Dirty Projectors: Lose Your Love

For “Lose Your Love,” an introduction to the Dirty Projectors’ second EP (of five) to be released in 2020, keyboardist/percussionist Felicia Douglass infuses the bright track with exuberant vocals. Both Maia Friedman and Kristin Slipp harmonize beautifully. Dave Longstreth produced the tune and penned the lyrics with Douglass. Each EP will feature a different band member as lead singer.

Christine and the Queens: Heart of Gold (Neil Young Cover)

Christine and the Queens (aka French singer/songwriter and producer Héloïse Letissier) just released an emotive and haunting cover of Neil Young’s 1972 hit, “Heart of Gold.” With spacey blips and echoing vocals, this minimal version (with Letissier’s sublime voice the focus) diverges from the acoustic, country-meets-folk original—yet carries all the same intense yearning.

Tom Misch + Yussef Dayes: The Real

From vocalist and instrumentalist Tom Misch and drummer Yussef Dayes, “The Real” features a pitched-up sample of “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The song (appearing on Dayes and Misch’s collaborative album, What Kinda Music) mixes electronic elements with percussion and a bass line more typically used in hip-hop—all layered under Misch’s sultry vocals. The result is a hybrid piece …