New Music From The Inbox – Tuesday Edition! (July 25, 2017): Busty and the Bass, Lafa Taylor & Aabo, Ephrata, and more!
Artist: Busty and the Bass
Song: “Common Ground”
Album/EP: Uncommon Good
Busty and the Bass have been heralded as Canada’s premiere college band for the past few years, and for good reason – their shows spark parties at campuses across the country. But the nine piece jazz unit shows a bit of their funky roots in this single from their upcoming debut LP: lush, groovy, and humid, it’s old-school R&B worth celebrating with a dash of Busty’s youthful spin.
Watch/Listen:
Artist: Lafa Taylor & Aabo
Song: “Turn My Music Up”
Album/EP: Feel
Sometimes having too many elements can make a track feel cluttered, but “Turn My Music Up” totally avoids that issue. All kinds of acoustic and electric parts make the electro-R&B tune refreshingly modern without ever feeling overproduced or unnecessary. It also helps that it slaps.
Listen:
Artist: Great Grandpa
Song: “NO”
Album/EP: Plastic Cough
Yes, Great Grandpa were featured just a few weeks ago, but when good new music comes knocking, the inbox must accept. “NO” is especially catchy: the lilting, confounding, genre-defying rock features a fun melodic bump that is courteous enough to save its appealingly screeching breakdown for the very end of the track. These Seattle natives continue to capture me, despite how difficult they make it to sing along.
Watch/Listen:
Artist: Ephrata
Song: “Odds”
Album/EP: Ephrata
Another Seattle rock band, but this time on the light-leaning indie end of the spectrum. Glimmering and shimmering guitars, meandering harmonies, and a romping bass in the forefront kind of feels like the fresh rites of spring in a neat audio package. It’s about as pretty as a song can get, although the lyrics may beg to differ.
Listen:
Artist: Nothing But Thieves
Song: “Sorry”
Album/EP: Broken Machine
The UK’s Nothing But Thieves have been on a meteoric rise over the past several months, but new track “Sorry” is more of a slow burn than a flash in the pan. The contemporary alt-rock track builds slowly but surely, layering in instruments until the full-blown confessional hits its anthemic climax. And with almost half a million views in just a couple days, it’s clear this song is striking chords.
Watch/Listen:
Artist: Austra
Song: “Future Politics”
Album/EP: Future Politics
The song and album aren’t exactly brand new, but a smattering of Canadian dates in August and September means that Montreal’s Austra and their Future Politics ended up in the inbox at this time of year. “Future Politics” the song has a really intriguing contemporary pop vibe: the haunting hook is pretty much the only part of the song that remains consistent, with the rest of the beats and synths shifting as they swirl around.
Watch/Listen:
