Every Friday morning, Ears to Feed staffers will be highlighting our favorite tracks of the week.
Editorial Board
Maxwell Cann, Editor-In-Chief
Amen Dunes – “Feel Nothing”
Amen Dunes, the moniker of Damon McMahon, returns with their first new single since their brilliant 2018 album Freedom. The track features British post-punk duo Sleaford Mods in tow providing production and Jason Williams lending his voice for a duet with McMahon. “Feel Nothing” is unbridled in it’s determination in search of the truth, basking in love and casting away everything the world uses to tie you down. Pulsing rhythm created by the Mods provides the foundation before a lush piano fills the empty spaces providing a transcendent atmosphere for listeners to lose themselves in.
Angel Olsen – “Gloria (Laura Branigan)”
The enigmatic Angel Olsen announces the start of her new imprint label something cosmic and an upcoming ’80s covers EP entitled Aisles. The first release is an absolutely moving cover of Laura Branigan’s pop classic, “Gloria.” Olsen lifts the bright summer sheen of Branigan’s track away with a slowed down synth-driven version that features a solemn violin.
Hotline TNT – “Had 2 Try”
The Brooklyn via Minneapolis punk trio continue building on their word of mouth and committed DIY aesthetic. They’ll be releasing their new album Nineteen In Love in October on Smoking Room Records with “Had 2 Try” as the first single from their new release. A ’90s nostalgia soaked video mixed with Hotline TNT’s throbbing shoegaze yet hardcore tinged instrumentals is really all you need.
Staff Writers
Brooke Jensen
Kississippi – “Moonover”
Philly-based Kississippi released her third single from her forthcoming album Mood Ring. “Moonover,” holds tightly to the theme of magical realism and intergalactic love that have colored her other singles. Here, Kississippi yearns to have an everlasting fervor, one that could only exist living on a star.
Wednesday – “One More Last One”
Wednesday thrashes into a collision on their latest single. There is melancholy coated over the snarled guitars that evoke going over the Manhattan bridge at twilight. Wednesday has committed to their sprawling sound. Each single released solidifies their avant-garde approach to songwriting.
Laura Stevenson – “Don’t Think About Me”
Laura Stevenson cyclically flirts with the line between gloom and rage. Her latest single embodies a nestled space between the two as she begs a collapsing lover to forget her, while also knowing that she can’t do the same.
Marcos Hassan
Snakeskin – “Heart Orb Bone”
“Heart Orb Bone” is a great example of what makes Shanna Polley a great songwriter. Through her craft and talent, she brings attention to the emotion at the center of the song, following the power pop tradition of undeniable melodies and sad feelings presented in a guitar rock format. This is the kind of sadness that’s fun to sing along to.
Romeo Diablos – “Despierta”
While dembow remains a massive presence in the pop charts thanks to the current reggaeton boom, Romeo Diablos demonstrates that the rhythm can also serve noisy purposes. The L.A. producer raps and screams over a distorted and chaotic groove to evoke as much a frantic Friday night party and as well as some unhinged nightmare vision.
Ducks Ltd. – “18 Cigarettes”
Jangly, unsophisticated, and catchy indie rock has proven to be effective at communicating the complexities of feeling melancholic, something Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. excel at. “18 Cigarettes” manages to revisit the classic Flying Nun and early Creation
Records while also picking newer influences, presenting a playful-yet-slightly-somber-and-irresistible sound.
Pat King
Pile – “I Don’t Want to Do This Anymore”
Rick Maguire lets music spill out of him like he is trying to get bad blood out of a snake bite. While he started releasing music with his post-hardcore band Pile as a “solo” outlet, the frenzied arrangements and pummeling volume of the band transformed the project into the unstoppable force that it is today. To get back to what inspired the project in the first place, Maguire recently announced Songs Known Together, Alone—a new double album and live video recording out next month on Exploding in Sound. The album finds Maguire performing and re-interpreting selections from Pile’s long career all on his own. On a reimagining of instrumental track “I Don’t Want to Do This Anymore” from the 2017 album Hairshirt of Purpose, Maguire adds a brand new vocal and guitar line that transforms the song into something else entirely and just as transfixing.