5 Tracks You Gotta Hear

5 Tracks You Gotta Hear is our weekly rundown of the best new songs released from Australia and around the world this week. Prepare your ears!

Jim James has been doing some musical soul searching lately, taking a break from the beauty that is My Morning Jacket. As a result he’s released a solo album Regions of Light and Sound Of God and ‘A New Life’ is a track that made our ears tingle. It’s very Jim James, his stunning vocal melodies and gymnastics are really at the forefront with a simple acoustic guitar and almost tribal beat, as it builds into a gospel-like proclamation. It evokes a kind well travelled or weathered feeling and in true style, the video starts seemingly normal and then quickly forces you to drop your reality at the door and question all that makes sense.

It’s been a healthy dose of time since we had Little Boots’ debut Hands shaking through the airwaves, in fact it’s been four years. It seems that Little Boots aka Victoria Hesketh is ready to deliver once again. Her new single ‘Motorway’ is our first taster of upcoming album Nocturnes and it was a reaction to how Hesketh was feeling left cold from recent dance music. In our opinion she’s managed to created a dance track that has a bit of meat and bones to it. Don’t get us wrong, we love piling on the glowsticks whilst wearing a Muumuu, but occasionally it’s nice to have a dance-pop song with substance. We’re talking a poppier sounding Zola Jesus

Blackbird Blackbird is the moniker of San Francisco based legend Mikey Marang. He releases deeply textured, psychedelic and almost hypnotic songs that really let the mind free to journey through imagination. His accompanying video for his song ‘It’s a War’ is an equally hypnotising thing to watch as the song is to listen to. Filmed in Australia, it’s a hipsters dream with a slightly depressing undercurrent, and acts as a brilliant visual for a song that has the ability to journey into some dark places in the mind.

Occasionally you hear a song that floors you, a fully formed piece that appears seemingly out of the ether. Brighter Later’s ‘Come & Go’ would be a song that fits into that category. It’s a collaboration between Melbourne outfit Jaye Kranz and Virginia Bott who are soon to present their debut album The Wolves. It’s an elegant and completely unhurried piece of music that switches between reflective and aching, reminiscent of early spellbinding early Cat Power.

 

Matt & Kim smashed into our ear canals with their infectious track ‘Daylight’ way back in 2008. Their innovative and relentless DIY approach to music earned them many a fan and resulted in hilarious videos. Well, they’ve done it again, ‘It’s Alright’ is an almost ecstatically joy filled song complete with stabbing horns, marching drums and that synth swell indicating when we are to begin dancing like a fish. The video? It’s going to give you a completely different view on the traditional form of sleeping and once again proves that you can do-it-yourself.

Tagged Blackbird Blackbird, Brighter Later, Cat Power, Jaye Kranz, Jim James, Little Boots, Matt & Kim, Mikey Marang, My Mornings Jacket, Victoria Hesketh, Virginia Bott, Zola Jesus