MFMM January 2019

Hello! This is the first in a series of monthly newsletters where I’ll give a roundup of roughly 10 of my favorite songs to come out every month. Each month’s discussion will also include a Spotify playlist of the tracks, attached at the bottom.

Barefoot In The Park — James Blake & Rosalía

When I first heard that Rosalía would be featuring on James Blake’s upcoming album, my expectations were immediately set ridiculously high. Rosalía’s most recent album, El Mal Querer, set the new standard for modern Spanish pop, with tunes like “Malamente,” “Pienso en tu mirá,” and “Di mi nombre” that quickly became fixtures in my rotation. “Barefoot In The Park” managed to meet and exceed those expectations.

The track fits perfectly on Assume Form, which I view as a love album above all else, with Blake and Rosalía weaving gorgeous passages about a relationship in its honeymoon, heavily influenced by the Catalan singer’s flamenco roots. The song’s title is most likely a reference to a 1963 Neil Simon play by the same name about a newlywed couple learning to live together, who, as the chorus goes, “start rubbing off” on each other.

The whole album is worth a listen, but “Barefoot In The Park” stands out for Rosalía’s fresh sound, the infectious duet chorus, and Blake’s eerie production.

Champagne Life — Makadi & theMIND

I’m not exactly sure how I stumbled on this track, but I’m sure glad I did. On this cut from his debut album, Makadi effortlessly glides over a beat that sounds like a flip of Kaytranada’s “You’re the one.” The Vancouver based rapper also treats us to a simple but sticky hook that anyone can get behind: “pour up the champagne.”

The celebratory lyrics on “Champagne Life” might not be the most creative or original, but Makadi’s dynamic flow builds with the instrumental in a way that makes for a really enjoyable listen. The choir-like vocal backing makes the track feel even richer than it already is.

theMIND’s feature is a series of lighthearted flexes that fit perfectly with the tune’s carefree feel. The Philly-born, Chicago-based artist is expected to have a follow up album to 2016’s Summer Camp out sometime soon, and based on his performance here it should be one to look forward to.

Exception to the Rule — Better Oblivion Community Center (Phoebe Bridgers & Connor Oberst)

Any band whose rollout includes conspiracy theory-style posters on benches and a phone number that just plays a bizarre answering machine message immediately has my attention. Fortunately (probably actually unfortunately), Better Oblivion Community Center is the only band to do that.

The collaborative project from singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst was released with little to no advance notice earlier this month to almost universally positive reviews.

Oberst, best known as the lead of indie rock group Bright Eyes, has played with several bands lately, but this is his first joint record. Bridgers is well pastbeing an “emerging-artist” after her 2017 debut Stranger in the Alps and fantastic 2018 collaboration Boygenius. The two have linked up for tracks before, but on this new project they elevate each other to another level.

“Exception to the Rule” stood out because its beat diverges from the more traditional folk-rock feel of the rest of the album. The synthetic driving baseline keeps the energy high even with the two’s forlorn duets and melancholy chords.

The track focuses the pitfalls of freedom. The opening line, “You need an occupation / To warrant a vacation,” shares the fear of losing purpose and motivation without external pressure. Even though the two want to “live out in the forest” or “go drifting out to sea,” they’re always drawn back to engaging with society by powers they can’t really grasp. The internal battle between wanting to be lazy and untethered and the perception that you need to be doing something more with your life resonates deeply.

Feels — Shay Lia

You know that feeling when you’re curled up by the fire with a book and warm cup of hot chocolate while its frigid outside? Ok, now take that, but make it extremely sexy. I don’t care how, just do it. But wait, you’re irreparably heartbroken. That’s what Shay Lia bottles up on her new single “Feels.”

The minimalistic production from my absolute favorite French DJ, Stwo, is immaculate. The minimalistic drums keep the pace under the atmospheric synth lead that’s almost too easy to lose yourself in.

Under the surface of the warm, enveloping production and soulful singing, the “feels” conveyed on the track are incredibly dark. Lia shared that the song is her most intimate yet.

“Wrote about the conflicted mess I was going through last year in my relationship,” she explained. “It was emotionally taxing but learned a lot and I’m so thankful for that.”

Lia laments on the slow waning of love in her relationship that is “stuck in a losing game,” but can’t bring herself to close off the cycle of falling into desire again and let go of memories of when things were at their best.

Jawbreaker — Injury Reserve, Rico Nasty & Pro Teens

Injury Reserve’s first single for their highly anticipated label debut showcases the best of each member while also previewing a fresh sound the group could pick up.

Parker Corey’s stripped back production, which features little more than a xylophone lead and a deconstructed base line, manages to do a lot with a little. At the end of the track, when Phoenix band Pro Teens’s vocals get distorted and amplified at the same time that audio samples like Kanye West’s famous “How Sway?!” are added to the mix, Corey reminds us about the chaos he can create.

Ritchie With a T opens the track with a hilarious monologue about Instagram fashion and hypebeasts that doubles as a call out of the fashion industry’s blind eye toward alleged abusers.

In “Jawbreaker’s” music video Ritchie dubs a model Ian Connor and calls the pair of Ian Connor Revenge X Storm sneakers he’s wearing the “Rape 3000’s.” Connor, a stylist and model who has gained significant online fame, faces six public accusations of rape. Despite those allegations, his star has continued to rise within the community, appearing in prestigious magazines and attending top fashion shows.

The next verse is taken by a more subdued version of the mercurial Rico Nasty, who matches the instrumental and pace of the track. She continues the theme of tackling issues in fashion, this time expectations of how black women should present themselves, mimicking someone asking “You know that you’re a black girl, right? / Your hair is supposed to be sewed in, not spiked up.” Although the trademark nasty-ness might not come through as clearly on this new cut, Rico continues to expand her range.

Stepa J. Groggs finishes off the track with a tight verse highlighting how expensive pursuing modern fashion can be: “we all know someone who blown their whole rent on some Off-White.”

Despite the criticisms of modern fashion culture in the track, at the end of the day “Jawbreaker” is a huge flex about dressing well that’s very fun to listen to because of the unique production and clever verses. As Corey explained, it’s a simple trope in popular music repackaged “in a challenging way.”

Meet Again — Maxo Kream

Maxo Kream is a great rapper. His bars are introspective and his flow is supremely smooth. But what separates Maxo from his peers is his storytelling. On “Meet Again” the Houston based artist delivers a criticism of the criminal justice system packaged as a series of letters to a friend in prison.

Although the bulk of the track is about his particular friend in jail, Maxo drops a few bars to show how incarceration is an omnipresent part of his lived experience: “I got homies in the grave, I got brothers in the pen / I got some that’s comin’ home, I got some that’s going in.”

Maxo laments to his friend about how jail robs families of their own at the most impactful times, with long term implications when he raps “But let me tell you ‘bout your daughter, yesterday, she tried to walk / Everyday, she gettin’ smarter, other day, she tried to talk /
 You can’t be there like a father and it’s fuckin’ with you mentally.”

The song reaches its most impactful when Maxo incorporates mentions how imprisonment is affecting his own family, even as a fairly well-known successful artist: “My pops back in the system, he might just die in prison / My mom is co-defendant, so she got locked up with him / He got snitched on by his own sister, she the eyewitness / Now every time I see my blood cousins, I don’t even feel ‘em.”

Maxo’s antipathy toward and distrust of the legal system is perfectly summarized in the hook: “I’d rather be carried by six before I’m judged by 12.”

This blurb is so heavily dependent on Maxo’s bars because they are the highlight of the track and what makes “Meet Again” so impactful. His personal connection to the lyrics and honest delivery are singular.

Old Man — Stella Donnelly

Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly released “Old Man” along with the announcement of her debut album Beware of the Dogs, which, if this song is anything to go by, should be worth a listen.

Donnelly has frequently used her music as a conduit to critique the patriarchy and hyper masculinity. “Old Man” is another devastatingly effective communicative device for her.

Not only does she call out men who, while sexual harassment was rampant in their workplaces, “sat there silently while you kept your job and your place and your six-figure wage,” but she defiantly stands up aggressors.

“I’ve worked too hard for this chance to not be biting the hand that feeds the hate / So have a chat to your friends, ’Cause it’s our words that’ll keep our daughters safe.”

In an accompanying press release, Donnelly explained that she came up with the chords and chorus “around the time when Woody Allen called the #metoo movement a witch hunt” in 2017.

“It was a very strange feeling for me watching the world change right before my eyes and to see that these men who had exploited their power for so long were actually being held accountable for their actions,” Donnelly said.

“It made me look back on my experiences as a young woman doing music and certain powerful men who tried to manipulate me and exploit other young women. I needed to write this song for myself because if I hadn’t I would still feel quite angry about things that I probably let slide in my younger, more naive days.”

The chorus is a rallying cry for the movement holding those at fault accountable: “Oh, are you scared of me, old man? Or are you scared of what I’ll do? You grabbed me with an open hand The world is grabbin’ back at you.”

Not only is it chock-full with necessary and effective critique, but the tune itself is a joy to listen to. The dreamy guitar melody and simple drum line combine for a perfect contrast to her biting commentary.

País Nublado — Helado Negro

To whoever out there is already saying “Chris, this song came out in December!” remember: there is always an Exception to the Rule. Released on Dec. 26, Helado Negro’s second single for his upcoming project This is How You Smile is a gorgeous piece of dreamy bilingual music about doubt and how to deal with it.

The title, which translates to “Cloudy Country,” alludes to a country, and people, with uncertain futures. When faced that unpredictability, Roberto Carlos Lange tells the listener to take their time to explore and understand what lies ahead.

The synth leads and vocal backing create a wholly detached atmosphere over which Lange ruminates on all the possibilities ahead of him: “And I haven’t lost my breath, shouting all the things we’re about to do, and we’ll take our turn, and we’ll take our time.”

In his own words, Lange explained that he wrote the tune as “a dedication to endurance and knowing that I’ll never be worried about rushing. I’ll take my time and find my way.”

Song 31 — Noname & Phoelix

As usual, Noname said it best. “When you arguing wit yo homies over whether or not I can rap, send them this.”

“Song 31” is a showcase of not only Noname’s storytelling and flowery imagery but also her ability to lay down some bars.

In a track that would have fit on her 2018 project Room 25, the Chicago-based rapper and singer-songwriter seamlessly oscillates between talking about lazing around watching T.V. and skillfully linking society’s profit drive with prisons and factory farming: “I sell pain for profit not propaganda / I know cancers origins link to Santa / I know Santa’s origins link to money / Mass production of cattle, a slaughtering for the yummy / These niggas is clever, the prison no better.”

Phoelix’s hook is catchy, smooth, and gives a perfect respite in between Noname’s bars. He also handled the track’s silky jazz production, as he has done for other rising stars of the Midwestern rap scene like Smino and Saba.

Although Noname’s delivery may sound more relaxed and laidback than other artists, “Song 31” provides just another example of the technical and lyrical dexterity she has. Noname is one of the best rappers out, period.

Spendin’ — ILoveMakonnen & Gucci Mane

ILoveMakonnen is back! After some time away from music following 2016’s Drink More Water 6 punctuated by three so-so features and 4th of July EP, not only is the Atlanta-based artist back, but he’s back with a bang.

“Spendin’” is a track that will make anyone want to move. The production from Makonnen, Roofeeo, Louis Bell, and Brenton Duvall is infectious. The former OVO signee brings one of his bounciest flows yet to a hilarious verse about, you guessed it, spending big.

My biggest complaint with most Gucci Mane features tends to be that he gets off topic and just flexes about being rich. Conveniently, this song is literally about spending money.

Gucci’s signature laid-back flow, laden with expensive wordplay and hilarious ad-libs, fits perfectly here, and makes for one my favorite verses from him in a while. I want to highlight a few choice bars to show just how on top of his game Gucci is:

- “I’m spendin’ money like I’m printin’ in the house”
- “I’m the trap god, I’m the Jay-Z of the south”
- “If you ask me, I’m the GOAT, but that just me / Fuck your opinion, my opinion, back to spendin’”

He’s not winning a Pulitzer here, but Gucci’s bars never fail to make me smile.

Makonnen’s return to music could not have started better than “Spendin’.” It might not have a grander meaning, but turn this track on at any party and people will have a good time.

The Knife — Maggie Rogers

“The Knife” is probably the most purely pop tune on Maggie Rogers’s debut album Heard It In A Past Life. That’s not a bad thing.

Greg Kurstin’s energetic, dance music-inspired production empowers Rogers’s vocal range and powerful lyrics. The track is about change through pure expression of emotion.

The “knife” in this song is a substitute for realization and acknowledgement that something has to change in your life: “Oh the knife of insight brought me to my knees / Broke me down and taught me how to see / And I know and I know and I know / That maybe we should take some time / Get this out, make this right.”

Although the initial recognition of what you’ve been doing being wrong is painful, it ultimately can lead to the changes necessary to the rectify the harm that’s been done. Rogers’s advises her listeners that in those moments, when they’re feeling downtrodden and uncertain, to just let everything out: “Let it go if you want get loud / Spark a little, oh it’s all allowed / Beautiful how it all pours out / After dark, after light.”

Rogers is supremely talented at taking complex, universal emotions that at the same time are deeply personal and repackaging them as indie-pop hits. Although “The Knife” might not tackle the deepest emotions on the album, that skill is present in every one of her songs. This track just manages to pair her gift with an incredibly catchy tune.

Spotify playlist: