Hot & Not, Mid & Meh: Iona’s Weekly Tracks (15th Mar ‘24)
HOT
‘Wild God’ — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Feels like an age since the Bad Seeds sounded anything like this song, which could easily be a starring track on ‘The Lyre of Orpheus’. After so long lost in the haunted haziness of ‘Skeleton Tree’, ‘Ghosteen’ and Cave/Warren Ellis’ work as effectively a duo (most of which has been excellent), it’s remarkable to hear the whole band just rock out once again.
‘All In Good Time’ — Iron & Wine feat. Fiona Apple: Like a lost Lennon/Ono track at its melodic core, made distinct, unique and delightful by the country twang in the guitars and steadily rising intensity in the music and lyrics both. Stunningly lovely work.
NOT
‘Stand United’ — French Montana feat. Kanye West/SAINt JHN/Buju Banton: Fuck knows where Kanye gets off singing “stand united” given all his bullshit these past two years; his presence and especially his crummy bars knock an otherwise overproduced but bland rap track down to the bottom of the list.
‘act ii: date @ 8 (remix)' — 4batz feat. Drake: Aubrey had one job, and he was doing it fine enough, but then he rhymed ‘Chanel’ with ‘Dave Chappelle’ and the whole thing kinda fell apart a bit.
‘MIDS & MEHS
‘Finger’ — Scene Queen: SQ can always be trusted to dig up new filth and this is no letdown on that front (that chorus has to be heard to be believed). If you’re not familiar, the best I can do is thus: imagine if Taylor Swift headed up a ludicrously horny metalcore act. Truly a “fingerbanger”.
‘Walk Like This’ — FLO: Another filthy track; our cup runneth over this week with such songs. This isn’t great R&B compared to what FLO are capable of at their best (when full album, plz?) and most of its sexy lines aim for euphemism but completely overshoot into drooling obviousness, but hey, who can complain when it’s as funny as this?
‘Heaven’s Gate’ — SKYND: Impressed as I am that SKYND have sustained a distinctive musical identity and career off the back of a twice-annual single release and not one album for the better part of seven years, I am starting to wonder if the gimmick will hold out forever. This is good, sinister industrial rock with a rich and ghoulish soundscape, but it’s hard to feel like the true-crime-all-the-time-thread in the lyrics isn’t wearing itself a little thin by now.
‘Hell You Call A Dream’ — The Warning: Now this is more like it; The Warning’s latest singles haven’t been doing it for me, but here’s a rocker with a bit more punch, kick and bite at last.
‘Pendulum’ — Fleshgod Apocalypse: By no stretch first-class work from Fleshgod, hope still springs for a new album to finally follow up on 2019’s excellent ‘Veleno’. Give it a listen if you’re in the mood for Italian symphonic death metal drawing heavy influence from the Classical period turning out a minor epic about nearly dying in a mountain-climbing accident (no really).
‘The Last Imagination’ — Dark Tranquility: Looks like Dark Tranq’s post-‘Atoma’ winning streak is set to continue. This isn’t quite as good as what The Halo Effect are doing with at least two of the same band members, but this is still fine melodic metal with a weighty mood and lots of lovely sonic touches.
‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’ — Ariana Grande: I’m absolutely a sucker for that late-2000s-Robyn-style hot and heavy beat, enriched with glistening electronica touches and topped off with Ariana’s lovely voice; so much so that I can almost ignore that none of her new songs have been true, powerful, memorable bangers.
‘Don’t Look Away’ — The Plot In You: Lotta hype for these lads, and they certainly know a solid hardcore riff when they hear it, but if there’s a unique secret ingredient in this spicy sauce to set them apart from their shouty peers8, I’m not detecting it.
© Sam Iona Burgess, 2024
