After taking a much-needed vacation, I’ve spent the first week back to reality playing catch-up on upcoming music. Looking at the quality crop of new songs from this week, we have a lot to be excited about in the coming months. All five of these artists have albums out later this year, and all are almost certainly going to be worth checking out. To get you primed for those releases, here are the 5 best songs from this week with cuts from White Denim, Sia, Mick Jenkins, Porches and Pinegrove.
5. White Denim, “Holda You (I’m Psycho)”
2015 was a strange year for Austin rockers White Denim. Frontman James Petralli released music as Bop English, while drummer Josh Block and guitarist Austin Jenkins served as producers and backing band for success story Leon Bridges. It seemed as if the band was going to take a breather for a while. Not so. Petralli and longtime bassist Steve Terebecki have announced a new album “Stiff” (out in March) as well as Jenkins’ and Block’s replacements. “Holda You (I’m Psycho),” the first single from the upcoming effort, should quell any concerns about Block and Jenkins’ departure—it’s vintage White Denim, with all the riff-based character that implies.
4. Sia, “Reaper”
Sia’s promotional campaign for “This Is Acting,” her forthcoming album of songs written for other people, has been pretty aggressive. She’s already shared a handful of songs from the effort and this week unveiled the Kanye West co-produced and co-written “Reaper.” The pairing isn’t surprising as West, Sia and Vic Mensa linked on potential “SWISH” cut “Wolves,” but it is shocking how the beat doesn’t sound at all like something from West’s extensive production oeuvre. It’s bubbly and light and lacks those classic Yeezy soul samples. It’s a solid song, but a far cry away from “Yeezus.”
3. Mick Jenkins, “$3000 Advice” (Produced by THEMPeople)
Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins still seems a ways away from releasing “The Healing Component,” his long-awaited full-length follow-up to 2014’s masterful “The Water[s].” However, his fans should be slightly less (or more) impatient after hearing “$3000 Advice,” one of two just-released collaborations with producer ThemPeople. Where his last EP “Wave[s]” found the local MC expanding his sound with party jams and alliterative gymnastics, “$3000 Advice” is a return to his bread-and-butter strengths. The production is watery, and Jenkins’ flow is icy and determined. Jenkins has said the track won’t be on the forthcoming album, which only makes me think the project will be even better.
2. Porches, “Be Apart”
Porches’ Aaron Maine is making a huge leap forward with the upcoming “Pool” (out Feb. 5). Where his catalog has taken on genre tags like “bummer-pop” and “sad folk,” his new material is much more synth-heavy, tight and romantic. Though it’s not as ramshackle as his Bandcamp-released stuff, it’s still got the heart. “Be Apart,” my favorite song off “Pool,” is an absolute stunner. According to Maine, the song is “is sort of about moving to New York City and wanting to belong. It’s about nightlife, about being taken away, losing control, longing for acceptance, and letting go.”
1. Pinegrove, “Old Friends”
It’s going to be tough for a newcomer to have a better album than Pinegrove’s “Cardinal” (out Feb. 12). The brainchild of Montclair, NJ songwriter Evan Stephens Hall, Pinegrove hits pretty much all my musical sweet spots (too many to name here, but think if the Replacements, Uncle Tupelo, Built To Spill, Will Oldham and Modern Baseball had a musical baby). Album opener “Old Friends” features lines as strong “I got too caught up in my own shit/it’s how come every outcome is such a comedown.” Hall’s a phenomenal songwriter, able to find pathos in the mundane, and the only thing better is his ragged but powerful voice.
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