Essential Tracks This Week: Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn, Lollise, and more

Clifford Usher

As summer hits its highest temperatures, we’re reaching for that A/C dial, and turning up some absolute bangers in this week’s batch of Essential Tracks. Of course, this week is a bit polarized, with emotional ballads, ambient dirges, and a couple of bonafide dance anthems. Check out our picks for this week’s best new songs.

Blurbs by Jeff Terich (JT) and Pat Pilch (PP)

Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn – “Breath Out”

Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn’s Pigments was one of the most beautiful albums of 2022, full stop. It paired Richard’s gorgeous vocals with mesmerizing and spacious arrangements that levitated between latter-day Talk Talk and ECM jazz, ambient yet melodic, gracefully evolving yet evoking a kind of meditative stillness. “Breath Out,” the first single from their follow-up to that stunning debut, is cut from a similar cloth, its minor key melody echoing like whispers in a cavern of ice, while Richard’s understated vocals provide a comforting source of warmth. It’s stark, melancholy, yet serene—and unsurprisingly, the most beautiful piece of music I’ve heard all week. – JT

From Quiet In a World Full of Noise, out October 4 via Merge.

Johnny Blue Skies – “Jupiter’s Faerie”

Sturgill Simpson’s transition to a new phase of his career under the name Johnny Blue Skies has ushered in a progressive approach to country rock that’s not necessarily new per se, but takes on a different shape. There’s a lushness to the arrangements on his second debut album Passage du Desir, which is on full display on the standout centerpiece, “Jupiter’s Faerie.” It’s a seven-plus-minute meditation on grief that touches upon the cosmic and the metaphysical in a way that’s been a staple of Simpson’s music over the past decade. It’s also a rich headphone masterpiece of string-laden choruses and haunting verses, as emotionally devastating as it is musically breathtaking.

From Passage du Desir, out now via High Top Mountain

Lollise – “eDube”

Brooklyn-by-Botswana artist Lollise announced her debut full length I Hit the Water this week, the news arriving with the record’s electric lead single “eDube.” The track’s brilliance contrasts its mournful subject matter, as “eDube” is Lollise’s message to her late father, a postcard elegy to the afterlife on the injustice which transpired in his wake. Singing in English, Setswana, and Kalanga, Lollise weaves her culture, language and family history to link the present with the past. She interpolates a children’s bedtime prayer while shifting perspectives between Lollise the younger and Lollise at present, who now reaches the age of her father at the time of his passing. Though mournful, “eDube” is charged with peace. Lollise celebrates her father’s creative passions, recounts her family’s misfortunes, but leaves him to rest assured that everything worked out just alright. – PP

From I Hit the Water, out September 6 via Switch Hit

Floating Points – “Key103”

Sam Shepherd’s music often transitions between delicately arranged and elaborate pieces like his 2021 collaboration with Pharoah Sanders, Promises, and the more physically driven sounds of dance music. “Key103,” his latest single that arrives with the announcement of his next album Cascade, is one of the latter. He’s signaled that he was headed this way for some time, having released a series of singles over the past two years that find him squarely focused on the BPMs. Yet “Key103” is a reminder that even at his most beat-driven, Shepherd remains progressive in his compositional approach, winding its way toward a heady, psychedelic climax over the course of its more than seven minutes. But at no point does it lose its pulse, the gravitational pull that ensures this cosmic odyssey retains its tether to solid ground. – JT

From Cascade, out September 13 via Ninja Tune

Kelly Lee Owens – “Love You Got”

Speaking of dance music, Kelly Lee Owens is back with a straight-up banger. Just when it seemed like the Welsh producer had move as far away from actual pop music as she could with 2022’s LP.8, she returns with nothing but beats, hooks and the irresistible urge to move. “Love You Got” is the kind of bass- and beat-heavy dance anthem that feels like it could rock a proper stadium, and she’s had some practice, having recently opened for Depeche Mode as part of their Memento Mori tour. Owens’ stage and horizon have only grown bigger, and it’s a blast to hear her just go for it.