News Tracks: SOHN, Little Dragon & More

Today is a different day for a lot of people, known interchangeably as Hallmark Cashing-in Day, Blissful Denial of Day-Day, or Valentines Day. It doesn’t matter what you want to call it, or whether you’ll be spending today with a bouquet of roses or your Game of Thrones boxset - this is the comprehensive list of tracks that the DIY writers are crushing on. You go, Glen Coco!

SOHN - Artifice

The weather might be utter crap at the moment, but at least the SOHN’s out! Suitability for punning aside, SOHN is also undoubtedly singer-multi-instrumentalist-producer-man of the moment, and everything he touches seems to turn to glassy, sexy gold. ‘Artifice’ is no exception to the rule, feeling slightly less elusive and heady than ‘The Wheel’ EP, pitch-shifting it’s way around a propulsive rhythm with a popping touch of the samba about it. On-point and yet another banger, SOHN’s forthcoming debut ‘Tremors’ will probably be off the Richter scale. (El Hunt)

Little Dragon - Klapp Klapp

The stream of spectacular electro pop emanating from Sweden never stops, does it? Yukimi and co have given us the cold shoulder since their last album dropped more than 2 years ago, but ‘Klapp Klapp’ has us shamelessly pleading for more like the electro-starved street urchins we are. As the name suggests, there’s a lot of clapping going on, but it’s the cool kind of clapping – the kind you’d spell with a K – but also the kind that will lead to sore hands due to overenthusiastic adulation. Yukimi teases “hey you want it, don’t you?”, to which the answer is “… I’m moving to Sweden”. (Nathan Butler)

Låpsley - Painter (valentine)

Låpsley is the bedroom project of Holly Lapsley Fletcher – 17 year old A – Level student / super-producer in the making, with a knack for creating beautifully minimalist, electronic lullabies. Using only two instruments – her own vocal and a JUNO-Gi synthesizer – her track ‘Station’ – uploaded on Christmas Eve – marked somewhat of a breakthrough, gaining over 150K Soundcloud listens. Its elegant repeated falsetto sits behind a low pitch, male – sounding vocal – perfectly complemented by ever-so minimal processed drum claps and delicate electronic flutters. Despite explicitly sounding like there’s a male and female vocal, we later found (thanks to The Shirker ) that the pitch-change effect was made by pushing her own vocal through the JUNO-Gi – clever stuff. Latest track ‘Painter (valentine)’ is no less of a treat; all twinkling chimes and soul-bathed vocal overlaps with a slow, soothing beat. It’s simple textures create this spacial effect – a kind of ambient fragility that completely immerses the listener. (Laura Eley)

Shura - Touch

Imagine the lyricism of [insert name of bittersweet female singer] mixed together with the aesthetics of [insert name of slick, of-the-moment producer] and then chuck in an expert grasp on pure, glossy pop melody for good measure. Dropping names and comparisons to Shura seems to slightly ignore and undermine just how exciting her first cut ‘Touch’ really is, because in its own right it stands up. It’s constructed on addictive paradoxes like “all I wanna do is go home with you/ but I know I’m out of my mind” and “you wanna touch me/ but there’s too much history” – pretty universal sentiments. For some unknown reason Shura also sings things like “I only need you to be French with me.” I have no idea whether the French really are the best at romancing (the films I’ve seen seem to argue yes) but regardless, ‘Touch’ is the kind of song you want to spoon. (El Hunt)

YVETTE - Pure Pleasure

It’s difficult to imagine that the majority of people’s idea of ‘Pure Pleasure’ might take the form of a bristling post-punk spectacle, but with the first offering from their forthcoming debut Process, Brookyln duo YVETTE have likely sent dozens sprawling off to a hazy and harrowing paradise. An erratic smorgasbord of shrill sonic sorcery and ravaging blasts of percussion that will unforgivingly graze the eardrums, vocalist Noah Kardos-Fein’s rounds off this mechanical-sounding giant with a delivery that is crassly cybernetic and utterly devoid of any kind of warmth. A track that was destined to inhabit all kinds of oppositional Valentine’s Day playlists. (Joshua Pauley)

Cashmere Cat - Wedding Bells

Kicking off with some intense wooden block action, Cashmere Cat brings the golden electronic goods on new track ‘Wedding Bells’. The Norwegian producer summons ideals of love and matrimony via wailing, warped vocals and twisted woodwind sounds, enveloped within a track that burns along at a blistering, madcap pace, dragging a wealth of noises along for the ride, dropping deeply into to richly relaxed Nordic valleys before charging upwards again towards momentous peaks. Production is evidently nigh perfect throughout, with disparate ideals and sounds spliced together all too smoothly, connected by continually cascading wedding bells. A sweet piano finale and a tremendously twinkling tumble should send any happy couple off into a hopefully happy ever after. (Adam Parker)

The Sweet Boys - II

Coming out with a song as grandiose as ‘II’ is a pretty bold move, but then again The Sweet Boys don’t seem to be going about doing things in a standard manner. At almost 8 minutes in length, the absolutely stunning ‘II’ is a pristine yelp of a track, echoing gleefully down the heights it built itself on. Slowly unfolding before collapsing in a divine rush, there are very few songs that wrap up quite as neatly as ‘II’. If this is the first track we’re presented with from the enigmatic group, then by god does it make future prospects seem blindingly bright. As an astronomically beautiful shimmer of a track, the indulgent-in-the-best-way-possible opener feels like a gust of wind on a hot summer day, in that there’s more than a simple hope that’ll last just a smidge longer. (Joe Price)

II by The Sweet Boys

Playlounge - Zero

High energy and quick burning like a lump of potassium exploding into purple sparks in a bowl of water, Playlounge pick up roughly – and roughly is the operative word here – where their last EP, ‘’Thrash Magic’’ left off. Snarling and grating, Dananananaykroyd (RIP) and Japandroids are not only looking over the noisey duo’s shoulders, they’re breathing right down their collars. The first cut from newly announced debut album ‘Pilot’, ‘Zero’ is a bold, no-nonsense indication that these boys mean scuzz-riddled business. (El Hunt)

As Elephants Are - Hand Prints

Known by now for producing compelling indie-pop tracks dotted with splintering riffs and gushing with melody; first releases ‘War Cry’ and ‘Crystal’ saw instant likenesses to contemporaries such as The Maccabees and Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s true that some of the guitar flourishes lean towards 2011’s ‘Given to the Wild’ and a distinctive, controlled warbly vocal sits in the same realm as that of Jack Steadman’s but comparisons aside, the Buckinghamshire based quartet are making quite a stand for themselves already this year. Latest track ‘Hand Prints’ - taken from their upcoming EP of the same title – is delicate and immediate in all the right places; frantic drums give way to yearning vocals and a trumpet-laden breakdown before soaring to an exhilarating chorus which positively overflows with energy towards its fizzled outro. If this is anything to go by, we’re sure the EP will be an absolute treat.(Laura Eley)

Weatherbird -Where Eye Wanna Be

Weatherbird are putting classic, fist pumping rock N roll through a younger, more fresh faced filter and presenting it forth in chunky nuggets of noise like ‘Where Eye Wanna Be’. Recalling the angst of Pearl Jam and other male bands who don’t care but do have feelings; the West Midlands four piece are reminding the rest of the world that it wasn’t just God that gave rock’N’roll to you; Birmingham had a say in it too. (Jack Parker)

Antwon - Ecstacy (prod DJ Sexplay)

A lot of rappers like sex, but very few take it to the extremes that Antwon does. Defying almost all traditional hip-hop logic, his music draws more from mascara-laden goth pop than it does the dusty boom-bap of yesteryear. With the turbo-charged braggadocio of ‘In Ecstasy’, Antwon finds his sexual drive reaching a frenzied and strangely endearing peak. Over the bouncy and playful DJ Sexplay produced instrumental, his rhymes continually shift between goofy brags and whimsical flirtation. It’s an interesting balance to maintain, and one that he continually holds throughout, with even his impish singing sprightly nudging throughout the closing moments. (Joe Price)