Neu This Week In New Music (16th February 2013)

Some artists treated cupid’s celebration of love a little differently than others. Not every musician went about finding a real-life heart and chopping it into gruesome little chunks for our Valentine’s Day viewing pleasure. But Drop Out Venus did. So our emotions were askew, particularly after seeing Farewell JR provide such a stark, heart-wrenching take for his ‘Night Wolves’ video. In tackling issues like fatherhood and Alzheimer’s I guess these artists share a common trait, in that they’re pushing boundaries by every means available, artistically. Butcher a heart or just tug the strings, at least they’re providing something meaningful and provocative to criticise or simply weep uncontrollably at. The theme runs true in this week’s round-up of the best in new music, with artists who could’ve just settled for the norm, choosing instead to go against the bend and provide something fascinating.

TRACK OF THE WEEK
Valentina - Wolves


First, to a singer who could have chosen to run riot on the momentum of a certain collaboration with Joe Goddard. Valentina found her place in ‘Gabriel’, one of 2011’s stand-out moments. But in ‘Wolves’ she takes a distinct turn, swapping house-fused vibes for a sullen, ballad-like structure. Except ballads can tire, they can be laced with clichés and there’s little redeemable to source from them. ‘Wolves’ is anything but all of those things. Produced by Kwes, it begins as a standalone dictaphone recording. By its conclusion it’s a fully-fledged, blossoming number, something we went as far as labelling one of 2013’s finest tracks to date.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Wolf Alice - Fluffy


Again. Wolf Alice (pictured, up top) could have crawled into their shell, rush-released a music video for their breakthrough track ‘Fluffy’. They could have included gig footage and clips of them messing about while touring. Instead they opted for a concept, and a hilarious one to boot. The clip shows Ellie Rowsell and Joff strumming an ode to their cat on Youtube, before being snapped up by rough-looking Joel and Theo who recruit them to form a proper, hard-knuckled guitar band. Cue scenes of objects being smashed up with a hammer.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
BAY.


And now to BAY. Debut tracks have to make a big impression, sure. But rather than merely cuddling up to genres in vogue, BAY. decided to throw in every idea going. Instead of producing something overbearing and claustrophobic, they ended up with one hell of a pop song in ‘With You’. Half NZCA/Lines, the other half a more loose-limbed Egyptian Hip Hop. This has all the makings of a band prepped to make Metronomy-indebted, intelligent pop, with neat quirks to discover round every corner. ‘With You’ isn’t just a promising start, it’s a beginning that guarantees something spectacular.