With so much good music coming through thick and fast, it’s easy for new music to drop online and go unnoticed. To help prevent this, we’ve picked 5 new releases you don’t want to sleep on. Stream music from Rahel, Spaces, Your Old Droog, Chris McClenney and Andrew Cosentino.
If you like what you hear support the artist.
Rahel – Alkali
I wasn’t sure whether to include the debut album from Rahel in this feature today. Truth be told, her LP is so good that it will most likely (or Tropics) be my next “Album Of The Week.” Yep, it’s that good. The 10-track project has me hooked within minutes and doesn’t let go until the last track. The album has features Le1f and DonChristian with The-Drum’s Jeremiah Meece on production duties. Overall, Rahel’s distinctive vocals align with futuristic production will leave listeners wanting more.
Spaces – Potential EP
Fresh off the back of working on Bjork’s new album ‘Vulnicura,’ Spaces aka John Flynn has just dropped his debut EP, ‘One’. We all heard about the much-publicised presence of Arca and the Haxan Cloak Bjork’s album, but not only did Spaces help produce the album. The closing track Quicksand is actually built on the beat for his own Apologies. Take a listen to his 4-track EP entitled ‘Potential’ which navigates through dark, gritty electronic journeys to harsh dance waves, to glitchy mismatched beats. Stream and download here.
Your Old Drogg – Kinison EP
Fresh off his debut LP, Your Old Droog has returned with the 11-song Kinison EP. The project has a vague “rock” theme, with Droog referring to the likes of Sonic Youth, Pornos For Pirates, and Rage Against The Machine. So he isn’t Nas, but he can sure rap and overall the EP is a solid journey of dusted mid-’90s New York hip hop.
Chris McClenney – Soulection White Label: 014
Soulection family member, muti-instrumentalist and vocalist Chris McClenney delivers a stunning 4-track selection of tunes that D’Angelo would be proud of. Give him a shot and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Andrew Cosentino – Country Western Star EP
We featured a track from Andrew Cosentino yesterday in our “Today‘s” feature, but felt that his EP needed extra love here too – simply because it’s so effin’ good. The 22-year old New York-based artist employs the Tom Waits approach to his music, i.e not knowing an instrument thus affording him the space to create interesting sounds without any preconceptions and total freedom. Over an email exchange Andrew explain his approach in detail:
“I generally have a good idea of what i want an instrument to play within the arrangement, (sometimes i’ll notate it, sometimes i wont, it depends) and if i don’t have access to that instrument, i’ll sample a few, and string them together to make it sound the way i want. sometimes i’ll come across a sample that works better than what i’d written originally and only needs minor tweaking, and those moments are always great, but they’re pretty random and serendipitous.”
Over the course of the EP, we see Cosentino take experimental turns in tracks like “Late Greats” and “Stephen Marbury. ” There are also moments of a more conventional flow with tracks like “Wake Up Early Every Morning” and ” Jeans Go With Everything,” which keep the playful nature of the EP but have a certain accessibility about them. Awkwardly coherent, this deserves a spin (or two…).
