Five for Friday: 21st Dec 2018
Vera Blue - All The Pretty Girls
The day after releasing her first live album "Lady Powers Live At The Forum" recorded on tour, Sydney-based artist Vera Blue released a fantastic new pop single called "All The Pretty Girls". Her silvery vocals draw you in over smooth production and the song begs you to turn the volume up and sing along. She wrote the song with some friends while in LA and was eager to share it as soon as she got back to Australia.
"I'm always listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac so the song was written [with] super Fleetwood Mac-y vibes," says Blue. "I feel like a lot of people can probably connect to it because it's kind of a self-protection song... It's a cheeky play on stereotypes, the whole idea of judging a book by its cover. It's kind of cruel and not really my vibe, but when you like someone or [are] attracted to someone you're like ooh, ok that person looks like they're a player-heartbreaker; makes all the girls cry. All the pretty girls meaning all girls in general because all girls are pretty."
Syence - Nice Girl
LA-based producer duo Syence's new bass-pop single "Nice Girl" is out now on MrSuicideSheep and Seeking Blue, a label that has been a dream of theirs to release on since day one. Within two weeks of the release on MrSuicideSheep's channel they hit 1 million views on YouTube. The track has tight, minimal production in the verses leaving the spotlight to the vocals, then progresses into a banging drop. They recently released popular remixes of Jai Wolf's Lost and The Chainsmokers' You Owe Me, and also supported ARMNHMR on tour in their hometown of San Luis Obispo in California.
Thutmose - Memories
Last Friday, Nigerian-born and Brooklyn-raised rapper Thutmose released his new single "Memories" which features on the soundtrack for Marvel's new animated superhero movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The track sees Thutmose's lovely singing rather than rapping over soft production giving the track a relaxed feel. Thutmose went on hiatus between 2016 and 2017 before returning with a viral freestyle of Kendrick Lamar's Humble. That along with a string of popular singles attracted the attention of video game company EA Sports who grabbed Thutmose's music for their games NBA Live 19 and FIFA 2018 World Cup. He also toured with pop artist Billie Eilish late last year. To hear more of Thutmose, check out his fantastic new album "Man On Fire Mixtape".
KREAM - Deep End (Eden Prince Remix)
KREAM's song "Deep End" has been remixed by a number of electronic producers including Disto, Zaxx, Mvjesty and UK-based producer Eden Prince. The latter has given the track a dancey piano-based house beat that oozes with good vibes. It's the perfect dance song to blast at a club or from a boombox with friends. Prince began releasing covers and remixes of artists including Michael Jackson and Britney Spears in 2015, and last year released his first original song "Obvious", a pop banger with vocals from Cassie.
JayKode x Blanke - Artifacts
US-based producer JayKode, known for fusing bass music with elements of classical music, has teamed up with Australian producer Blanke for their dramatic, heavy new single "Artifacts". The track starts softly with muted piano and dark atmosphere before building up with big orchestral percussion and strings. The track then brings in an electronic build and drop cutting tightly between dance beats and massive walls of cinematic atmosphere.
JayKode also recently performed a wonderful live acoustic version of his song Careful which is well worth checking out.
Blanke has seen a rapid rise since surfacing in 2016, having headlined two tours and shared the stage with the likes of Illenium, RL Grime, Peking Duk, Alison Wonderland and many more. He's closed out 2018 on a collaboration with REZZ called "Mixed Signals" and will be performing in San Francisco for Insomniac at the massive Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in early February 2019.