Monthly Feature by Tim Gruar and Doug Peters.
Welcome to August, Ambient whanau. Here’s hoping the horrible weather from July will start to dry out and we’ll get the chance to spend a bit more time out and about. It’s a good time to get down‘n’dirty on the mountain bike trails or to cut up a mogul or two on the slopes. Perhaps a midwinter swim or a spot of kayaking around a cold-water lake. If you’re a homebody type now’s good to grab those unread novels and cuddle up under the duvet.
What ever you are up to, we have plenty of tasty tunes to tempt you and buzz your eardrums. Conchord, Brett McKenzie has released new material; fav girl band The Linda Lindas are back; Christchurch smash metal rockers Organectomy bring the noise and we’ve even got Beyonce in for a bit of a dance party. So, without further ado, here’s our sexy slice of single songs to warm up your midwinter…
Marlon Williams – Easy Does It
“Easy Does It,” the latest single from Marlon Williams upcoming album ‘My Boy’ is a marriage of summer and bluegrass, swaying with serene guitar picking.
Gone is the solemn, country-indebted crooner with the velvet voice. My Boy is a more playful, shape-shifting creature, and we couldn’t be more excited to hear more!
Organectomy – Coerced Through Submersion
‘Coerced Through Submersion’ welcomes you into it’s maelstrom with a violent, grisly vocal outburst: “A dream of faces never seen before/ Was that all real or was it fiction/ Drowning in the cold of my mind.” This is a track from the band’s latest album
During ‘21, Organectomy worked on their 3rd album ‘Nail Below Nail’, which has just dropped. The new release delivers slammer after slammer slashing a bloody path through your eardrums with tracks like ‘Concrete’, ‘The Third Mutation’, ‘Breeding Chaos’, ‘Entrapped Savagery’ and the new one ‘Coerced Through Submersion’. To support the album’s release, the band is embarking on multiple tours globally, including a headlining album release tour of New Zealand and an ambitious EU tour packed with festival appearances.
Beyoncé – Alien Superstar
Critics are already calling Beyoncé’s new record, ‘Renaissance’, a big hot, gay mess. It’s her first solo effort in over in six years, following landmark album ‘Lemonade’. And it’s a sound that’s risky and carefree and safe for all to explore. No matter what label you choose to wear.
To ‘celebrate’ we’re playing one of the most audacious tracks on the album. This is the 360-degree audio explosion on the dancefloor ‘Alien Superstar’.
Danny Elfman ft. Trent Reznor – Native Intelligence (Ghostemane Natural Selection Remix)
Innovative composer Danny Elfman has teamed up with Ghostemane to release a brand new remix of “Native Intelligence (Featuring Trent Reznor)” – the newest taste of Elfman’s forthcoming album ‘Bigger. Messier’. Which will be with us in digital and vinyl on August 12th.
The remix is a reimagining of Reznor’s version of the song, which debuted earlier this year, making for “a molotov cocktail that combines the one-of-a-kind styles of three musical heavyweights”, according to the publicity. The video is pretty cool, too. Produced by the cyber collective TRASH GANG, it’s a rabbit hole of monochromatic, manga-inspired animation channelling the song’s mesmerizing electronic glitches and breakneck percussion.
Khruangbin & Vieux Farka Toure – Savanne
Khruangbin and Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré have collaborated on an album called ‘Ali’. Honouring Vieux’s late father, Ali Farka Touré – well known as one of the most influential and talented guitarists that Africa has ever produced.
‘Savanne‘ showcases the contrast between restraint and baroque guitar flourish. It’s a juxtaposition of dub and Malian desert blues that has seen Vieux become revered as “the Hendrix of the Sahara”. The track is a remarkable, emotive entry point to the album, with a relaxed rhythm and joyful repetitive vibe and simple few chord structure, played on guitar with Touré’s raspy vocals and Khruangbin’s jazz funk sensibilities overarching this and every other piece on the album.
Brett McKenzie – If You Wanna Go
This is one of two songs Flight Of The Conchords and friend of Kermit, Bret McKenzie is sharing from his new album ‘Songs Without Jokes’
Written mostly during the quieter moments of 2019, when he balanced life between music projects in LA and whanau life Poneke, the songs on the album focus on themes of escape, our endless search for peace, and navigating a life being pulled in multiple directions at once. There’s also a simple meditations on driving through a city, and, of course, if you’re a Wellingtonian, the weather.
Punters will be able to see McKenzie, perhaps being a little bit more serious, when he heads out on a National Tour this September.
The Linda Lindas – Tonite
We, at Ambient, love the energy of the Los Angeles pop-punk band The Linda Lindas.
Their debut album dropped earlier this year to wide support. The New York Times called it “a combination of wholesome and fierce”, others hailed it as “the most heart warming record of the year.” We love these ladies, cos their energy is just a joyous mess of fun and crushing pop love. What’s not to love?
MOTTE – Plateau
This is the second track from the album ‘Cold + Liquid’ from Christchurch-based violinist/ composer Anita Clark aka Motte (pronounced Mot-te).
The video for ‘Plateau’ was made in collaboration with Threading Frames, a Tāmaki Makaurau-based movement and film company directed by Joshua and Tyler Carney-Faleatua. Inspired by her work with dancers and modern circus, Clark’s atmospheric musical soundscapes are visualised through experimental body movement and Aotearoa’s austere landscapes and the vast mountain-scapes of Duder Regional Park, the remote serenity of Maraetai and Anawhata Beaches, and the deep green shades of Riverhead Forest. This is probably the best NZ tourism video you’ll see all year.
U.S. Girls – So Typically Now
Meg Remy is back, with a new track and self-directed official companion video that’s a sleek widescreen synth anthem aimed to puncture the real estate bubble, ‘So Typically Now’ also has the added vocals of powerhouse backing vocalist Kyle Kidd providing the first taste of new U.S. Girls music since the release of her ‘Christmas’ song ‘Santa Stay Home’ and the Polaris Prize-shortlisted album ‘Heavy Light’.
This new single follows Remy’s authorial debut with her memoir, ‘Begin By Telling’, which came out late last year.
Beach Rats – Bikes Out
Introducing supergroup Beach Rats, who have just released their debut album ‘Rat Beat’ featuring an impressive lineup of punk rock lifer members. Not wanting to take themselves too seriously, these are veterans of hardcore punk just having fun and trying replicate the feeling and sound of what it was like to make punk music in the 80’s.
“You’re gonna get authentic punk and hardcore from Beach Rats because we are all from the 80’s,” Bryan Kienlen comments in a press statement. “It’s literally taking it back to some of our biggest influences like Negative Approach and Poison Idea, And of course, Minor Threat.”
Special Interest – Herman’s House
New Orleans no-wave punks Special Interest release their first music on Rough Trade Records.
On the A-Side is (Herman’s) House and on the B-side there’s a stonkin’ cover of Amanda Lear’s “Follow Me”. The artwork for the single is inspired by the original Rough Trade 7”s design such as the classic Augustus Pablo single ‘Pablo Meets Mr Bassie’ from 1978.
Bird Machine – Our Kind
‘Our Kind’ is the brand new indie alt-folk single from musically talented, socially conscious duo Bird Machine – made up of kiwi Jenna Grbin and Australian Luke Grbin.
Their video for ‘Our Kind’ is a beautifully filmed nostalgic trip back to the 90s – jam-packed full of the artist’s own memories. Made by New Zealand filmmaker (and Jenna’s cousin) Anthony Butters, it depicts loss to the new media machine, a new spectrum of social vulnerability and the bittersweetness of letting go and accepting the new reality.
HUNJIYA – TALK2ME! (feat.pH-1)
Just two weeks after her double single release, critically acclaimed Korean-American rising star HUNJIYA (hun-jee-yah) has just dropped her much-anticipated debut album ‘KHAMAI’ setting the the scene with singles ‘TALK2ME!’ and ‘FAVORITE’. Both are a sonic snapshot of her refreshing and unique blend of pop, alternative RnB, jazz and folk.
The album title comes from the Greek word ‘khamai’ meaning ‘on the ground, earth’ and ‘leon’ meaning ‘lion’,” she adds. (HUNJIYA herself is a Leo).
So, whanau, there we have it. The seventh Singles Club for the year. We’ve tried to add a bit of everything. But, as is the way, we always seem to miss something, so we’d be keen to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Have you heard a new track this month that needs to be bought to our attention? Tell us all about it in the comments below, and we’ll see you all with another instalment next month!
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