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Samatha Urbani, Nine Inch Nails, and more in this week's music

Samantha Urbani: Hints And Implications From her highly anticipated debut solo EP Policies Of Power, Samantha Urbani’s ’80s-inspired jam “Hints And Implications” is utterly addictive. With plenty of retro touches (including power riffs and that drum machine), it’s a punchy track that manages to steer clear of sounding like a throwback. Along with her breathy vocals, Urbani has crafted a piece of power-pop that is …

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New music from a jazz supergroup, 19-year-old Mahalia, Mount Kimbie, Mr Jukes and more

Mahalia: Sober Produced by Maths Time Joy, “Sober” is Leicester-born, Birmingham-based singer/songwriter Mahalia’s most recent release and it’s beautifully sleek and fluid. A little more R&B and boom-bap than her previous releases, it’s a smooth and sultry track—despite it being about a relationship gone wrong. Just 19 years old, Mahalia has already released an impressive body of work, and will be embarking on a UK/Euro …

2 Live Crew: Banned in the USA

Fresh Kid Ice aka Chris Wong Won of hardcore rap outfit 2 Live Crew has passed away. The Miami-based group drew plenty of controversy for their wild, sexually explicit lyrics—many of which were remarkably misogynistic—but this also made them poster children for freedom of speech. (Their most successful record 1989’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be was the first to be classified as legally obscene.) …