Listen Tracks: Florence + The Machine, Mura Masa, Denzel Curry ft. slowthai and more

It’s our weekly round-up of the biggest and best new songs this week.

Yes, readers, it’s that time again. Another big week for songs (or week for big songs, depending on which way you look at it). For those who’d like to take a deep-dive through all things shiny and new see our Essential New Tracks playlist below; for more on our pick of the week’s new releases, read on…

Florence + The Machine - King

Florence Welch’s comeback anthem, ‘King’, finds her grappling with how her ambitions as an artist align with a desire to settle down. While previous album ‘High As Hope’ reflected her newfound sense of calm, the Jack Antonoff-assisted new single follows the singer on a journey into the next phase of her life. Ultimately, Florence’s niggling uncertainties about the future are put to bed. Guided by dark and fantastical motifs, she lands on a killer chorus that grows in ferocity and self-assurance: “I am no mother, I am no bride – I am King.” All hail! (Tom Skinner)

Mura Masa ft. Lil Uzi Vert, PinkPantheress and Shygirl - bbycakes

Now that Uggs and low-rise jeans are apparently on the menu for those of us who didn’t experience the Y2K boom the first time around, it perhaps shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Mura Masa has decided to take on cult 2004 hit ‘Babycakes’. And yet, somehow, the re-emergence of 3 Of A Kind’s earworm classic still wasn’t what anyone saw coming. Now aptly titled ‘bbycakes’ - because why not - and featuring an all star cast of collaborators - PinkPantheress, Shygirl and Lil Uzi Vert are all part of the crew here - the track is a polished and glitchy delight, that’s sure to soundtrack many a TikTok from now. Sure, it’s not quite got the same round-around-the-edges charm of the original, but with a line-up like this, it’s still ridiculously fun. (Sarah Jamieson)

Denzel Curry ft. slowthai - Zatoichi

Make no bones about it, ‘Zatoichi’ - the second track released from Denzel Curry’s forthcoming ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’ is a banger. Its verses are almost minimalist, Denzel’s flow the driving force, the direct delivery of his typically deft wordplay (“Bulimic throwing up the peace sign, see we call can dine / Man, I ain’t woke, I’m just sleep deprived”) sitting atop a soothing, breathy beat. The chorus, meanwhile, is an explosion of punky drum and bass chaos: the invitation for slowthai to take part here was a perfect move. “Fuck a Benz, fuck a Porsche, say my name, I teleport” - contender for oddest line yelled back at stages in 2022 so far? (Bella Martin)

Porridge Radio - Back To The Radio

Porridge Radio’s Dana Margolin wrote new single ‘Back To The Radio’ in late 2019, months before the release of second album ‘Every Bad’ and while sensing that something big was ahead of her and her bandmates. The adulation and attention she expected duly followed – despite the pandemic cancelling their tours, ‘Every Bad’ still picked up a Mercury nomination as Porridge Radio went from DIY concerns to UK rock’s band of the moment – and this mix of excitement, fear and trepidation flows through the fantastic new single. The most anthemic the band have ever sounded, ‘Back To The Radio’ packs Killers-level bombast with Dana’s distinctive, idiosyncratic lyrical style and perfectly distils the intoxicating feeling of being on the edge of something huge, and the excitement and terror it brings. (Will Richards)

Cavetown ft. Beabadoobee - Fall In Love With A Girl

Easily the week’s most wholesome addition to anyone’s playlist, for anyone who’s fallen under the spell of Cavetown’s charming lo-fi indie, or who find themselves still rinsing Beabadoobee’s early EPs, ‘Fall In Love With A Girl’ will prove pleasingly the sum of its parts. Sonically smooth, falling somewhere between folk and twee (but never quite hitting either), the duet finds the pair teaming up in suitably sweet fashion to extol the benefits of swapping your boy (“With all the bullshit he gives you / You wake up drenched in mosquito bites”, sings Cavetown’s Robin Skinner, with a worryingly specific warning) for a girl (“She’ll love you carefully, drawing letters on the beach”). (Louisa Dixon)

The Vaccines - Thunder Fever

The Vaccines’ bite-size follow up to last year’s sparkling ‘Back In Love City’ delivers another hit of the starry drama and seventies-style theatricality that the record did. In a surreal dive bar, Julius Caesar and the Mona Lisa can dance the night away to the sound of The Vaccines embracing all things poetic – their indie-rock roots continue to sit in the background of a slightly shifted soundscape, but their storytelling remains as front-and-centre as ever. (Ims Taylor)

Dama Scout - emails from suzanne

Dama Scout’s latest single, released this week alongside details of their long-awaited debut album ‘gen wo lai (come with me)’ is a tribute to the humble email, which the trio describe as “the world’s finest vessel of passive aggression”. The new single is slice of noise-rock that teeters on the edge of collapse – a truly exciting place to be – and feels just about as disorientating and manic as sending email after email off into the digital abyss. Hope you’re well! (Will Richards)

TRAAMS - Sleeper

After half a decade in the wilderness, Chichester trio TRAAMS made their comeback in late 2020 with the tracks ‘The Greyhound’ and ‘Intercontinental Radio Waves’, songs floating around for years since their second album, 2015’s ‘Modern Dancing’, and finally finished during the first lockdown. While those tracks felt like a continuation of the kraut-flecked, chaotic rock we’ve come to recognise from them, new single ‘Sleeper’ signals the start of a new era. The first taste of a forthcoming new album, ‘Sleeper’ – which features warm, welcoming vocals from Soffie Viemose of Danish band Lowly – swaps wild noise for subtlety, featuring no live drums or any of the band’s typical bombast. Instead, it’s a wonderfully poised, melodic ballad that points to a very different but delightful future. (Will Richards)

Tags: Florence + The Machine, Listen, Features, Tracks

Read More

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Stay Updated!

Get the best of DIY to your inbox each week.

Latest Issue

March 2024

Featuring Green Day, English Teacher, Everything Everything, Caity Baser and more!

Read Now Buy Now Subscribe to DIY