Ray Laurél’s new single ‘The Ugly Ones’
Ray Laurél combines Prince-like guitar sexiness and gritty funk-rock with soft, poetic, emotionally charged vocals, and then adds in some James Blake-style, emotionally knotted electronics. It almost feels unfair to describe him through comparisons, but really - who wouldn’t be curious about a mix of Prince and James Blake? ‘The Ugly Ones’ is an explosive track with surprisingly un-cliched lightning bolts in the video to match.
COUCOU CHLOE’s new single ‘VENOM’
With a clear post-punk reference, ‘Venom’ drifts between gauzy 8-bit melodies, throbbing bass and a strangely soothing lethargy.
Labrinth’s new album ‘COSMIC OPERA ACT I’
Labrinth’s sprawling concept album tackles the dark side of fame, paranoia and mental health, with a mix of foreboding beats and celestial choirs. He frames it as “an artist’s perspective to explore mental illness while navigating a career in the entertainment industry”, and tracks like ‘God Spoke’ and ‘Orchestra’ deliver the grandeur he clearly had in mind.
Artemas’ new single ‘professional heartbreaker’
It’s dark, dripping sultriness in audio form. The low end is fuzzy, blown-out, almost molten, giving the track a heavy pull, while the vocals are pitched-up and ethereal, floating atop.
Kneecap’s new single 'LIAR'S TALE'
If anyone was mad enough to think Kneecap would buckle under the pressure exerted by the British political establishment, this track is confirmation that that’s not happening. It’s an 80s-style rock stomp with a frenzied, folklore-tinged video offering up a zombified Margaret Thatcher, sheep in balaclavas and money-lined drone colonoscopy.