1. Never Know by DLG., Mary Hildeburn
Kicking this week off with one that deserves way more listens than it’s accumulated on Spotify to date: Never Know. The song’s main artist, DLG., is a 23-year-old Texan who remains virtually unknown in the industry – but maybe not for long. Following a quick explore of his releases to date, he clearly has a talent for clean production and catchy beats (other great ones are Telephone Poles and Inside of My Eyelids).
The only thing sometimes missing is an equally catchy melody --- enter Mary Hildeburn. Her vocal collab on Never Know is her only Spotify feature so far, and it’s a beautiful one: she complements DLG.’s style perfectly. When the song picks up at 1:25 you think you’ve reached its peak – but then it sinks into its real groove 15 seconds later when her voice takes over.
I’ll say it again: it’s a wonder this song hasn’t taken off yet, but time will tell.
2. Hey Love by filous, The Kooks
Hey Love is exactly the kind of music I would describe as ‘sun-soaked’, so it's an ideal final single of the summer. The song comes from the recent collab of English indie favourites The Kooks and Austrian music producer filous.
The Kooks are the talented band behind a few fantastic gems of rock music – see She Moves In Her Own Way or Junk Of The Heart. And filous, famous for his upbeat remixes, caught my ear last year with his version of Khalid and Alina Baraz’s Floating – a go-to mood booster of summer 2019.
Hey Love brings the artists’ styles together in all the right ways. Grounded in The Kooks’ trademark pitchy vocals and rock-pop strumming, filous complements with his own production elements like the main percussion, strings and bits of sonic distortion.
He's said that he wanted the song to sound like a natural evolution of the Kooks’ style, while giving it his own spin: “The idea was to give their English sound a Viennese touch. Distortion meets cleanliness. Guitars meet Violins. The Kooks meet filous.”
Well, it certainly worked --- this song’s energy is infectious.
3. Here B4 by JNR WILLIAMS
Changing pace, Here B4 belongs to more of a late-night rotation. East Londoner JNR WILLIAMS has yet to have his big music take-off but as this song proves, he’s one to watch, and he has exactly the kind of crisp but calm voice that a slow, sexy track like Here B4 needs.
A perfect mix of modern R&B and old school soul, it's sweet love song describing a moment of intimacy ("We’ve never been here before / so we’re gonna take our time"). As always, I love songs like these, that demand to be listened to without rush.
4. Hallucinating by Elohim
Finally finishing off on a more whacky note with Elohim’s Hallucinating.
This song is loaded with instruments, samples and background noises popping in all over the place --- so many bits to listen for --- but instead of sounding jerky, Elohim somehow manages to give it such a fun flow. It almost seems like she only wrote this for the sake of jazzy experimenting with her production --- but no matter, she succeeded. I love the horns, the strings, the way the kids’ voices rollercoaster up into the trumpets. It’s all so bouncy and weird – another great summer soundtrack.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the Week' here.
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