News Tracks: Pixies, Ellery James Roberts, Cyril Hahn, And More

If you’re at Glastonbury, and reading this, hopefully you’re enjoying yourselves! And if you’re among the legions not at Glastonbury this weekend, make the most of being completely mud-free when you give this week’s Tracks a spin.

We grabbed all our writers who weren’t in a Somerset field downing cheap lager, and had a good squabble about what to bring you this week. We ended up with a cut from Killer Mike & El-P’s collaborative album ‘Run The Jewels’ and Cyril Hahn’s debut single - as well as mighty returns from Pixies, Franz Ferdinand and Delorean. That ain’t it, either. Read on to discover all the finest music we could harvest from the interweb…

Pixies - Bagboy

Kim Deal might’ve left Pixies to thrill crowds in The Breeders and pursue other projects, but this is a fitting final hurrah. It sure sounds like Kim Deal singing, anyway, although according to Frank Black, it’s not her. ‘Bagboy’, the band’s first release in almost a decade, sounds like a far cry from ‘Where Is My Mind’ at first, but it’s a refreshing burst of originality from a highly influential band, with the classic, thrashing essence of Pixies still firmly at its epicentre. If Talking Heads ‘Once In A Lifetime’ was given the grungy, angsty, mud-splattered treatment, it might sound a little like this exciting, and unexpected return. As gritty spoken monologue makes way for muffled vocals and whining distortion, ‘Bagboy’ is a send-off alright. Deal or No Deal, it would appear - judging from recent form - Pixies are still going to make musical magic. (El Hunt)

Ellery James Roberts - Kerou’s Lament

Whilst Wu Lyf may have disbanded last year - merely a year after their debut album was released – their members have already moved on to other musical endeavours. As the other three members form new band Los Porcos, Ellery Roberts has decided to go solo. His debut track, ‘Kerou’s Lament’ is certainly quite an entrance for a new chapter in his life. The raw energy and vitality that was captured in Wu Lyf’s music through Roberts’ vocals is incredibly present as he shouts repeatedly, “You fucked up this world but you won’t fuck with me”, each time his words biting to the core. Accompanied by a video with recurring disturbing imagery and a young girl dousing petrol over herself and then lighting a flame, it’s a fitting visual representation for a song which is in equal measures incredibly beautiful and hateful. (Aurora Mitchell)

Delorean - Spirit

It has now been three long years since Delorean released the excellent ‘Subiza’ album. ‘Spirit’ is the first new material from the Spanish group ahead of their forthcoming fourth album ‘Apar’. This offering is slightly more slow building than ‘Subiza’s’ euphoric washes of sound. There are no great builds and drops. Instead, what you have is a song built on a basic synthesised drum and keyboard backing that carries on blissfully in its own beatific splendour. Some choral backing is given to singer Ekhi Lopetegi’s wonderfully pure voice, which has just a touch of melancholy to offset the blissed-out grooves. ‘Spirit’ is less of an exuberant dance floor release, more a moment for quiet lucid reflection. Fortunately, it sounds all the better for it and bodes well ahead of the album’s release later this summer. (Martyn Young)

Franz Ferdinand - Love Illumination

Sleek, catchy and sounding straight out of an espionage trailer, Franz Ferdinand’s new double A-Side manages to capture the inspiration that made them set the world on fire back in 2004, making it sound relevant in this post-Yeezus era. ‘Love Illumination’ comes with stomping drums that drive you through the sinuous streets of (maybe) Rome in a sports car, while you try to break up a guitar battle going on in the back seat. A surprise keyword conjures even more drama (imagine a close up on the main mysterious character, his quiff swaying in the wind) giving room to enough build ups, bridges and sudden switches to snap them back to reality. Franz are guaranteed a spot at every indie disco dance-floor for years to come. (Carolina Faruolo)

Paramore - Anklebiters

If there were to be an amalgamation of the Pac Man franchise with a Tim Burton animation - featuring the illustrative work of Where The Wild Things Are – the resulting product would almost certainly look similar the new video for ‘Anklebiters’. Straight off the back of the fourth self-titled studio album from Paramore, one thing is for sure, it’s straight to the point. With plenty of layers to get your teeth into, this is a track that can definitely withstand the repeat button. What’s incredible about Williams’ vocal is the level of commitment she throws at it; never afraid to really sell the lyrics, she has something to say and you have to sit up and listen. Adding to this some incredible subtleties on the drums that accent the vocal line perfectly, we are given the impression that this comes very naturally to them. Clearly a track that was fun to record, it’s a definite high point on a great album. (Joe Dickinson)

Skinny Dream - Bliss

Following on from their recent performance at our own Neu’s Old Blue Last residency How June Is Now, Skinny Dream have unleashed their debut EP upon the world. After the momentum built by early tracks like ‘Exhale’, it was always going to be important that they had more killer material in their arsenal. Leading the charge as the first of four tracks from the record is the aptly titled ‘Bliss’ - a hazy dream of a song. If there’s one thing the best pop bands – whether they’re of the indie persuasion or not – should have in common, it’s the ability to write a knockout chorus. And boy, Skinny Dream have excelled at that here. (Ian Paterson)

Killer Mike & El-P - Run The Jewels

Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ is not the only major hip-hop release in June. Slightly more low key but just as significant and equally as powerful is ‘Run The Jewels’ the collaborative album by Killer Mike & El-P. The relationship between two of contemporary rap’s legendary figures was always likely to spawn something quite special. The 10 track free download certainly lives up to expectations. The title track is a perfect introduction to their brutal hard-edged sound. The beats provided by El-P have a menacing brooding quality amplifying the power of the duo’s quick fire rhymes. The sense of portent is palpable. It could almost mark the beginning of a dark, dystopian hip-hop future in which Killer Mike & El-P are the only hope for salvation. Both rappers revel in playing off each other but it’s Killer Mike’s visceral aggression that is most striking. “Big beast in a cage with a heart full of rage, it seems I can’t behave,” he spits, relentlessly committed to his cause. (Martyn Young)

Cyril Hahn ft. Shy Girls - Perfect Form

Cyril Hahn has previously metamorphosed pop-gem ‘Say My Name’, transforming Destiny’s Child from belting Rn’B into sultry twilight dance music. ‘Perfect Form’, Hahn’s debut single, shows the talented producer stepping away from the remix box, but exhibiting the same flourish and ear for songwriting. Pulsing house beats and submerged synthesisers skip alongside Shy Girls’ guest vocals, morphed by Hahn into all variety of thrilling shapes and patterns. This might be Hahn’s ode to the female body, but its title is fitting for another, slightly less sexual, reason. This delightful debut effort is in pretty good shape indeed. (El Hunt)

J£ZUS MILLION ft. Charli XCX - Illusions

J£ZUS MILLION and Charli XCX have already proved themselves a fitting pair. Having produced the lead track on Charli’s Super Ultra Mixtape, ‘Cloud Aura’ – J£ZUS finds himself working with her again on his own single, ‘Illusions Of’. Both young and oozing with talent, Charli’s internet-inspired pop is a welcome accompaniment to J£ZUS’ crisp production. Charli softly utters seductively “Rhinestone roses for a rhinestone cowgirl / I want to be the centre of your whole world” over the scattering beat before breaking out into full blown auto-tune. ‘Cloud Aura’ was focused on the disintegration of a relationship, whereas ‘Illusions Of’ documents the pursuit of a new love. As Charli proclaims; “I’m ready to fall in love” (Aurora Mitchell)

Zola Jesus - Avalanche (Slow)

Last year Nika Roza Danilova - aka Zola Jesus - performed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York for a special show with the Mivos Quartet string section, performing orchestral versions of her songs using arrangements by esteemed industrial music visionary JG Thirlwell. This was a landmark moment in her career as she told DIY in an interview last July: “That moment was a huge milestone in my life. For the first time I felt like I was doing something right. That felt so surreal. I can’t even explain the feeling I had in my chest when I was on stage. It was overwhelming.” Following that performance comes ‘Versions’, a forthcoming full album of orchestral re-workings under the same guidance of Thirlwell, and again featuring the strings of the Mivos Quartet. ‘Avalanche (Slow) sees all the icy, cold atmospherics of the original melt away to reveal a truly heart-stopping melody that aches with emotion. Danilova’s voice is tender and vulnerable in a way we haven’t quite heard before. (Martyn Young)

Swerve - Honeydripper

When and why did the West Midlands decide to become really cool? Who knows? What is evident though, is this cool-streak is set to continue with the sound of Swerve. The three minute, forty-one seconds of ‘Honeydripper’ take you on an intense trip that cranks up the fuzz and lets the guitar-lines wail out like there’s no tomorrow. There’s nothing new to be heard here but who needs ground-breaking tunes when you can have party-starting stompers like this? (Jack Parker)