Pictured L-R: Porches, Namasenda, Wiki
Each week, The FADER staff rounds up the songs we can't get enough of. Here they are, in no particular order.
“Wik Da God” — Wiki
When I spoke with Wiki last week, he identified his new album Half God as the project that helped him rediscover his love for rap (that was surprising to hear, considering how much I enjoyed his previous LP Telephonebooth). This passion is fully unleashed on “Wik Da God,” and on the track Wiki is as hungry as a doberman on a diet. He glides over Navy Blue’s transcendent beat, a slice of sampled Northern Lights-coloured funk, and with free-association flare surveys his legacy: “Wik Da God, boiled down to what he did / Made him who he is / To his loyal subjects, call 'em his kids.” — JD
"Back3School" — Porches
Maybe it's how his stage names riffs off its SUNY Purchase origin, or maybe it's how "Headsgiving" dominated such a large part of my own schooling experience, but something about listening to Porches puts me in an eternally collegiate state of mind. It's a dizzying sensation that he augments on his latest insanely catchy All Day Gentle Hold ! single, the glorious disquietude of life making you its student once again. — SM
“Luvaroq” — Elujay feat. Serpentwithfeet
The reggae-inflected slow jam from Oakland-based artist Elujay is full of plenty of unexpected kicks and flutters, its bouncy yet soothing production offering up the perfect backdrop for both Elujay’s airy vocals and its smooth Serpentwithfeet feature.— SE
“January Summers” — Molly Payton
New Zealander Molly Payton makes simple, aching rock songs that are brought to life by her ragged, incredibly gorgeous voice. Recalling iconic 90s indie rock heroes, “January Summers”, from her new EP Slack, sits squarely in her home country’s tradition of jangle anthems, and would have sounded very much at home sitting amongst Flying Nun’s classic roster. — SD
“Born Yesterday (feat. Sia)” — Arca
It’s songs like “Born Yesterday” that have cemented Arca as a doyenne of the avant-garde electronic world. Turning a leaked Sia demo into something incantatory and wild, “Born Yesterday” upends the idea of Arca as a crossover star, instead suggesting that even when working with one of the world’s most mainstream pop musicians, her music will stay squarely in a zone that’s haunted, weird, and entirely original. — SD
“Protector” — illuminati hotties
Half way through the new illuminati hotties album Let Me Do One More, Sarah Tudzin exposes the raw nerves beneath her “tenderpunk” sound. There isn’t a single snarl on “Protector,” no intense riffs glistening from mosh pit sweat. It’s adrift in an ocean of disappointment, bobbing along on a threadbare drum beat and guitars ringing out with a gentle, shellshocked hum. “Protector” is the sound of an image of a person fading away, with Tudzin narrating as she fills in the rapidly approaching blank. — JD
“heather” — glaive, ericdoa
Glaive and ericdoa’s new EP then I’ll be happy packs 8 songs into just over 15 minutes, offering sugary torment over glitchy beats without ever coming close to overstaying its welcome. The project is probably best digested whole but “heather,” with its 8-bit production, pop hooks, oversized emotions and theatricality all hurtling out of the teens at a rapid pace, is a great entry point. — DR
"No Regrets" — Namasenda
Namasenda's new mixtape Unlimited Ammo is due out at the end of the month, but ahead of that, the PC Music shapeshifter is offering up one more glimpse of what's to come with "No Regrets," an A. G. Cook-produced injunction that sounds like exemplary mall pop for the apocalypse. As if all that wasn't lethal enough, Brooklyn DJ Goth Jafar goes in for the kill at the end: "it's giving you asked me what my sign was and I told you it was stop." Sensational. — SM
“Anxiety (Burlinda’s Theme)” — Jojo
If the last few years have shown us anything, it’s just how much most of us should probably be in therapy. The second single from her latest EP, trying not to think about it, Jojo’s latest sounds like the kind of pulsing, sexy slow jam we’ve come to expect from the singer-songwriter, but actually sees her talking to her mind’s nagging, and often suffocating, self-doubt. “You always show up when it’s inconvenient / Talking real loud and fill my head with lies,” she sings over a thumping bassline. — SE
“Bad Religion” — Cat Power
Cat Power is going to kick off January 2022 by releasing a cover album titled, somewhat appropriately, Covers. The album includes versions of songs by Nick Cave, The Replacements, and more and begins with Chan Marshall’s take on Frank Ocean’s “Bad Religion.” Marshall swaps the raw anguish of the original for something a little more windblown and expansive - guitars buzz gently throughout and the percussion is heavy. If the original Ocean take feels intimate and personal, here Bad Religion is more of a collective hymn with the line “we’re all just stuck in the mud, praying to the invisible above” standing out brighter than ever before. — DR
