It’s that time again – new music! Several bands have put out new tracks recently, and I thought it best to let you know my opinion on them. Let’s dive in!
Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Black Summer” – Hell to the yes! It’s been quite some time now since this legendary band welcomed back long-time member John Frusciante, but this is the first new music they’ve released since they got back together. I could still throat punch the pandemic for making me miss Sonic Temple and the first show with the band all back together, but I suppose I can forgive now. Along with this single drop came the announcement of a new album, Unlimited Love, to be released in April! I figured stuff was coming given their tour announcement a little while ago, but still exciting to learn about nonetheless. The new song reminds me of old school RHCP, and I love it! It’s starts of relatively mellow, but when the chorus comes around it’ll have you wanting to jump around and maybe push things. I did anyways. If you have any love for the Peppers, then go listen to this right away!
Ghost
“Call Me Little Sunshine” – Aside from a single for Halloween Kills a little while back, things had been kind of quiet for Ghost, but then they hit us with this new single and a new album announcement, Impera, coming out in March! As exciting as this news is, I will say that this new song didn’t really grab my attention, and I kind of thought it was an odd choice for a single. Especially a lead single. Overall, it had a slower pace to it, but still managed to keep a lot of classic Ghost-isms. For instance, it started with a very classic guitar and some bells tolling in the background. By the end, those bells were replaced with an organ – very Ghost. Even though it’s start might have you thinking it’ll up the ante when the vocals kick it, they decided to scale it back and slow it down a little bit. Again, not my favorite, but the chorus redeemed it a little bit. This single also came with a bizarre video. You’ll just have to watch it for yourselves.
Avatar
“Cruel and Unusual” – Okay, so this single isn’t that new, but it’s the last of five non-album singles that the band released since Hunting Party came out in August of 2020. That’s a pretty quick turnaround for a band that essentially just put out new music! This single starts off with its foot on the gas and it never lets up throughout its entirety. Also, Johannes vocals are almost straight screams, though he manages to transform them into something new and menacing during the (admittedly funny) chorus. When this song started I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it, but it had my toe tapping aggressively throughout. If you miss Avatar’s heavy material, I think this single delivers.
Wallows
“Especially You” – You know, I don’t give this band enough credit for creativity. If I think of the last several songs that they’ve put out, they are all drastically different from each other. For instance, this song touts a lot of synth sounds, and one part in particular reminds me of a Mark Ronson song, “Daffodils.” This was really catchy! I still don’t necessarily think Minnette’s vocals are all that, and even though I’m excited to see these guys in June, I’m a little apprehensive about how they’ll sound. Oh, well. Guess I’ll find out! Anyways, similar to two others on this post, when Wallows released this new single it also came with the announcement of the release of their new full-length album, Tell Me That It’s Over, in March! Anyways, I’m sure if you’ve liked other Wallows tracks in the past, this one will be pleasant for you, too.