Everything And Nothing At The Same Time

A big regret of mine is the time I sat too long on an offer to interview Sky Ferreira a couple of years back. Sadly, I doubt that interview op is going to come back around any time soon as, recently, she's become something of a big deal. Recent single Everything Is Embarrassing has earned her probably more kudos than anything she's released to date while her live sets have also succeeded in generating a 'buzz'.

Hopefully, this means we'll finally get an album. A release, entitled 'I'm Not Alright', has tentatively been scheduled for early 2013, with production by Jon Brion, Greg Kurstin and Ariel Rechtshaid. Sky has been giving some of the new material an airing during recent performances, including the track 'You're Not The One', which she played as part of a session for Newtown Radio.



Also worth a look is this interview with Tavi Gevinson for Rookie, and this piece on Pitchfork about how Sky, Solange and Charli XCX are supposedly the saviours of sophisticated pop.

A Deadly Game But Still We Play

Listening to the new Jai Paul demo reminded me of American singer-songwriter Niia, whose version of  his track 'BTSTU' comes close to the original in its brilliance.

It turns out she's got some new material of her own, a track called 'Libertine Hero', which teams her jazzy vocals with handclaps, synths and some flourishes of brass. It kind of sounds a bit like the type of song Sia might be releasing right about now if she wasn't so busy making hits for other people.

  Libertine Hero by niia

It's not quite on par with her covers, but few things are.

  BTSTU by niia

  Mad World by niia

I'm Back And I Want What Is Mine

It's not the first I've written about him, but such is the level of secrecy surrounding XL Recordings' signing Jai Paul, there remains only one proper photo in circulation (unless you count this provisional driving licence.)

It's two and a half years since 'BTSTU' became the source of mild blogospheric hype and, despite this leading to features on Beyoncé and Drake tracks, Jai Paul's output has been decidedly sparse.

In fact, until now we've only been treated to one other 'demo', Jasmine, which materialised in April of this year. Now, after another extended period of quiet, the maestro has unleashed another demo, 'Flip Out'.

Mr Paul seemingly had second thoughts about offering up even this morsel as, mere hours after posting it on his social networks, the track disappeared again. Thankfully, some savvy internet folk managed to hit ctrl + c while the track was available:

Bearing a similarly hazy vocal to 'Jasmine', underpinned by blasts of brass, pounding percussion and other samples, the track has a sprawling, cinematic feel.

[Stream via Selenites Play This]

Until I Pushed Too Far

If you pop Solange Knowles' name into google, 'solange knowles hipster' is one of the autofill suggestions. As infuriating as the 'hipster' label is, (I'll vent my spleen on that topic another day), it probably comes as something of a reprieve from the 'Beyoncé's sister' tag that has plagued her throughout her career as a solo recording artiste.

Hipster or not, there has been something indisputably stylish about Solange's output since her 2008 record 'Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams'. Whereas that record relied heavily on Motown girlband pastiche, more recently she has been channeling her retro inclinations in a more interesting way, fusing them with shimmering synths and other electronic elements.

Forthcoming EP 'True' has already spawned the excellent 'Losing You' and now we get a second taster in the form of 'Lovers In The Parking Lot'. Produced by Dev Hynes, the man behind one of this year's best singles, the track serves to heighten expectations for the seven-track EP, which lands next week.



  Solange - Lovers In The Parking Lot by Terrible Records

  Solange - Losing You (Cyril Hahn Remix) by Cyril Hahn

Stuck On Repeat - Daylight Savings Edition

Ms Mr - Hurricane (Twin Shadow Remix)

 
Daft Beatles - Heart of Glass (Blondie vs Philip Glass)

 
Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix)

 

Angel Haze vs. Jamie xx - New York (The 83rd Mash-Up)

 
Flume featuring Jezzabell Doran - Sleepless

 
Disclosure - Latch (featuring Sam Smith)

 
Heathers - Lions Tigers Bears

It's Quite A Long Story To Tell

But it starts with a boy. Nineteen years old. From Denmark.

His breed of melancholy synthpop has seen him hailed as a male Robyn, or indeed a one-man Hurts with integrity, by The Recommender, but Asbjørn's debut album 'Sunken Ships' sets him apart as a singular artist blazing his own trail.

Lead single 'The Criminal' is perhaps the finest example of 'top shelf pop' I've come across this year; a beacon of hope at a time when 'lolpop' and Ed Sheeran ballads are order of the day. The rest of 'Sunken Ships', thankfully, delivers on this promise.

Beautiful production that combines glacial beats with string and piano arrangements provides the perfect backdrop for Asbjørn's soaring vocals. Combining Erik Hassle's pop sensibilities and the melancholy but defiant spirit of Patrick Wolf's first two records, 'Sunken Ships' certainly floats my boat. (lololol)

Good news: the whole album is available on Spotify, which is available in Ireland now. Get it into you.



  03 Strange Ears by AsbjornMusic