Listen Up
Jazzy hip-hop, trippy avant-pop, moody R&B and more new music from the week
Rejjie Snow: Arigato
Irish artist Rejjie Snow’s new track “Arigato” shape-shifts several times over its five minutes. Incorporating jazz elements, spacey bleeps, soaring synths and a sample of The Voices of East Harlem’s “Giving Love,” the three-piece suite conveys a lounge energy—thanks in part to the rapper’s laidback, effortless rhymes.
DAVIE: Express
New York-based recording artist DAVIE’s third single off his recently released All in the Family EP, “Express,” is an electrifyingly smooth pop-R&B celebration. To accompany the track, DAVIE directed a kinetic music video with collaborator Daniel Chaney. “I wanted ‘Express’ to feel like those ’90s music videos where the artist is dancing in a random place,” DAVIE tells CH. “The Donelson Bowling Alley was the best spot to bring that nostalgic vision to life. It is a Nashville staple and an homage to the city where I recorded the All in the Family EP.”
Mr Twin Sister: Beezle
From the upcoming album Al Mundo Azul, Mr Twin Sister has released “Beezle” (a song that evokes ’80s art-pop) along with an off-kilter video directed by the band’s singer, Andrea Estella. Featuring 3D animation and graphics by Diego Sánchez Barceló, the trippy video appears in mostly earth tones and shades of blue. Estella says the video is “a reinterpretation of a story I love and identify with from the anime The Fantastic Adventures of Unico, original story by Osamu Tezuka. I’ve been closely involved in making music videos for Mr Twin Sister for the last decade, but I’d made myself believe that I wasn’t allowed to take it further and call myself a director. Most of all I was excited to collaborate again with Diego Sánchez Barceló and combine his digital art with my watercolors and costumes.”
Winter feat. Nailah Hunter: Lua
A pleasantly surreal soundscape punctuated by breezy saxophone, Curitiba, Brazil-born, LA-based dream-pop artist Winter’s newest release, “Lua,” features contributions from harpist/composer Nailah Hunter. Winter cites the intersection of the moon (“lua” in Portuguese), water and feminine intuition as inspiration for the sublime track. It comes complete with an equally hazy, color-soaked music video.
Hana Vu: Everybody’s Birthday
From Los Angeles-based artist Hana Vu’s latest album, Public Storage, comes “Everybody’s Birthday,” a despondent, pop-tinged song, balanced by groovy drums, lightweight cowbells and warbling guitar. Vu produced the track alongside Jackson Phillips and Joseph Harrison, and says the single is “about the collective misery and depressive introspection one experiences on their birthday, which in this era of being alone, can feel infinite.” With Vu’s deep vocals, this track’s gloom indeed feels boundless.
Omar Apollo feat. Kali Uchis: Bad Life
Omar Apollo’s crooning vocals paired with dreamy harmonies by Kali Uchis make for a melodic and mesmerizing collaboration on “Bad Life,” a song about misplaced love. Opening with casual guitar plucks, the single swells with layered strings before eventually giving way to a transformative drum-led track. A moody music video—directed by Alfred Marroquín and Apollo—accompanies the release, capturing the song’s melancholic energy.
Lo Moon: Dream Never Dies
Awash in a skin-tingling majesty, LA-based indie rockers Lo Moon return with “Dream Never Dies,” their first new song in three years. Fans of the critically acclaimed act will delight over the single’s mood-shifting, soaring soundscape (a Lo Moon signature) and lead singer Matt Lowell’s deeply expressive vocals. The band produced the track with Yves Rothman. It debuts along with a Mick Hili-directed music video that transforms the tone into stark visuals.
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. Hero image courtesy of Winter
