5 songs you should hear this week - w/e 16th March
Every day we play you a track that has just grabbed our attention. As soon as we hear it, we send it into the digital ether for you all to enjoy. Sometimes it's an exclusive, sometimes it's a favourite artist and, at other times, it'll be someone brand new. Here's this week's choice selection. Just click on the links to see the full Just Added playlist:
It’s been two years since we played tracks from Wet’s debut album Don’t You, when the Brooklyn band confused the BBC’s playlist algorithm slightly, publishing a photo of 90s chart-botherers Wet Wet Wet. This is the first song we’ve heard, since that debut (although Kelly Zutrau did guest on the title track for Rostam’s debut LP Half-Light - one of Lauren’s favourite albums of 2017). There have been some challenges and changes and they’re now a duo - with Joe Valle also taking production duties. Kelly says: “There were so many reasons to not make music together anymore, but something compelled us to keep coming back to it. That’s what ‘There’s a Reason’ is about.” As Kelly sings “there’s a reason you’re by my side”, pleasingly, it looks like they’ve got it made.
Kojey Radical – If Only
Another new tune from the prolific Ghanaian-British artist, poet and musician, which follows last year’s In Gods Body – his third album - a pretty big album for 6. It’s personal and reflective, with Kojey singing it’s “funny how they all wanna watch my steps. But they couldn’t run a mile in my shoes.” Kojey says: “Despite how easy it is to keep up appearances I struggled with depression heavily last year. I came out the other side more hungry and more passionate because the ability to create and express myself literally saved my life. This year I want to make the most empowering music about my sadness. I want people to not be afraid to feel. I want people to use my music as a safe place and feel energised. Sometimes being able to speak up can make all the difference."
Leon Bridges – Bad Bad News
Earlier this week, Leon tweeted that he was “too excited about the new songs to share just one.” So the Atlanta-born singer-songwriter released two new tracks from his forthcoming second album, Good Thing, which is due out on 4th May (the other track is Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand). He set himself quite the high bar with his debut, which peaked at no. 8 in the UK Charts, and was nominated for a Grammy. But this tale of triumph indicates he’s got his game face on (watch out naysayers, he’ll hit you with “style and grace”). It’s a welcome return: this track’s still soulful but it’s got a bit of laidback sass to it, thanks to some enjoyable call and response backing vocals (not to mention that extended jazz guitar finale on the longer edit).
Azekel – Hollow
The London-based Nigerian artist Azekel (full name Azekel Adesuyi) must have had a busy 2017. First, there was the collaboration with Gorillaz (on the track Midnite Float) and he’s headed into 2018 armed with a three part album, which is being unveiled one chapter at a time. This track’s taken from the second chapter, Mental Health, and if you’re in an empathetic mood, it may be hard to remain unaffected by lyrics about feeling low, the ground feeling too close to comfort, and friends who’ve turned to foes. But it’s SO worth a listen because (as with Kojey Radical) it’s an articulate young artist, singing about a struggle which affects many, whilst channelling Frank Ocean and Pop Life-era Prince.
!!! – Happiness Is A Warm Yes
We rounded the week off with Chk Chk Chk, who brought funky disco vibes to the 6 Music Live Room last year. This is the first taste of a new digital-only remix album, which will be released by Warp later this month. The band's Nic Offer explains: "One of our biggest inspirations has long been club music. I guess we view our angle on things as trying to write club music that you can listen to in places other than the dancefloor. It was only a matter of time before we attempted to make a more club-type record, and this mix is the first thing like it we're sharing with the world. We were especially inspired by other artists who had made mixes of only their own material and decided to try our own. We took a bunch of our tracks and mixed them with Christopher Wang of Mood Hut. We had felt an affinity with how that label approached house, in a similar way we had initially approached disco, and it ended up being a good fit. We view it as something of a companion record to (2017 album) 'Shake the Shudder' and the first in a series of mixes that we hope to do like this in the future."
You can hear all the tracks via the Just Added Playlist
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