Listen Up
An emotional soul track, frenetic disco-punk and more new music this week
Ty Dolla $ign feat. J. Cole: Purple Emoji
Funky, soulful and delightfully emotional, Ty Dolla $ign’s “Purple Emoji,” featuring rapper J. Cole, sings the praises of commitment—specifically, the power of forgiveness and loyalty. In the track’s Olivia Rose-directed video, Dolla $ign and Cole star alongside a dozen or so candidly captured couples—which include representation of differing ages, genders and races, too.
Albert Hammond Jr: More to Life
Set to student film footage that Albert Hammond Jr captured in the late ’90s, “More to Life” thrives at a compelling juncture. Both the song and video weave Hammond Jr’s illustrious career as The Strokes’ guitarist and harbinger of New York’s indie rock scene into his prolific present and future as a solo artist, recording in LA and headlining festivals. The track seems to present all of the dots—and fans of Hammond Jr and The Strokes will be able to connect them.
!!!: Off The Grid
Their first new music since 2017’s Shake the Shudder, dance-punk band !!! (aka Chk Chk Chk) has just released two new songs: “Off The Grid” and “UR Paranoid.” The former is unsurprisingly frenetic—with a banging bass-line, layered vocals and dystopic lyrics (“The end is near and not a moment too soon”) that all build over the dynamic track.
Listen Up is published every Sunday and rounds up the new music we found throughout the week. Hear the year so far on our Spotify channel.
