Essential Tracks: Nourished by Time, DJ Haram, and more
It’s a stellar week for new music! Yes indeed, a fine batch of new records is hitting shelves this week, as are five more outstanding new tracks, hand-picked from your favorite writers here at Treble. Among them, a noisy new dance (kinda?) banger, a synth-soul anthem, some new shoegaze from the UK, and more. Queue up this week’s Essential Tracks.
Nourished by Time – “Max Potential”
After a standout debut in Erotic Probiotic 2 and a similarly stellar follow-up EP in Catching Chickens, Nourished by Time’s Marcus Brown gears up for the release of the project’s sophomore album with a single that expands the scope of Nourished by Time’s sound. At once melancholy and anthemic, “Max Potential” is a banger in muted tones, a blockbuster with a soft palette, a synth-soul hit with an alt-rock undercurrent, evoking Yves Tumor with the abrasion filter turned down. It feels like a big step forward for Brown, who has always made good music, but now finds his hooks sharper than ever. – Jeff Terich
From The Passionate Ones, out August 22 via XL
DJ Haram – “Voyeur”
DJ Haram has been part of many of the most interesting releases in electronic music and hip-hop in recent years, including 700 Bliss with Moor Mother, production on the most recent Armand Hammer record, remixing Fever Ray and more. The lead single from her debut solo album Beside Myself only continues that streak, offering a frantic and abrasive set of sounds that juxtaposes a piercing violin loop against intense eruptions of drums. It’s an absolute powerhouse of a track, challenging the notion of what dance music can be, and whether or not you can even dance to it. – Jeff Terich
From Beside Myself, out July 18 via Hyperdub
Wildernesses — “Four Hour Drive”
Britain is responsible for spawning many of the decades-old bands currently inspiring the shoegaze revival, but here we have a breath of fresh air from a somewhat similar ilk hailing from London. The very first song released by the quartet Wildernesses rockets to similar gravity-free heights previously reached by the likes of Lush and My Bloody Valentine. But then the band descends back into Earth’s atmosphere, landing on terra firma to ground itself in more structured post-rock. With breathy vocals, driving melodies and highly listenable production, one immediately wants to hop another ride with these newcomers as soon as their six-minute maiden tune sticks its landing. – Kurt Orzeck
Out now via Floodlit
Mike Polizze – “Everybody I Know”
Mike Polizze’s made a fruitful career of playing loud, fuzzed-out rock ‘n’ roll with his band Purling Hiss, as well as the equally distorted and heavy psychedelic outfit Birds of Maya. But the first single from his upcoming sophomore solo effort slows down the tempo, turns off the fuzz pedal and eases into a breezy, if melancholy ballad with shades of The War on Drugs and Kurt Vile in its somber reflections (and “woo-woo!” intro). It’s a mesmerizing and earthy folk-rock standout from a rocker who’s earned a little breathing room. – Jeff Terich
From Around Sound, out July 11 via Paradise of Bachelors
Amanda Whiting & Alice Russell – “What Is It We Need?”
Acclaimed Welsh jazz harpist Amanda Whiting returns with “What Is It We Need?” featuring the languid vocals of Alice Russell. Whiting, who released the sweet and captivating “A Christmas Cwtch” last year, which covered assorted classics from the likes of Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Holst, and Tchaikovsky, returns with what is being called an “epic piece of downtempo ethereal fusion.” Russell, a hard-working mainstay in the UK’s soul and jazz scene, a pioneer and steady vocal instrument in the British music industry for a few decades, steers and frames the track with additional color and incremental timbre. – John-Paul Shiver
Out now via First Word
