Friendly Fires: Silhouettes

Their third release this year, “Silhouettes” solidifies the very welcome return of UK band Friendly Fires—aka Ed Macfarlane, Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge. The song, from their upcoming LP Inflorescent (their first in eight years), is upbeat and full of tropical vibes. With bongoes and a nod to Brazilian disco, this is a summery jam that will surely incite sweaty, poolside dance parties.

serpentwithfeet feat. Ty Dolla $ign: Receipts

serpentwithfeet (aka Josiah Wise) and Ty Dolla $ign (Tyrone William Griffin Jr) team up for “Receipts,” a sparse and stirring song—which consists of plucked strings, piano, deep bass and delicate vocals. The result is a glorious fusion of serpentwithfeet’s mystical gospel-inflected style and Ty Dolla $ign’s caramel, contemporary R&B. Minimal, but richly layered with emotion, it’s a song that begs to be played over and …

Prince: Manic Monday

While it’s fairly common pop knowledge that Prince wrote “Manic Monday”—which ended up being a breakout tune for The Bangles—almost nobody (except the band) had heard his 1984 demo, until now. Along with archival footage of Prince rehearsing for his Purple Rain tour (which occurred the same year he wrote “Manic Monday,” and countless other songs), the original version has been released—some 35 years later. …