ListenUp
A bedtime mix by Thom Yorke, HTDW goes NSFW, Nas and Erykah Badu duet and more music this week
Alexis Taylor: I Never Lock That Door
Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor has just released the video for his track “I Never Lock That Door” from his third solo album Piano. Directed by Simon Owens, the video is made up of many stills of Taylor mid-air, captured by 170 pinhole cameras. It’s a beautifully minimal love song—opening with just Taylor’s vocals and a piano and building with some gentle background vocals, but not much more. Taylor’s trademark forlorn and earnest voice lends itself perfectly to this sweet, simple but emotional tune.
Nas + Erykah Badu: This Bitter Land
From the soundtrack for “The Land” (out 29 July) comes a hauntingly minimal and stunning song by Nas and Erykah Badu. The track, called “This Bitter Land” is gentle but painful—Badu’s vocals are incredibly emotive—and yet there is, among the struggle, a sense of hope. It’s very different than anything either Nas or Badu has released recently, but they’re immediately recognizable and it shows them both at their best.
Thom Yorke: BBC Radio 1 Bedtime Mix
Need music to fall asleep to? Radiohead’s Thom Yorke put together a 30-minute Bedtime mix for BBC Radio 1, airing on Phil Taggart’s show last week—just before the band performed back-to-back nights at Madison Square Garden. Tracks include a live version of Yorke’s “Bloom” he performed last year for the Pathway To Paris climate-focused concert (the benefit album is now available for purchase, with all proceeds going to 350.org and the UNDP) and experimental music pioneer Laurie Spiegel’s stripped and serene synth instrumental “The Unquestioned Answer.”
How To Dress Well: Lost Youth / Lost You
The first track from How To Dress Well’s upcoming album Care (set for release 23 September) is the sublime “Lost Youth / Lost You,” which offers everything we’ve come to expect and enjoy about the artist. Along with the new song comes a purple-saturated music video (directed by Ben Tricklebank, with choreography by Jos McKain)—the original NSFW version can be found on VEVO—but is gloriously lush and graceful—matching the song. It’s very possible both will give you chills.
Charlotte Day Wilson: Find You
Though she’s relatively new as a solo artist (previously fronting Toronto-by-way-of-Halifax “transient soul group” The Wayo), Charlotte Day Wilson has the voice of an old, golden spirit (plus the chops of a classically trained pianist, along with saxophone too). “Find You” entraps us further into the carefully restrained honey trap her sultry, low-register voice has built—without any over-the-top faux forlornness. Her debut EP CDW releases 19 August, and you can catch Wilson touring with Local Natives later this fall.
ListenUp is a Cool Hunting series published every Sunday that rounds up the music we tweeted throughout the week, also found in Listen. Hear the year so far via Cool Hunting Spotify.
