New music round-up This Week In New Music (7th June 2014)

Neu rounds up the best new track, video and discovery of the week. Featuring Azekel and Real Lies.

Words: Jamie Milton
7th June 2014

It’s a terrible thing to admit to, but everyone secretly - be it through the subconscious or otherwise - secretly likes to get bored of things. A thirst to move on and find something new - that feeling is in part stemming from this instinctive, trigger happy desire to move on. Right now it’s all about smoothed out synths and gloomy R&B, the BANKS, SOHN et al era of moody, electronic ballads. There’s been such a stampede of followers trying to replicate these movements that it has, inevitably, led to a slight sense of things growing stale. That’s ridiculous. There’s still room for others to push this movement in a greater, more wide-spanning direction. It’s been proved this week. The best new music has emerged from artists basing their work around modern-day tools. They’ve given an extra adrenaline shot to something already gaining impressive momentum.

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

Track of the Week

Azekel - New Romance

Strapping, soul-spliced and right on the edge throughout its 3 minutes, 20 seconds, ‘New Romance’ is the first time Azekel’s made a serious statement. The Londoner is looking ahead, not even bothering to give farewell to the past. Injecting dagger-sharp bursts of horns and industrial synths, this is a track that relies on its risk factor. Taken on their own, disparate parts forming this song mean nothing. Together, they make for the kind of track that can kickstart a movement.

Video of the Week

Real Lies - North Circular

Real Lies are from North London and they want you to know about it. They document everything - the bleary-eyed bus journeys, the Sunday morning comedowns, the sense of home - through spoken word vocals and warm keys. Whereas before New Order comparisons sped towards them after a debut single (‘Deeper’, ‘World Peace’), on ‘North Circular’ the only thing they could be compared to is The Streets. They capture a mood and a sense of place better than any Instagram collage. This is London in all its mucky, murky brilliance.

They make the city sound positively heroic, every line being expressed with belief and pride. Even “the rapturous players of the petrol station” gain a trusty, poetic shout out. Real Lies are the real deal.

Discovery of the Week

DARKLY

Next in line to moody synth pop throne is Hertfordshire producer DARKLY. His debut two tracks are designed, bit-by-bit, to latch onto everything that’s in vogue today. xx-like guitars bounce off the seams, vocals offer yearning and dramatic shifts. It’s steamed up, sex-obsessed, lush to the extreme. But both ‘Touch’ and ‘Stay Close’ survive the test because at heart, DARKLY is an old-school songwriter. These tracks could emerge and survive in just about any era and get by just fine. That’s the sign of a genuine star in the making.

Tags: Real Lies, Listen, Neu