Lets kick of today’s little singles fest with the latest offering from The Young Knives, much lauded in the music press and you can understand why judging by the latest single ‘Turn Tail’ sparse and jangly guitars lead you into the song which soon bolsters along nicely in a rather epic fashion. Moribund lyrics are aplenty as the band declares that “We’re all slaves on this ship, this ship’s sinking”. The release formats for this one are of particular note. Alongside the traditional CD and download releases there is a limited edition 7” vinyl release that will play host to specially re recorded lo fi versions of the single. The band recorded played live and recorded directly to a vinyl cutting lathe so the results should be an interesting warts and all recording. Its out on May 19th.
Lupe Fiasco might have struck gold with his previous single ‘Superstar’ alas it only takes one bad single to send the mighty tumbling down and this my friends has sufficient mediocrity about it to put Lupe firmly on his arse. Bland warmed over hip hop that has something of a lounge feel that just shrieks uncommitted in terms of content and performance. Quite frankly not nearly as cool as the press would have you believe. Still if fancy a punt the single is out on now on Atlantic Records. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.
You might just remember me enthusing about Jacob Golden’s last single ‘Out Come The Wolves’ that criminally didn’t make the impact on the nation’s musical consciousness that it should have done. He’s back with his latest single ‘On A Saturday’ which is released on May 26th. Not quite as edgy as his previous release but haunting nonetheless, there are lush vocal sweeps throughout and the plaintive strains of piano. Lyrically rewarding as well this really are worth a listen, hell even the handclaps are good.
Mystery Jets return with Two Doors Down, on paper it should be the kind of prospect that makes me run for the hills but despite the twee sensibilities and the wan vocal they just about get away with it. This is not the sort of record you would admit to liking in polite company unless you would expect to get a kicking, but its going to get bags of radio play and you won’t be able to avoid it. There’s going to be a Switch remix of the album opener ‘Hideaway’ for the cred seekers. The NME is calling this the ‘single of the summer’ but the day we listen to what they say without laughing will be a short one indeed. The single is out on June 2nd.
Next up is Go:Audio with their new single ‘Made Up Stories’, despite the slightly tremulous vocal its not a bad effort, beefy slabs of guitars garnished with a sprinkling of straight preset synths and those pleading earnest choruses that are designed to poleaxe teenage girls when they bob up and down in the front rows when the band. It’s heading for release on a twin 7” pack with a Frank Music remix as well as exclusive new material. They’ve got a headline at Bar Academy in Islington on the 28th as well if you fancy them as a live prospect. The single is out on June 2nd.
There’s mild skanking a plenty with my final single of the day. Natty’s Cold Town is what they call in the trade “a grower”. Natty has cut his teeth supporting professional narky bird Kate Nash and Adele, he has also rose to prominence as part of the Love Music/Hate Racism tour. This single has the same kind of summer appeal that catapulted the likes of Lily Allen into the spotlight, I’d be interested to see if this is a sustainable talent, the single is already getting hammer on Radio 1 and Natty has a string of dates around the capital pending soon.
