You need badass new music? We’ve got badass new music. And no, we’re not talking about Halloween-themed songs. We’ve got enough goddamned Halloween songs already. Crave has recruited a number of on-staff music contributors from around the world to bring you a killer weekly mixtape, and inspire your soul with some fantastically – or dare we say ghoulishly – delicious sounds.
Open your ears and feast on a wide assortment of goodness this week.
Courtney Barnett – ‘Boxing Day Blues (Revisited)’
You never quite know what to expect with Courtney Barnett. Whether she’s wittily recounting a panic attack incited by a wasp sting in ‘Avant Gardener’ or articulating her insecurities in excruciating detail in ‘Pedestrian at Best,’ the Melbourne songwriter is enviously good at transforming the mundane into something entertaining. With ‘Boxing Day Blues’’ Barnett has stepped into the studio with Jack White in order to provide an entirely different take on the Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit album track of the same name.
‘Boxing Day Blues Revisited’ is a thumping number which sees the typically droll musician turn angry with her growling the line ‘I wanna rip my goddamn throat out.’ Created for Third Man Records’ Jack White-produced Blue Series of singles, if this track’s anything to go by then I hope that this isn’t the last time we’ll see the duo collaborate together.
– Paul Tamburro, Crave UK Editor
Foals – ‘What Kind of Man’ (Florence + The Machine cover)
Foals have turned out a fascinating cover of Florence + The Machine’s recent single “What Kind Of Man’” on BBC Radio 1’s Live lounge today (October 29). The group guested on Clara Amfo’s morning radio show, making up for a missed appearance from September after frontman Yannis Philippakis lost his voice.
– Johnny Firecloud, Crave Music Editor
Set Mo – Chasing Forever
Sydney production duo Set Mo continue to steadily build on their brand of infectious d-floor bangers after the ARIA topping White Dress earlier this year with new isngle Chasing Forever featuring the sun-drenched vocals of Alphamama.
As things heat up down under (sucked in Northern Hemo, ya losers) and we commence our search for the SONG OF THE SUMMER, I’d like to put an early vote towards this housey, unstoppable jam. Whack on a pair of shorts and let them pins move freely about to Set Mo. Mmmm it’s December already… in my pants.
– Mitch Feltscheer, Australian Editor
Beach House – ‘Somewhere Tonight’
Very rarely does a song stop me in my tracks these days, but ‘Somewhere Tonight’ hit just the right emotional notes, and is perhaps my favourite piece of music that the Baltimore band has ever produced.
For my money this is Victoria Legrand’s best vocal performance, carrying this dreamy slow-dance away from the soppy shmaltz it quite easily could have been, and elevating it into something honestly quite magical. That this is the closing track on an album that’s being released only a few months after they dropped their last LP is remarkable.
– Paul Tamburro, Crave UK Editor
Snoop Dogg – ‘Powder on My Clothes’
Snoop’s latest cut finds him in sharp-swagger form, with features from Busta Rhymes and Stresmatic. Produced by Rick Rock, the track is presumably set to appear on Snoop and Daz Dillinger’s upcoming album Cuzznz, and is a clear example of Rock’s deeply underrated excellence as a producer.Laced with funk for days, “Powder On My Clothes” brings a coast-uniting collaboration between two veteran heavyweights that sounds current and fierce.
– Johnny Firecloud, Crave Music Editor
Lily & The Bellows – White Lies
If you’re not already across Sydney outfit Lily & The Bellows then pay attention because they’re about to become your favourite new purveyors of 1950s tinged soul pop.
Their new single, ‘White Lies’, is so boogie-inducing it’ll make you wanna throw down, grab a cherry soda with chocolate ice cream and make for that dace floor like a peachy keen jellybean, rockin’ an’ rollin’ an’ what not.
Yeah OK, all of that was from Grease. The song though, is sort of Roy Orbison/ The Beach Boys meets Little Birdy,with its jangly guitars and airy vocals from singer Lily So, whose voice is so buttery that even when listening to her sing about the dark realities of chasing fame, fantasy and fading youth, you somehow still can’t help but want to cut a rug.
The chills, they’re multiplying…
– Nastassia Baroni, Australian Editor
image: Christian Bassa
