There’s been a bunch of new music by an odd bunch of bands and artists. Some of these you’ll realize I’m embarrassingly behind on, but you get to read my quick take on them anyways. Let’s go!
My Chemical Romance
“The Foundations of Decay” – This new single is the first new music by the band since 2014 (that’s insane). With one pas through, it’s everything perfect about their old music, but it’s almost got a creeping dread quality to it, which is fantastic. I love that it sprawls itself out over six minutes; this is a lot of goodness to consume until hopefully another new single. In all honesty, this reminds me of something my dad could get behind, and I consider that a huge achievement. He’s the classic rock king, but he could jam to this.
Motionless in White
“Slaughterhouse” – The band’s third single off their upcoming June 10th release is definitely heavier instrumentally than anything they’ve put out the last couple records. Chris is screaming a lot more than we’ve become used to, but the chorus is still in contrast with sung vocals, so it’s a nice mix. Speaking of mixing things up, this track also features guest vocals by Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose. I have never listened to Knocked Loose, and his verse isn’t convincing me to start. The end of this song where Bryan sings for a second time in almost dead silence was terrible. The only kudos I can give to his presence is that it was cool seeing a band use a guest vocalist for the first time!
“Scoring the End of the World” – Well, I’m so far behind on new music that the band has released a final single before Scoring the End of the World is released this coming Friday. I enjoyed this one! It’s a little more tame compared to Cyberhex, but it’s in a similar vein. This is another song to feature a guest, with this one being composer/guitarist Mick Gordon. This guy’s scored video games! Kind of fitting they featured a guy who does scores for a living (I’m here all week, people).
Maneskin
“Supermodel” – This recent track by the phenomenon that is Maneskin is pretty damn catchy. I listened to it once without paying too much attention and found it forgettable, but after really listening to it another time, I found myself singing it all weekend. The guitar in this song really reminded me of something that could come from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I noticed that the bass is not as prominent as their other popular tracks. The chorus here is fantastic and if you want an added layer of entertainment with this song, check out their performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Glu
“Cold Sweat” – In lieu of new music from Queens of the Stone Age or Michael Shuman’s other side project, Mini Mansions, I will take this even newer side project, Glu instead. As far as first singles go, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and they really surprised me with an almost trance rock sound! It was really groovy, and there were lots of cool sounds incorporated into the song as it went on. Shuman’s voice is like velvet in this track, super sexy and cool. I’ll be keeping an eye fore more music from this project, and if I’m not mistaken a new single might be making its way into the world this Friday featuring Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel!
Will Butler
“A Stranger’s House” – Since leaving Arcade Fire, I kind of expected new stuff from Will Butler, but maybe not this soon! Given that his brother is center stage in Arcade Fire, I kind of forgot that he has a pretty good voice! I like in this song that the beat was catchy and the vocals were deliberate and purposeful. There was also a music video released with this one, where we see him eating at a dim and fancy restaurant telling a story about an Italian villa and a bitter servant. I believe it turned out that he owned the house in the story? Either way, it was very cool and creepy. It gave off a similar vibe to the movie, The Invitation (watch it).
“Nearer to Thee” – Butler actually released two new singles at once, so yay to us all! This one kind of continued with the eerie synth sounds. I could really picture this playing in an indie horror film in the future (filmmakers, take note!). Alternatively, this song featured more falsetto sounding vocals, which is really different from past songs of his. As the song went on, it faintly reminded me of Foals and that’s pretty cool/hard to do.
Hoodie Allen
“Wouldn’t That Be Nice” – Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve heard anything from Hoodie Allen! And I’ve got to say, the new single is not impressive. Compared to what I’m used to from him, this track is a lot slower vocally, and there’s much more singing than I’ve heard from him in the past. In some social media posts, and even the lyrics in this song, Hoodie proclaims he’s getting more personal, and I believe it! I’ll be keeping my ear out for more new music, but as far as this song goes, I wasn’t all that impressed. If you’re a fan of the new MGK stuff or the pop band Girlfriends, then maybe give this a go.
Emery
“I Don’t Know You at All” & “Concussion” – Emery!!! What have I been doing with these guys recently?? Sleeping on them, that’s what! At least on their newest stuff. Both of these new tracks are awesome, and sound like classic Emery. It’s everything about them that I love. I was even more stoked to find out that there dropping a new album, Rub Some Dirt on It, on June 24th! If you have never listened to this OG emo band before, then you better start now.