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Glamorous, meditative, intimate, powerful and buoyant new music from the week

Becky and the Birds: Paris Gentle and meditative, “Paris” by Becky and the Birds (aka singer/songwriter/producer Thea Gustafsson) was written in a hotel in the French capital, as Gustafsson couldn’t escape thoughts about a person back home in Sweden. The atmospheric tune, with distorted vocals drifting over it, appears on Gustafsson’s upcoming EP, Trasslig, which is out next month. machinegum: Kubes machinegum (the artist collective that counts …

Nils Bech: Foolish Heart (2019)

Starring Silas Henriksen of Norway’s national ballet, the official video for Norwegian singer-songwriter and performance artist Nils Bech’s “Foolish Heart (2019)” swells with instrumental warmth that dresses an intimate physical performance. The track appears on Bech’s latest album, also named Foolish Heart, out today. Its melancholic lyrics address the heartbreak Bech felt at the end of an eight-year relationship. In fact, it was the first …

Zella Day: My Game

From Zella Day’s forthcoming EP, Where Does The Devil Hide (due 28 August), “My Game” is retro-inflected delight. Produced by Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys), the track is “a disco game board with a pair of cherry red dice rolling in my favor,” according to Day. With plenty of disco influence, a touch of Motown, and nods to the ’60s in the video, “My …