Tuesday’s Top Tasty Tracks
THE TOP FOUR BRAND NEW TRACKS FROM MAY 8TH-14TH.
3 songs ready for the beach and one to bang your head to. Balance in life is important.
New Light – John Mayer
John Mayer is back just in time to be the soundtrack to your summer. This breezy song features Mayer’s signature layed-back-yet-so-technical guitar work, with an island synth layered on top, and it screams summer. There’s some funk-influences laden into the background, accenting Mayer’s casual vocal delivery perfectly. Two minutes into the song, the guitar picks up, featuring a bouncy funk-rhythm guitar that injects white people with bad dancing immediately. I would know as I’m one of them. This is followed shortly by the usual beautiful guitar solo by Mayer, arguably the only artist that can still put a guitar solo in his song. From there, the song fades out, though it could easily go on for another 10 minutes and I would not complain. And please do yourself a favour and watch the most hilarious music video I’ve seen in a long time. The low effort is brilliant.
Genre: Pop-Rock
Change – Great Good Fine Ok
I had to double check like three times to make sure this wasn’t Francis & The Lights, and I mean that as the biggest compliment it is. Great Good Fine OK come back with their first single, supposedly their lead single off the next EP, though that has yet to be confirmed. Regardless of where it stands in their discography, the song is absolutely incredible. It builds beautifully, featuring the duo’s signature retrofuturistic sound, utilizing a myriad of sounds and instruments to create a beautiful, buttery song. There are hints of funk, country, pop, singer-songwriter, jazz, and a bunch of other genres to produce an inventive track. The harmonies, sometimes with thirds, sometimes fifths, and sometimes octaves, are all mixed together so well, creating a need to hit replay immediately after the song ends.
Genre: Synthpop
Shapeshifter – Quietkind
Wow. These guys absolutely shred, and the rhythms are incredible. This is the direction I always wanted Volumes to go, but never quite got there. There’s moments that sound like After The Burial, and others that sound like Erra. Whomever you want to compare their sound to, it’s unmistakable how gifted this band is, and simultaneously how bad the production is on this single. It sounds like it’s playing out of an iPhone speaker in a tin garbage can a block away. That being said, it can’t take away from what a great song this is. The tempo changes flow so well together, and every different rhythm section is creatively different from the last. This band is talented, and I can’t wait for this album.
Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Almost Forgot – Against The Current
This song (along with the accompanying single “Strangers Again”) marks a new direction for the band, abandoning the drums and guitar for a more radio-friendly pop direction, akin to Selena Gomez, as Echosmith has also recently done. While “Strangers Again” left me wary of the new direction, this song solidified this new sound with no questions. This could easily be on the radio, and will definitely be on my summer playlist. It’s airy and vibey, and the chorus grooves nicely. The lyrics are reminiscent of The Chainsmokers big summer hit “Closer,” and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this song moderately go the same direction. Change in sound is always risky, especially since it is almost always towards a more radio-friendly style. With that comes the inevitable “selling-out” comments, and while sometimes they feel justified, this feels like a natural progression for the band, and there’s still heart in the music. When a band truly sells out, there’s no heart in the music and the songs feel manufactured and artificial. This still feels like Against The Current, even if the style is a little different.
Genre: Pop
As always, you can listen to all of the TetraT songs at this playlist here:
Alastair Heinrichs 