Tracks: Maggie Rogers, Lauv, The Smile and more

Three years on from debut album ‘Heard It In A Past Life’, Maggie Rogers is back with a new record called ‘Surrender’. In a trailer posted upon the album’s announcement, she said: “Here’s all I have. It’s yours to take. Love. Hate. Anger. Feral joy. This is the story of what happened when I finally gave in.” On first single ‘That’s Where I Am’, these feelings are thrust forwards via gargantuan, crunching guitars and a soaring chorus harking back to the alt-rock of the ’90s. As a first taster of her new era, it feels like a glorious breakthrough. (Will Richards)

Back with news of his second full-length, following 2020’s debut ‘~how i’m feeling~’, Lauv is here to cement his place in the pop history books, announcing new album ‘All 4 Nothing’ alongside sharing its title track. Full of Lauv’s signature feel-good pop sensibilities, ‘All 4 Nothing (I’m So In Love)’ is an upbeat anthem about being completely enamoured with someone. A fun AF track, backed with an ear worm melody, it’s yet another slice of musical-goodness from the pop heavyweight. (Elly Watson)

Four tracks in, The Smile’s forthcoming, as yet-unannounced debut album is starting to take shape. From throwback alt-rock stompers (debut single ‘You Will Never Work In Television Again’) to suitably gorgeous and moody tracks (‘The Smoke’, ‘Skrting On The Surface’), Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner’s new project scratches every Radiohead-related itch. On new track ‘Pana-vision’, Thom goes widescreen on a ballad peppered with horns and strings that give it a sense of majesty rarely associated with The Smile so far. It’s another intriguing taster of one of the most anticipated records of 2022. (Will Richards)

Sunflower Bean have the power to make anything sound sunny; even as Julia Cumming lilts about getting terrible tattoos and spending all her money on beer and limes. An ode to self-destructive tendencies, ‘I Don’t Have Control Sometimes’ revels in imperfections. Julia looks back fondly on all the times she’s been locked out of her house; punchy percussion and twanging guitars are bookended by sweet “ba ba ba’s”. There’s also something uniquely intoxicating about the way she sings ‘provocateur’. She might not feel in control, but as ever, she’s in full command of her band’s music. (Mia Smith)

‘Cayó’ - translating to “it fell” - is a short but haunting single, which slowly builds so a crescendo of crashing synths and drums, creating a surreal falling sensation – a fitting title. Sung in Spanish, its lyrics carry a confident certainty that Arca has become the person she was always destined to be and is never looking back. Sonically the track firmly finds itself in the avant-garde world occupied by the likes of Sega Bodega and Caroline Polachek. As fans of Arca’s would expect, the track is filled with lyrical and auditory complexities, highlighting her ability to translate emotion through sound. (Dylan Shortridge)

We here at DIY described Floating Points’ harsh, intense recent single ‘Vocoder’ as a palate cleanser of relentless techno after his award-winning 2021 collaboration with jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra. Following on from that reset, Sam Shepherd’s latest track, ‘Grammar’, keeps the party going. From the moment its unrelenting 4/4 kick drum opens the track, it’s clear that the DJ and producer is relishing being on the dancefloor again, and across eight minutes, he takes us into the depths of techno heaven. (Will Richards)

Having scored the last two seasons of Peaky Blinders, it was about time Anna Calvi packaged some of these tracks together. ‘Ain’t No Grave’ is lifted from her soon-to-be-released ‘Tommy’ EP. With its eerie intro and pulsating rhythm, ‘Ain’t No Grave’ is both a suitably intense tone-setter for the series and a gripping standalone entry in the songstress’ catalogue. Anna channels the frustrations of the show’s Tommy Shelby with her soaring vocals, crunchy guitar lines, and determined lyrics. (Sarah Taylor)

“We wanted it to sound like massive pop, like Charli XCX, but with the instrumentation of bands like Deftones,” Porridge Radio’s Dana Margolin says of new track ‘The Rip’. On the simply massive new track, they remarkably pull it off. Once a lo-fi act that were endearingly rough around the edges, the London-via-Brighton four-piece now sound like arena-dwellers, with the towering, dirty riffs at the track’s apex colliding perfectly with Dana’s roar. If a band ever wanted to level up into a whole different league, this is the kind of track on which to do it. (Will Richards)