Essential Tracks This Week: Jay Som, Neko Case, and more

Daniel Topete

After a week off to celebrate the 4th of July, or at the very least just enjoy a three-day weekend, we’re back with a new round of Essential Tracks to load into your headphones. Among this week’s picks are the return of Jay Som, Neko Case, Agriculture and more.

Jay Som – “Float” (feat. Jim Adkins)

The first single from Jay Som’s first new album in six years features guest vocals from Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins. And if you’re hoping that means it’s steeped in a late ’90s and early ’00s emo aesthetic, then you’re in luck. Big-hearted and overflowing with angsty anergy, “Float” is all hooks and power chords and feelings. And, naturally, great vocal harmonies. Given the soft-rock aesthetics of 2019’s Anak Ko (which was great, by the way), it’s fun to hear Jay Som deliver something with so much drive and forward momentum. – Jeff Terich

From Belong, out Oct. 10 via Polyvinyl

Neko Case – “Wreck”

Singer/songwriter Neko Case continues to excel nearly three decades after her debut album, returning with “Wreck,” a symphonic folk tune that at times feels like country music from the 1970s if it were adapted for Broadway. It’s great summer music for whimsy in the sun, its melodic aspirations soaring in part thanks to her multi-tracked vocals. Fans of Case’s solo work will find that this song puts a skip in their step, and it flows well without relying on huge pop hooks, showing her dedication to doing it her way. – Wil Lewellyn

From Neon Grey Midnight Green, out Sept. 26 via Anti-

Agriculture – “Bodhidharma”

In conjunction with Wednesday’s announcement of an incoming studio album by anomalous band Agriculture, the L.A. quartet simultaneously released a song from it, as is protocol nowadays. One might regard as pretentious Agriculture’s belief that they warrant a genre of their own, which they call “ecstatic black metal.” But try finding another band that alternates between enormous riffs that grab hold like the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi and refuse to let go. That is, until “Bodhidharma” suddenly beelines into extended periods of what would be total silence were it not for vocals that themselves vacillate between harsh and clean. For the love of God, The Spiritual Sound is going to be a terrifying listen made by terrifyingly talented musicians. – Kurt Orzeck

From The Spiritual Sound, out October 3 via The Flenser

El Michels Affair – “Say Goodbye” (feat. Florence Adooni)

I’m finally starting to understand the connections between all of El Michels Affair’s productions over the past few years, from Black Thought to Norah Jones. Now, as he previews his upcoming album 24 Hr. Sports on the way, it already sounds like a 21st-century version of those elaborate Quincy Jones extravaganzas from decades past. Leon Michels, innately, similar to Rick Rubin, just knows how to make an artist sound better in their own skin. “Say Goodbye” feels like that Sylvia Striplin joint, slowed down, real chewy and rubberized in the funk, with Adooni taking the hook and making it gospel.

Michels was inspired by the look of ‘80s Sports Illustrated magazines, “the graphic design, the look, the pictures, and the way people dressed,” he says, for this project. He also started listening to MF DOOM’s Special Herbs instrumental albums and felt inspired by his beats. “I wanted to reference that and his sample source material, which was a lot of ‘70s fusion and Brazilian records, but then with his cool spin on it.” That lo-fi to less is more strategy makes “Say Goodbye” instantly have “haven’t I heard this before” prime—earworm, rewind summer jam material, till the sun calls it a day and the moon picks up the slack. – John-Paul Shiver

From 24 Hr. Sports, out Sept. 5 via Big Crown

Sir Richard Bishop – “They Shall Take Up Serpents”

Prolific guitarist and former Sun City Girl Sir Richard Bishop is a master of psychedelic American primitivism, and “They Shall Take Up Serpents,” the first song he’s released from upcoming album Hillbilly Ragas, is no exception. Frantic and mesmerizing, “Serpents” finds the point at which an intricate and intense approach meets a more hypnotic open-tuned raga-like sound. It takes a lot to make a solo acoustic guitar performance genuinely thrilling but, well, that’s exactly what he’s done here. – Jeff Terich