News Tracks: Paramore, Foals, Mount Kimbie And More

Beware, beware, the Ides of March, for it’s today and even if we don’t really know what it means, we do know that if we were Canadian we’d get cocktails. Since we’re not; it’s something to do with getting assassinated. But if we’re honest, the only thing that we’re wanting to see assassinated is the amount of time it could take you to find all the best music (d’you see what we did there?). As you prepare to get shamrock happy (because it’s also St Patrick’s Day on Sunday, right, and we could’ve gone for either when we were writing this, but we figured we’d go for the tenuous one we only half understand), our beloved writers have picked out the best new music to soundtrack your weekend. Just so you don’t need to waste a minute of your time. You’re welcome.

Paramore - Still Into You

Revealed on stage at SXSW in Austin, Texas, ‘Still Into You’ is the second release from Paramore’s self-titled album. Before the track received its maiden performance, Miss Williams defined it as a love song; going on to say it was “as emo as emo gets,” but that’s not the full story. In keeping with their roots, it doesn’t take long until we’re into the powerchord-pop-punk we know and love - but there are some subtle yet beautiful touches in the arrangement and production that reveal themselves and move their way up to the surface as you listen again and again. Perhaps attributed to the influence of the album’s producer, Justin Meldel-Johnson, but whatever they did I hope they keep doing it. Still Into You wears its heart on its sleeve, functioning as an acknowledgement of the past but a definite nod to the future – and it’s exciting to see where they take it. (Joe Dickinson - @DickinsonSound)

Foals – Late Night

It would be fair to say that Foals’ music videos have always strayed towards the stranger side of life. From the butcher-shop heart spangled backdrop of 2008’s ‘Cassius’ to the robust bodybuilding and blue powder fuelled ‘Miami’. So it comes as no surprise that the Oxford quintet’s blood filled video to accompany their latest single – ‘Late Night’ is a little more than disturbing. With the band’s closest sounding single to ‘Total Life Forever’s’ epic ‘Spanish Sahara’, encapsulating frontman Yannis Phillippakis’ whimsical vocals that soar above an instrumental aesthetic that gradually builds into a strong, heartstring strumming chorus and razor sharp guitar solo. A sure fire standout track from Foals’ most exciting album release, to date. (Jonathan Hatchman)

City and Colour - Of Space and Time

“There’s an elephant in the back of the room… everyone can see that it looks just like me,” Dallas Green croons in his tender baritone. Perhaps a reference to his departure from the recently disbanded Alexisonfire: these lyrics were first hinted at in the promo of 2011 release ‘Little Hell’, when Green already knew his time with the band was over. From his upcoming fourth album comes the result. Breathable, effortless and characteristically mellow, ‘Of Space and Time’ follows nicely on from where ‘Little Hell’ left off. There’s softly picked acoustics, light brush drums, faint echoes of lap steel and everything you’d hope for in a City and Colour song. Yet, as ever, it’s Green’s masterful, emotion-filled storytelling that really ties it all together and, sung with his angelic, honey-soaked vocals, it’s hard to understand why he didn’t let up and turn all attentions to his acoustic side project earlier. (Hannah Phillips)

Mount Kimbie – Made To Stray

UK duo Mount Kimbie have kept everyone on tenterhooks for some new material since their 2010 debut ‘Crooks & Lovers’. Making the move from Hotflush to Warp, and saying that they wanted to move away from the sound that they made their own with their debut - the duo actually stay relatively true to their origins with new song ‘Made To Stray’. However, their sound is a lot less aerated here and that’s mostly due to the emphasis on percussion. Overlapping complex percussive rhythms weave in and out of a bass heavy composition, that distinctive fingers-tapping-on-wood sound carried over from Crooks & Lovers. A lot of the vocal contributions on previous material has been sample based so it’s great to hear the duo create harmonies towards the end of the song. This less minimalistic sound shows that Mount Kimbie have progressed a lot in the past three years.(Aurora Mitchell)

Cold Fields – Egg Shells

Cold Fields are not only honest and frank in their lyricisms but in the way they deliver their music. Lead singer Chris Newey’s heart couldn’t be more on his sleeve if he super-glued it there. ‘Egg Shells’, the lead single from their forthcoming EP of the same name, is a prime example of their world-weary wanderlust. The drums skitter along, sounding like they’ve been stolen from some dub-step instrumental and the guitars squeal in controlled outbursts. This all becomes the soundtrack to Chris; singing his thing. It really is rather enchanting stuff. Can’t go wrong with a Morrissey name check either lads. (Jack Parker)

And So I Watch You From Afar - Ambulance

In the event of an alien invasion, we - the human race - only have one real option to avoid extinction. Attach speakers to all the helicopters and approach the extra-terrestrials with And So I Watch You From Afar’s ‘Ambulance’ at an obscene level. There are two possible outcomes; they will either flee our planet through fear of the complex rhythms and larger than life riffs, or they will dance out of their ship chanting “A-MB-U-LAN-C-E” with the rest of us. To be honest, if it is not the latter then we probably don’t want to be their friends anyway. The lovely folks of Sargent House have streamed the track and the rest of the bands next album, ‘All Hail Bright Futures’, prior to its release on 19th March. It’s another triumphant record that swings wonderfully between heavy and melodic, and testament to the band and all the staff over at Start Together Studio in Belfast. (Joe Dickinson - @DickinsonSound)

The Sirens - Just Be Cool

Since their formation during the Summer of 2012, this London trio have been busy making music, finding their sound and playing a handful of shows. And after hearing the ‘flagship’ song of ‘Just Say Yes’, I’m all ears. Describing themselves as early 90’s influences with a modern rock twist is pretty much bang on. With the current trend of resurgent britpop guitar sounds, this is one I’m happy to see again. Looking forward to seeing them for the first time in April in London. (Elise Cobain)

Justin Timberlake – Suit And Tie (Four Tet Remix)

The return of Justin Timberlake to musical endeavours has been enough to send everyone remotely interested in music into a heightened state of excitement. First single ‘Suit And Tie’ saw the partnership of Timbaland and Timberlake reunited – Timberlake’s irresistible croons complemented by a maximalist horn section. Four Tet has taken up remix duties for the track, removing the instrumentation completely and building layer upon layer of Timberlake and Jay Z over a repetitive hi-hat heavy beat. The heavily layered vocals create a disorientating effect - Timberlake harmonising with himself in several different ways and Jay Z interjecting ‘uh’ at regular intervals. Chopping up the vocals gives it a very different feel – it’s a distinctively Four Tet reinterpretation whilst not becoming an entirely different song. (Aurora Mitchell)