Listen Up

From ambient and poignant to buoyant and playful, our favorite new music this week

St Vincent: New York (Acoustic Version) St Vincent (aka Annie Clark) recorded a stirring, acoustic rendition of her sublime “New York” as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s virtual gala, which is streaming in full until 20 May. Gently lit in a dark room, Clark performs an exquisitely stripped-back version of the resplendent song, a sombre ballad that mourns a relationship and name-checks various …

A.K. Paul: Hungry Beat

Returning for the first time since 2016 with a song under his own name, London-based A.K. Paul (Anup Kumar Paul) shares “Hungry Beat,” a song composed during lockdown. Paul performed all instruments and vocals for the track, as well as production and mixing. The result is a sultry, moody and richly layered piece of music with plenty of surprising elements popping up along the way. …

Yellow Days: Love Is Everywhere

New from Yellow Days (aka UK singer/songwriter George van den Broek), the retro-tinged “Love Is Everywhere” is described by the artist as “upbeat existential millennial crisis music.” Steeped in nostalgia, the song’s ’70s vibe can be attributed to crisp percussion, a funky bass line and a little cowbell. Van den Broek also says, “The track is funky as hell… This is really my first record …