From P!nk’s pop return with her new album Beautiful Trauma to King Krule’s dark, jazzy weirdness in The OOZ, there’s plenty of music to get lost in this week. Consider the summery Caribbean-EDM stylings of Dillon Francis on “Hello There,” or get into your feelings with moody pop singer Morgan Saint’s ethereal “Glass House.” In the mood to for a more political soundtrack? Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Shungudzo mixes message and melody on a new single that’s as catchy as it is thoughtful.
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"Where We Go," P!nk
“Where We Go” is one of those toe-tapping country-flecked pop songs that makes it hard not to sing along to, volume all the way up. Off of P!nk’s triumphant new album Beautiful Trauma, “Where We Go” doesn’t break new ground — but that’s a good thing when you’re hitmaking veteran P!nk. With an easy beat and deeply catchy chorus, she sings a bittersweet ode to finding peace in madness. “Throw my head out the window / Feel the wind, make me whole,” she suggests. Pump this one on your drive home after a long day.
"Long Live the Billionaire," Shungudzo
Born and raised in Zimbabwe and pursuing gymnastics, poetry and journalism over the years, singer-songwriter Shungudzo hasn’t taken anything close to a traditional path to music. But “Long Live the Billionaire,” her first single, is no amateur work. The socially-conscious lyrics, sung in a haunting lilt, mesh against an entrancing tune that pulls from country and folk. “Didn’t choose where I’m born. Didn’t rain on your streets,” she seethes, an immigrant’s rallying cry. “I don’t know who you came for, but it wasn’t me.”
"Hello There," Dillon Francis
Advertised around L.A. by a bunch of goofy posters of a shirtless man happily chomping down on some pineapple, “Hello There” is pretty much the aural equivalent of those innocuous, slightly tropical images. DJ and producer Dillon Francis is known for his humor and hubris on social media, but the actual music of “Hello There” plays it mostly straight. It’s an EDM track heavily influenced by Caribbean rhythms, cooled down by a metallic-sounding marimba and given a boost by the easy-breezy singing of California’s Yung Pinch. If you’re seeking a fall earworm that still sounds a bit like summer, “Hello There” is as good a pickup tune as any.
"Glass House," Morgan Saint
New York poet and artist Morgan Saint just released her first EP 17 Hero, and the sweet-sour, enchantingly light “Glass House” is a perfect introduction to her delicately constructed, eerily resonant music. Reverberating echoes open up the song, which feels — like the glass house of its title — fragile and transparent in its clean production and raw emotion. “You can let me go if you need to let me go,” she sighs, but it’s a weighted admission, counterbalanced by need.
"Biscuit Town," King Krule
King Krule could be an artist making slinky jazz, or elegant R&B. Instead, though, the offbeat young musician prefers to make things that don’t quite fit expectations — or categories. Brit Archy Marshall’s new album The OOZ is packed with dark, melancholic weirdness, songs mixing rich instrumentation with heavily stylized vocal delivery, swinging from grunge surf rock to poetic ruminations. “Biscuit Town” is one of the more directly melodic of the bunch, still imbued with his heavy, accented eeriness, but buoyed by sultry jazz.
