{"id":9089,"date":"2021-08-05T09:13:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T13:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=9089"},"modified":"2021-08-05T09:13:35","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T13:13:35","slug":"music-update-july-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/05\/music-update-july-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, July 2021."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With a slew of artists hitting the road this fall, releasing new albums in the next 2-3 months, or both, July turned out to offer a cornucopia of strong singles, including a couple of unexpected tracks from familiar names. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can&#8217;t see the widget below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Klaw&amp;apos;s July 2021 music update\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/4CfQXa52EBDIXSunwwSK8T?si=2884f2907474483c&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jonah Nilsson feat. Steve Vai \u2013 Diamond Ring.<\/strong> Nilsson is one-third of the Swedish jazz-pop (jazzy-pop?) group Dirty Loops, a classically trained musician who sought out guitar virtuoso Vai for the solo at the end of this incredibly catchy, funk-infused gem that is easily one of the best pop songs of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Little Simz \u2013 I Love You, I Hate You<\/strong>. This is the fourth track we&#8217;ve heard so far from the British rapper&#8217;s upcoming second album <em>Sometimes I Might Be Introvert<\/em>, due out September 3<sup>rd<\/sup>, and like the first single &#8220;Introvert,&#8221; the lyrics are intensely personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Amyl and the Sniffers \u2013 Guided by Angels<\/strong>. This Aussie punk act&#8217;s name is so anachronistic I&#8217;m almost forced to admire it. This is the catchy lead single from their upcoming second album <em>Comfort to Me<\/em>, due out September 10<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CHVRCHES \u2013 Good Girls<\/strong>. I&#8217;m just excited for the Scottish trio&#8217;s fourth album, <em>Screen Violence<\/em>, now that we&#8217;ve heard three great singles from it; it drops August 27<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slow Pulp \u2013 At It Again (Again)<\/strong>. A quiet track befitting the name of this Chicago indie group, &#8220;At It Again (Again)&#8221; was one of two tracks cut from their debut album <em>Moveys <\/em>that the band is releasing this fall as the <em>Deleted Scenes<\/em> EP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maisie Peters \u2013 Psycho<\/strong>. I&#8217;m not in love with the ableist language here, but this track, co-written with the head of Peters&#8217; record label, some bloke named Ed Sheeran, does a great job of showcasing Peters&#8217; voice and her skill with creating images around stories of teenaged romance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nas feat. Cordae and Freddie Gibbs \u2013 Life is Like a Dice Game<\/strong>. Okay, but which dice game? That&#8217;s Pretty Clever? Encore? Yahtzee? I would play a dice game with these guys. I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Big Boi, Sleepy Brown, and Killer Mike \u2013 Lower Case (no cap)<\/strong>. This is the good stuff from Big Boi, reminiscent of <em>Speakerboxxx<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract Mindstate \u2013 A Wise Tale<\/strong>. Kanye West got this duo, last active about 15 years ago, bac<strong>k <\/strong>together by contributing beats and agreeing to produce their new album, <em>Dreams Still Inspire<\/em>, out this Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wye Oak \u2013 Electricity<\/strong>. I like a lot of Wye Oak&#8217;s stuff, but when they increase the tempo and the layering of their instruments, it grabs me more immediately, as did this, the third single from them so far in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Inhaler \u2013 Totally<\/strong>. Bono&#8217;s kid may never quite get out of his father&#8217;s shadow, but Inhaler is worth listening to on their own merits, not just their lineage. <em>It Won&#8217;t Always Be Like This<\/em>, their debut album, also features the 2019 single &#8220;My Honest Face,&#8221; which was #63 on my ranking of <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/13\/top-100-songs-of-2019\/\">the top 100 songs<\/a> from that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gang of Youths \u2013 unison<\/strong>. This track also appears on <em>total<\/em> <em>serene<\/em>, the new three-track EP from this Aussie indie-rock act, who&#8217;ve become extremely popular in their home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Foxing \u2013 Draw Down the Moon<\/strong>. The title track from the indie quintet&#8217;s fifth album, due out this Friday, has a big hook in the chorus and a subtle groove in much of the percussion work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lorde \u2013 Stoned at the Nail Salon<\/strong>. I can&#8217;t decide if I like this track or not. I&#8217;m including it anyway, because if nothing else, it&#8217;s interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thrice \u2013 Scavengers<\/strong>. Thrice is back with a new record, written during the lockdown, and will be back on the road this fall. I&#8217;ll be there when they visit Philly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Lottery Winners \u2013 Sunshine<\/strong>. A candy-sweet track that lives up to its title, and another little pop banger from this Mancunian quartet, who just keep churning out great song after great song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joy Oladokun \u2013 look up<\/strong>. Oladokun&#8217;s first album in five years, <em>in defense of my own happiness<\/em>, mostly comprises her signature R&amp;B-tinged folk music, but there are occasional moments where she stretches her voice and shows more of its power and range, as on this anthemic, upbeat track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The War on Drugs \u2013 Living Proof<\/strong>. Perhaps I don&#8217;t know TWoD&#8217;s catalog enough, but I don&#8217;t recall many intimate ballads in the vein of this track. Their fifth album, <em>I Don&#8217;t Live Here Anymore<\/em>, will be out on October 29<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Turnstile \u2013 BLACKOUT<\/strong>. These Baltimore punks, who sound a whole shit-ton like <em>Meantime-<\/em>era Helmet on this track, will release their third album, <em>Glow On<\/em>, on August 27<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iron Maiden \u2013 The Writing on the Wall<\/strong>. Bruce Dickinson sounds every bit of 62, but the music here is still tremendous \u2013 a bit slower in tempo than peak Maiden, with an intro that recalls that of Fleetwood Mac&#8217;s &#8220;The Chain.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a slew of artists hitting the road this fall, releasing new albums in the next 2-3 months, or both, July turned out to offer a cornucopia of strong singles, including a couple of unexpected tracks from familiar names. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can&#8217;t see the widget below. Jonah [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[359,609,167,757,852,261],"class_list":["post-9089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alternative","tag-hip-hop","tag-indie","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-rap","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9090,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089\/revisions\/9090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}