Every month, AVRA MUSIC collect the best new tracks from across the musical spectrum into a playlist that reflects the diversity and creativity of the moment.
Teebs - Atoms Song (feat. Thomas Stankiewicz) [Capsule]
Mtendere Mandowa (better known as Teebs) was a visual artist before he was a musician, so it comes as little surprise that his music is so wholly affecting, both striking as a whole and exquisite in isolated detail. One of the many beat music talents to come from Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, Mandowa opens and closes, his latest album Annica with “Atoms Song”. It is a real gem, that is born out of a simple, almost 8-bit sounding piano line, which grows in life, populates with sonic pleasure, and then retreats from the world as if no time had passed.
Arlo Parks - Sophie
Confessional pop may not sound like anything new, but Arlo Parks is quickly becoming a go-to for the adolescent woes of a mostly-worried generation. Her shadowy vocal performance over treated acoustic guitars and trundling bass somewhat evoking Serge Gainsbourg all collect to form a shimmering sound that leaves a mark without needing to pack a punch.
Battles - Ambulance
Unlike other exponents of math-rock - from Foals to American Football - that have since drifted from the genre somewhat, Battles remain determinedly tied to the mast of tricksy time-signatures and off-kilter scales or accents. “Ambulance” from their latest full length is perhaps less intent to baffle as is often their modus operandi, but captures them at their most thrilling, propelling the listener through this palindromic track.
Danny Brown - Negro Spiritual (feat. JPEGMAFIA)
Much of Danny Brown’s latest, critically-acclaimed LP uknowhatimsayin¿ spoke of a more mature, tonally reticent approach, which makes “Negro Spiritual” even more affecting. From start to finish, a funky yet agitated beat propels you forwards through the track, as unrelenting and inescapable as Brown’s abrasive but dexterous flow, evoking the best of André 3000’s Outkast heyday.
Oh, and Frank Ocean is back.