Neu This Week In New Music (10th May 2014)

The names appearing in this week’s new music round-up appear - at least on the outside - to be a fairly introverted bunch. Allie X doesn’t seem to have any peers - she’s emerged out of nowhere with some of the most cutting, mind-blowing pop songs in yonks and she’s essentially untouchable. Already. When it comes to Honeyblood, there’s a bunch of Scots making similarly noisy treats day-in, day-out, but the Scottish duo have a habit of standing out in a crowd. Our Mother meanwhile are a London group who’ve spent a couple of years behind the scenes, testing and troubling away at their own distinct take on pop. Sometimes it’s best not to socialise at all, then. Close the curtains, lock the doors, stock up on delicious snacks. Turn the laptop on, get a shitty microphone and go nuts.

Here’s the best of what happened this week in new music:

TRACK OF THE WEEK
Allie X - Bitch


If this was any other song, it’s probably be dismissed by fools who don’t suffer for hasthags. Allie X likes a hashtag. ‘Bitch’ is all about the #Xperience, while previous songs got by on old fashioned #Xpression. Don’t cringe - ‘Bitch’ is something special. This could arrive alongside a 30-minute monologue and it’s still be a triumph. Glass shards fall from the sky, distortion turned to the max - previously Allie X was known for shiny, triumphant pop, but this is a brilliantly darker beast. A damning of domesticity, it kicks and screams and gets what it requires in three ear-splitting minutes.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Honeyblood - Killer Bangs


Fair enough, the new Honeyblood video just shows Stina Tweedale and Shona McArdle hanging out on a beach, but isn’t that enough when it’s backed by a song this (erm) killer? The Scottish duo deceive here, giving an almost relaxed visual take to a song that exists to jolt the system out of routine.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
Our Mother


The songs have since disappeared, but Our Mother were making sharp, direct and stripped-back pop music a couple of years back. Out of their wilderness - after several months spent whittling away in a studio - they’ve emerged with their best song to date, a full statement that sums up their ludicrous ambition. ‘Fire Fire’ knows a thing or two about melody, but it hides its knowhow in fancy guitar tricks and horns that sting the soul. Every tiny piece that makes up this technical debut feels calculated, there to serve a purpose. Our Mother have everything ahead of them - expect big things.