Round-up Tracks: The Magic Gang, Peace, Nilüfer Yanya & more

The Magic Gang’s debut album is (finally) on its way! Already confirmed to include previous bangers ‘Jasmine’, ‘All This Way’, ‘Alright’ and plenty more, the four-piece have decided to throw us yet another anthem in advance of the record. And we’re not complaining.

Co-written by Jack Kaye and Kristian Smith, ‘Getting Along’ might be the most collaborative track The Magic Gang have ever written, musically but also emotionally. Penned in the wake of the two songwriters exiting relationships in quick succession, ‘Getting Along’ is written in solidarity with each other, and a hand outstretched from the pair to anyone else in a similar situation.

And if the meaning behind the track wasn’t cathartic enough in itself, musically, ‘Getting Along’ is an absolute stormer. Jack and Kris’ vocals zig-zag around in the verse, before they join together for the biggest chorus the band have ever written. It’s simply huge in all areas, and amps up the excitement for that debut LP even further. (Will Richards)

Over the last seven years, Peace have spent very little time beating around the bush when it comes to offering up massive indie-pop anthems. Unsurprisingly (and thankfully) their latest offering - the ballsy-yet-brilliantly titled ‘Power’ - isn’t all too coy either. All swaggering guitars and earworm refrains, it takes barely a few seconds for their latest chant-along chorus to kick in, making it abundantly clear that the true technicolour wonder of Peace is back with a vengeance.

Humming with the addictive sugariness of ‘Love Sick’ and ‘Follow Baby’ while managing to feel bigger, bolshier and bolder, ‘Power’ really lives up to its name. Whatever comes next from the band’s long-awaited new album should be a real treat. (Sarah Jamieson)

On last track ‘Baby Luv’, Nilüfer Yanya really stepped things up. The track took the effortless cool of her previous ‘Plant Feed’ EP and drenched it in reverb and sorrow, the repeated refrain of “Do you like pain?” feeling like it could cut through to your core.

The singer plays things slightly cooler on its follow-up, ‘Thanks 4 Nothing’. Recounting the end of a failed relationship, the singer ponders the way it ended, while remaining completely unperturbed by the subject’s attempts to win her back.

“I just can’t believe he’s here / Just as I got over the idea” she sings over a simple, bright guitar lick, before putting the final nail in the coffin in the track’s intense chorus: “I don’t want to make things better / Thanks for nothing.”

Luckily for us, though the feelings might’ve disappeared for Nilüfer herself, what remains is an emotionally intense, brilliant return. (Will Richards)

A drawling slab of rock’n’roll and a swirl of cyclical lyrics, ‘The Man’ - served up with all the nonchalance of baked beans being somehow slopped perfectly between the hash browns and scrambled eggs - is less concerned with finesse than it is ferocity. “You’re the man, you’re the man, now you’re the man for me,” baits Lottie, encircled by hungry, prowling shark fins, bottling menace and The Cramps-nodding claustrophobia alike. So, no - it’s not a cover of The Killers’ own ‘The Man’ in other words. (El Hunt)

Noah Cyrus and MØ are right. We are fucked. We ARE. It’s official. From those horrendous train adverts urging people to ‘make your partner proud’ by spending less time with them (and more time at work, fyi) to the endless ‘think-pieces’ about how at this rate we millenials will never be able to save up the deposit for a garden shed in Leamington Spa because we spend all of our pithy earnings on avocados and Pret sandwiches in order to stave off the fast-approaching embrace of hopelessness for one brunch longer, the comprehensive fucked-ness of the situation we young people find ourselves in is clearly apparent already.

Accordingly, Noah Cyrus’ ‘We Are’ (featuring MØ) doesn’t waste much time dissecting on the specifics of late capitalism and neoliberalism destroying our lives; but what it does do is provide 3 minutes 20 seconds of sweet, chiming relief. “‘Get Paid’ the only motto” goes one snappy mantra, “these days we’re feeling hollow,” goes another one. Ignore the incredibly prominent Beats headphone product placement throughout the entire video (lol), and it’s a perfectly thoughtful pop bop. (El Hunt)

Tags: Nilüfer Yanya, Peace, The Magic Gang, Listen, Features