You missed us giving you updates on new music huh. Well, after a short hiatus of New Music Roundups, you may now relax, sit back, and again depend on the ever-so-delightful and music-obsessed .wav team to provide you with the newest beautiful music out there.
Disclaimer: this used to be a weekly thing…not anymore, we are making it a monthly thing. Yes yes, I can feel you judging, but hey, we are busy people too. We can’t just write down Pulitzer Prize winning music reviews 24/7. We have like 7 empty cups on our nightstand that need to be taken downstairs to the kitchen too. Anyway… enjoy the new music.
OH MY LOVE – FKA TWIGS (Ross Warholm)
Even though this song is a part of FKA Twigs album Caprisongs, which was released in January, it was too good not to mention in this month’s roundup. “Oh My Love” and Caprisongs are unlike any of Twigs previous albums and reaffirms that she has so much versatility as an artist. Twigs channels the happiness and friendships she found during the pandemic and highlights these discoveries throughout the album. In “Oh My Love,” Twigs reveals her desire for a boy (gross), but Twigs does this in a new and different way than how she has covered this type of topic in her previous work. The song concludes with a very relatable outro that speaks on self-love and reaffirms the idea that men ain’t shit. If you’ve never listened to FKA Twigs, do it now. Seriously, go do it right now.
BEACH BOY – BENEE (Cooper Pendergast)
Coming back with one of the brightest art covers of the year, BENEE cruises into 2022 with feel good, windows-down-while-on-the-101-south single, Beach Boy. After releasing two EPs in 2019, her first LP in 2020, and only a handful of singles in 2021, BENEE appears to be preparing for a breakout 2022 with this easily lovable single. If somehow you went through the last couple years without hearing her songs all over Tik Tok (props to you for staying productive and not consumed by Tik Tok for hours on hours at a time like everyone else), queue some of her songs on your next drive to brighten your day, or check her hilarious episode on Kenny Beats’ Youtube series: The Cave. If BENEE keeps making songs like this one, you are bound to hear her not only in our summer month recaps, but surely radios and spotify playlists all around.
COME MY WAY (FEAT. KRAYZIE BONE) – SABA (Ross Warholm)
“Come My Way” is a track on Saba’s newest album Few Good Things which debuted on February 4. The Chicago native hasn’t released a full body of work since his critically acclaimed 2018 album Care For Me, but Saba picked up right where he left off and created another beautiful piece of work. The song’s feature is none other than Krayzie Bone. You might know him from a different feature on a song by the name of “Ridin,” a middle school dance classic. Krayzie Bone was one of Saba’s childhood heroes and Saba made sure to secure this feature after he made this song back in 2018 after the release of Care For Me. The track was produced by fellow Pivot Gang members, daedaePIVOT and Daoud. Saba levitates and sounds more relaxed than ever in his career while Krayzie Bone provides a very strong flow that reiterates the coolness between these two. If you haven’t listened to Saba before, check out this song and his new album and you won’t be disappointed.
TEXAS MOON – LEON BRIDGES & KHRUANGBIN (Cooper Pendergast)
When I first heard Leon Bridges and Khruangbin together on Texas Sun, I thought the pairing was too good to be true. The short yet vivacious 20 minute project released in 2020 left fans wanting more, and two years later, the Texas crew agreed. B-Side, the first single released from the new project, features funky guitar and bass patterns that pairs perfectly with Bridges’ confident, groovy singing and songwriting. Don’t believe me? Check the music video for this song and try to tell me it isn’t from out of this world. Hint: you can’t. While this song stands out on the project as the most upbeat, the rest of Texas Moon delivers songs that take you down a romanticized, post-sunset lit freeway in the middle of the expansive, lonely, Texas desert, searching for more of Khruangbin and Leon Bridges.
NOBODY’S HOME – BAKAR (Rhys Withey)
With his first full length album since 2018’s Bad Kid and 2019’s EP Will You Be My Yellow?, Bakar is back(ar) with the album Nobody’s Home. If you were introduced to Bakar through his breakout song Hell N Back, you might be surprised to hear how much versatility there is in his music as well as the continued strength of his songwriting. Listening to Nobody’s Home at times feels like taking a stroll through a cloudy, rain soaked London (in the best way possible). You can hear the influence of Bakar’s hometown London, for example on the song GP, which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Sex Pistol’s album. If that’s not your vibe though, take a listen to one of the album’s more up-beat songs, NW3, which lays Bakar’s moody vocals over smooth guitar. If Bakar keeps dropping music like this, be sure to look out for him on your favorite playlists and radio stations.
ANTS FROM UP THERE – BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD (Robbie Baker)
There isn’t much to say about this album that hasn’t already said by Pitchfork, RateYourMusic, and Fantano – but I’m gonna talk about it anyway. Ants From Up There is one of the volatile, dramatic projects to come out in the last twenty years. It’s rare that an amalgamation of orchestral musicians and a crooning Englishman come together to write about heartbreaks and mental health in such an overwhelmingly emotional manner. Every classical instrument on this album is in its absolute perfect place and works effortlessly well to produce elements of baroque-inspired post-rock. This is truly one of the most sonically beautiful albums I’ve heard in a long time; highlights include “Concorde”, “Haldern”, and “Basketball Shoes” but practically every track here is a masterpiece.
THE OVERLOAD – YARD ACT (Robbie Baker)
Yes, this one came out in January. But, we started a little late here at .wav and I wanted to include some more British stuff. This is just another great English post-punk revival album centered around fun riffs, weird vocals, and sporadic drums. If you’ve been listening to acts like Squid or IDLES, check out this album for a less experimental (and less aggressive) take on the 2021ish post-punk revival scene. Highlights include “Witness” and the title track.
ONCE TWICE MELODY – BEACH HOUSE (Renee Kaos)
Another one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2022 and it didn’t disappoint. Once Twice Melody sounds like the band took some heavy influence from the 80’s but gave it the classic Beach House dream pop twist. For an 18 song tracklist, the album doesn’t feel that long at all. It’s cohesive, eclectic, and spacy as hell. Yeah, that summarizes like every Beach House album, but in the best of all ways.
This article was written by multiple members of .WAV. Will Dalton made the art.
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