Round-up This Week In New Music (28th February 2015)
DIY rounds up the week’s best new discoveries, featuring Lou E, Theo Verney and Black Honey.
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 seal of approval. 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.
Over the past few days, we’ve said goodbye to a couple of great bands who barely got going. The Amazing Snakeheads always had a self-destructive streak, but there’s definitely a grim story behind their split, members departing quicker than they could get through the door. Probably best we don’t find out the circumstances of that one… Kult Country were a bright new Manchester prospect, and they called it quits before even unveiling their debut album. Hopefully their MJ-produced first work will still see the light of day.
In brighter events, great things arrived from Yung’s debut EP, Priest (formerly X Priest X) returning with the aptly game-raising ‘The Game’, and Tula’s first statement of intent with ‘River’.
Here’s the best of what happened this week in new music:
THIS WEEK IN DIY PREMIERES
This week we debuted brand new cuts from some of the UK’s best fresh faces. Years & Years don’t really fall into that boat anymore (world domination is guaranteed, surely), but Manchester newcomer Oceaán is still proving his forth, a remix of ‘King’ only adding to the hype.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Brighton thrasher Theo Verney. His ‘Mountain Rose’ track signals a new EP on Marshall Teller, nodding towards a new direction that ditches fuzz obsessions for something more restrained. Suddenly Verney sounds like someone who’ll be around for years, not just a staple of the seaside’s thriving scene.
We also debuted Scandi talent Aurora’s new video and London trio Wyldest’s fantastic debut single, ‘Cruel Dusk’.
Years & Years, Oceaán, Theo Verney, JLYY, Aurora, Wyldest
There could only be one defining moment of the week that wasn’t a superstar’s almighty fall, and it had to at least share some traits. ‘Madonna’ is Black Honey’s finest track to date, a style-doused lesson in how to blend arena-ready intentions with rich invention.
TRACK OF THE WEEK
Ringing out with the same purpose of his other King TV project, Louis Milburn switches styles dramatically with his solo run. Lou E basks in the simple things - the same chords ringing out into the distance, a message that doesn’t get swamped in abstract nothingness - and his ‘Just One Thing’ track is a no-frills, gorgeous opening statement. Clouding emotions with rich, hazy guitar work, there’s a serious Kurt Vile streak in Milburn’s work, one that’ll be fascinating to see progress.
Black Honey — Madonna
DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
Lou E
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