ago had said that in 2018 it’d be normal for whole seasons of TV shows to come out all … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Kody Nielson, The Venus Project, Kylie Minogue, Fall Out Boy and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Kody Nielson – ‘Bic’s Birthday’ Kody is Kody again, the same but different After spending the last few years making music as Silicon, and co-writing award-winning songs with Bic Runga and … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Troye Sivan, Justin Timberlake, David Byrne, MGMT and more… Troye Sivan – ‘My My My!’ No-one’s 16 forever Troye Sivan’s new single probably won’t meet your unfairly high expectations, but it’ll come close. Sivan’s debut album Blue Neighbourhood was a stab-you-in-the-heart autobiographical account of a time in a young … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Julien Barker, Julia Deans, Hopetown Brown, the handsomer Gallagher and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Julien Baker – ‘Turn Out the Lights’ A new song for communal despair The Fader recently described 21-year old Memphis songwriter Julien Baker as an artist who “writes songs for communal despair” … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Taylor Swift’s return and an attempted relevance revival for Rod Stewart and Hot Chocolate… LEISURE – Alone Together Ahhhh Leisure, the sex gods of New Zealand music, and maybe the world. I think all of us except for killjoy Henry Oliver can agree the band’s self-titled … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Estère, Yumi Zouma, Bloodnut, Paul McLaney, Sons of Zion and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Estère – ‘Pro Bono Techno Zone’ Dancing to the end of the non-digital world Estère, the Wellington-based producer/singer/artist, is back with a twisted electro-funk missive against our collective obsession … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Charli XCX, Repulsive Woman, Mick Jagger, Chase and Status and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Charli XCX – ‘Boys’ Dreaming of Charli XCX’s perfect production Sometimes a song just nails a sound so simple and so sweetly that only six seconds into your first listen you know … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Selena Gomez, Diaz Grimm, Widowspeak & more… SONG OF THE WEEK Selena Gomez – ‘Fetish’ ft Gucci Mane Starting with ‘The Heart Wants What it Wants’ in 2014, Selena Gomez embarked on a streak of hot singles as good as anyone currently active. Discounting … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Kesha, SWIDT, The National, Shania, Niall Horan & more… SONG OF THE WEEK Kesha – ‘Praying’ Kesha’s returns with a single of goddamn saintly compassion for her (alleged) abuser. Kesha, who has dropped the $ thanks to a long and ugly legal battle with producer Dr Luke, … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring SoccerPractice, Selena Gomez, Dion (D4) Lunadon, Liam Gallagher, Otoboke Beaver and Arcade Fire. SONG OF THE WEEK SoccerPractise – ‘Amene’ Waiata + electronic music + indie rock From the outset, SoccerPractise vocalist Geneva Alexander-Marsters has made a point of incorporating Te Reo Māori into the group’s music, … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, Future & Kendrick Lamar, Teeks and Drax Project. SONG OF THE WEEK Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘Cut to the Feeling’ Is Carly Rae Jepsen the new Robyn? This is the best straight-up pop song of the year so far. Combining Robyn-esque electro with Belinda … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Miley Cyrus, HAIM, and Japanese Breakfast! Miley Cyrus – ‘Malibu’ Miley’s hip-hop holiday is over ‘Malibu’ is an easy-breezy-beautiful guitar jam about reconnecting with your ex Liam Hemsworth. There are hand claps. In the video, there are balloons. On the single artwork, Miley is … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring HAIM, EarthTiger, DJ Khaled, System Corporation and… Nickelback! SONG OF THE WEEK HAIM – ‘I Want You Back’ Another 2013 bright spot returns after a notable absence Yada yada yada … Christine McVie … yada yada yada … Lindsey Buckingham … yada yada yada … Tusk … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Kane Strang, SWIDT, TLC, Kimbra (kinda) and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Kane Strang – ‘My Smile Is Extinct’ The new single from New Zealand’s new indie export While first impressions indicate that Kane Strang’s new album Two Hearts and No Brain will be … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Chelsea Jade, Harry Styles, Kamasi Washington, and Mermaidens. SONG OF THE WEEK Chelsea Jade – ‘Life of the Party’ New Zealand’s pop minimalist isn’t better, she’s best In 2015’s ‘Low Brow’, Chelsea Jade was anchorless and anxious, appealing for a lover to deliver the impossible: … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Ria Hall, Banks, Desiigner, Bye Bye Fishies and more … SONG OF THE WEEK SONG OF THE WEEK Ria Hall – ‘Tell Me’ (ft. Che Fu) A contemporary reggae protest anthem Five minutes fifty is a bit of an epic runtime for a song that (I … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring SWIDT, Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris, Serge Beynaud and more… SONG OF THE WEEK SWIDT – ‘Alfred & Church’ New raps from Onehunga If SWIDT keep going, future historians will be able to recreate Onehunga from their discography – ‘No More Parties In Stoneyhunga’, the bus-route-repping ‘312’ and … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Kendrick Lamar, Chuck Berry, Gorillaz, Blondie, Zayn and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Kendrick Lamar – ‘The Heart Part IV’ Kendrick vs Trump Coming along sooner than anyone expected, Kendrick Lamar’s new single is closer to the triumphant West-Coast anthems on good kid, m.A.A.d. … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Teeth, Fleet Foxes, Weezer, Physical, Shakes and Girl Ray. SONG OF THE WEEK Teeth – ‘Succubus’ Brain-frying self-styled “pan-generational Wellington supergroup”. I’ve been enjoying the Phoenix Foundation’s aging process; their 2015 album Give Up Your Dreams is, to my ears, the best thing they’ve done. … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Lorde – ‘Green Light’ (of course!) (For nine actual reviews of ‘Green Light’ click here – and excuse the weird 15/16 timing of the above video, it’s the best we could do) Arca – ‘Anoche’ Holy shit! … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos – ‘Slide’ This is everything internet-buzz pop music is right now, rolled into a more radio-friendly format. Sure, you may love Blonde and Culture, but you’re not going to … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Aldous Harding – ‘Horizon’ ‘Horizon’, the first single from Aldous Harding’s forthcoming album Party, is straightforward and certain, rooted in her gothic folk past, but not bound to it. Three piano chords repeat throughout, leaving room … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Fruit Juice Parade – ‘Whaling’ Contemporary indie’s reclamation of late 90s Midwestern emo has locally been inflected by both pop-punk (Carb On Carb) and twee (prizegiving circa ‘Soft’); the first single from Palmerston North duo fruit … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Thundercat – ‘Show You the Way (ft. Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins)’ Not many things in life are more electrifying than seeing the names Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins in brackets after a song title. As … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Stefflon Don – ‘Real Ting’ Having first come to international attention after guesting on Jeremih’s Late Nights: Europe track ‘London’, the Dutch-raised British rapper has been blowing up recently. This, the title track of her debut … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. Song of the Week Grouper – ‘Headache’ In case you missed it: Paradise Valley, a new Grouper 7″ released just before Christmas, is everything you might hope it would be. ‘Headache’ is the longer of the two tracks, and stands … Read more