ListenUp

Music from the inimitable Lizzo, Bibio, Blu & Exile, Ásgeir and more this week

Blu & Exile: Constellations A decade after the release of their acclaimed boom-bap debut album Below the Heavens, the glorious duo Blu & Exile have dropped a new tune. The boppy “Constellations” will appear on their new record (a prequel for their debut) In the Beginning: Before The Heavens, which will feature 14 tracks from their 2007 recording sessions. The song is typically Blu & …

Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black

The title track from Mavis Staples’ forthcoming album (out 17 November), “If All I Was Was Black” confronts not only racism the singer faced in her eight decades of performing, but also the violence she witnesses today in racial conflict. Written in collaboration with longtime friend and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, the track (and the album’s other songs) aims to “bring us all together as …

Sure Sure: Hands Up Head Down

LA-based band Sure Sure (aka Chris Beachy, Kevin Farzad, Charlie Glick and Michael Coleman) return with a super-catchy tune “Hands Up Head Down.” A falsetto, staccato hook and an undeniable bop unite for electro-pop perfection. The lyrics explain a dance move for the anxious—as the title suggests—and the song will surely have a video to match in time. The band performs at Silverlake’s Satellite this …