ListenUp
New tunes from The National, QUIÑ, Circuit des Yeux and DOOM in this week’s musical wrap-up
QUIÑ feat. SYD: Sticky Situation
From her upcoming second EP Dream Girl, LA-based QUIÑ’s “Sticky Situation” features Syd (of The Internet) and is super-breezy and sultry. Complete with immaculate electronic production by Krys$hun, the track illuminates. About an affair that’s not going to last—”Stuck up in a sticky situation / A really iffy situation / Can’t you tell, caramel you losing your flavor / And sugar, honey I ain’t got the patience”—the song is still seductive, thanks to QUIÑ and Syd’s willowy vocals that lend to the overall mood.
The National: Carin at the Liquor Store
With melancholy balladry adrift on guitars and synths, The National’s “Carin at the Liquor Store” delivers a thoughtful reflective tale. Casey Reas directed the negative film filtered video, which captures a solemn, emotive performance that tightly weaves warmth with something beyond stark. The track is the third release from Sleep Well Beast (their first album release since 2013), out 8 September.
Circuit des Yeux: Paper Bag
A delightfully eccentric experimental folk tale, “Paper Bag” is the latest from Chicago’s Circuit des Yeux. An official lyric video accompanied the release, and its contents—selected and edited together by Meg Remy—are just as delightfully baffling. The song takes an unexpected turn at 2:10. The video is a collision of evocative sequences, some fun and others simply strange. “Paper Bag” will appear on Reaching for Indigo, out 20 October.
Cut Copy: Standing in the Middle of the Field
The opening track of Cut Copy’s forthcoming album Haiku From Zero, “Standing in the Middle of the Field” rises up to big, bright modern disco vibes after a charmed introduction. As the song spins out electronic beauty, lead singer Dan Whitford’s vocals invite the listener to follow along closely.
Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman
Glen Campbell—singer, musician, songwriter, TV star and more—passed away this week, but leaves behind an incredible legacy thanks to his successful career which spanned six decades. Campbell released 70 albums and sold over 45 million records—and in 1968 even outsold the Beatles. Straddling country and pop music Campbell had many successes over the years—plenty with other people’s songs, and several with frequent collaborator Jimmy Webb. One such tune was “Wichita Lineman,” which was released in 1968 and subsequently covered by countless artists.
Sean Price + DOOM: Negus
In partnership with Adult Swim, iconic and mysterious rapper DOOM will be releasing a new song each week for the next 14 weeks in a new project called The Missing Notebook Rhymes. The first track, “Negus,” came out this week and (posthumously) features Sean Price. The track sports DOOM’s familiar, idiosyncratic flow atop a dark and steamy beat.
ListenUp is a Cool Hunting series published every Sunday that rounds up the music we tweeted throughout the week, also found in Listen.
