Listen Up
Several sonic collaborations and a soulful cover song topped our favorite new tunes from the week
Rejjie Snow feat. MF DOOM + Cam O’bi: Cookie Chips
Irish rapper/songwriter/producer Rejjie Snow has released his first new music since his 2018 debut, Dear Annie. The sweet song—called “Cookie Chips”—features cameos by MF DOOM and Cam O’bi atop a gauzy, psychedelic melody. The video (directed by photo and film outfit Machine Operated) sees Snow (aka Alex Anyaegbunam) wearing bunny ears, wandering through the countryside while carrying an enormous bunch of colored balloons. With plenty of bittersweet nostalgia, the breezy tune feels optimistic, with the artist offering this statement: “It feels good to bring out this song in such an unaccustomed time and begin this new chapter in a solid and happy place.”
The Go! Team: Cookie Scene
The Brighton-based six-piece The Go! Team returns with “Cookie Scene,” featuring Detroit rapper/singer IndigoYaj and musician Sarah Hayes on flute. Infectious and playful, with a schoolyard chant element, the track channels their signature sound. Ultimately, the buoyant song is an ode to resilience and self-celebration, thanks to its chorus: “Heartbreak but I’m OK / Imma wipe my tears no fear this way / ‘Cause baby I’m phenomenal / and unstoppable.”
Aladean Kheroufi: Take a Step
The first release from Canadian recording artist Aladean Kheroufi’s forthcoming EP, Beauty Beyond Grief (out 7 August), “Take a Step” lends a fresh layer of soul to the classic penned by Lou Burgio in 1969 (and made popular by Arthur Conley). The multi-instrumentalist/vocalist brings a magnetic dab of distance and distortion to the track which, when coupled with a lovably eerie Mt. Pleasant Collective-directed music video, lead to a David Lynch-like experience. Notably, Kheroufi produced all of the EP during quarantine directives.
Jim-E Stack feat. Empress Of: Note To Self
Produced by Jim-E Stack (aka James Harmon Stack) and featuring vocals by Empress Of (aka Lorely Rodriguez), the upbeat, genre-blurring “Note To Self” feels like affirmation. “It’s like this voice in your head, like some Goddess from above, that’s giving you self-encouragement,” Stack says in a statement. “It’s OK to feel down, but embrace it because ultimately that gives way to moving forward and progress,” he continues. A wave of digital drums and synthesizers furthers this feeling, and Rodriguez’s vocals truly glide. This is the pair’s second collaboration of 2020 after the release of “U Give It Up,” a single from Empress Of’s I’m Your Empress Of album.
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.
