This Week In New Music (18th April 2015) • Neu • DIY Magazine

DIY and Neu’s new music round-ups arrive in two forms - first there’s all our Have You Heard’s from the past week, where the biggest tracks get another glance. Then there’s This Week in New Music, where Neu takes a look at the early days excitement; debut tracks that turned heads; brand new discoveries; premieres that landed first on DIY. All that stuff.

This week’s seen Neu favourites get down to business, planning debut albums, new EPs and big festival slots. Within months, Essex newcomer RAT BOY’s become one of the most talked-about new acts around, and he added fuel to the hype with his first proper single, ‘Sign On’. A bratty introduction, it’s the song’s youthful blast of energy that truly does the trick. In a similar fervour, Spring King’s spell on DIY became even more intense with the release of their ‘They’re Coming After You’ EP. Lesser known names made promising first steps. New York’s EZTV announced a debut album on Captured Tracks, while cinematic producer Speelburg released the longest track name in 2015’s short lifetime. Other highlights came from Sinead Harnett’s future chart-bothering ‘She Ain’t Me’ single and the soothing reminder than Aquilo are ready to take over.

THIS WEEK IN DIY PREMIERES

Kagoule have been waiting in the wings for a couple of years. The Nottingham trio make the kind of all-knowing grunge that could easily take over, but they’ve been doing so on their own terms. Debut album ‘Urth’ (which we announced this week) could be the first step that truly gets people to take notice, especially on the basis of ‘Gush’, an uninvited blast of obnoxious punk.

Elsewhere this week, we gave first plays to London producer HUNTAR’s murky R&B showcase with ‘The Woods’, Aussie duo GRRL PAL’s big pop statement of intent with ‘Radar’ and two Purity Ring remixes from Neu favourites Born Gold and Empress Of.

Kagoule, HUNTAR, Empress Of, Born Gold, GRRL PAL

There’s an actual feeling in Empress Of’s music. It stirs in the gut, swarms the senses. Far-flung from just a smattering of beats and pop hooks, Lorely Rodriguez puts every inch of her being into the music she makes, and for some weird, magical reason, it translates. ‘Water Water’ - a track from her debut album on XL / Terrible - is the sound of someone practically forcing life and energy into a listener. “Water water is a privilege, just like kids who go to college,” she sings, embracing her inner being above an all-enveloping swarm of wobbly synths. It’s a song that could scatter, collapse or self-destruct in seconds. An unpredictable beast.

TRACK OF THE WEEK

In a very loose sense, FOXTROTT’s delivery is similar to Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. In tone and execution, each line she emerges with could easily spin off into the distance and flicker out of view. Instead, it commands. And whereas Karen often finds herself pulling the strings of cascading guitars, this Montreal artist does the same for her self-produced, skittering bed of beats. ‘Driven’ is a heady club track wrapped up in strange shades.