The 20 best songs of July

Fcukers

Homie Don’t Shake

Fcukers are a New York electronic trio who are bringing a big indie sleaze vibe in their music to date. I wrote an intro piece to their vibe but what you need to know about ‘Homie Don’t Shake’ is ‘Homie Don’t Shake’ hsd a literal sample of Beck’s Devil’s Haircut’ included and cowbell that plucked from a record from The Rapture, vocals channelled from Brazil indie sleaze era band CSS, and a breakdown that is straight out of the Chemical Brothers playbook.

It’s hard to make music sound this nonchalantly cool, but Fcukers do it easily, ‘Homie Don’t Shake’ is nonsensical (“say you’ll DJ at my wake”) grimey, DIY, evocative of an early era (I feel like the Cobra Snake reference is intentional) and endlessly repeatable.

Clairo

Thank You

Clairo’s new album third album is an easy summertime listening with soul-dipped music co-produced with Leon Michels (of The Dap-Kings and El Michels Affair), and seventies soft rock-inspired production.

‘Sexy To Someone’ is a jam also.

Silverbacks

Selling Shovels

The Kildare/Belgian alt-rock band have announced their third album Easy Being A Winner, out on Friday 18th October through Central Tones/Cargo.

‘Selling Shovels’ was the first song from the now six-piece band since the 2022 second album Archive Material. The track has the band’s cerebral wonky alt-guitar pop style intact, inspired by Dan Kelly’s penchant for jumping straight the death info on Wikipedia on famous people.

“The idea for these lyrics came from a habit I have – maybe everyone does it? When reading a historical figure’s Wikipedia page I often lose interest and so I jump straight to the ‘personal life’ and ‘death’ part of the page to see how they died and the circumstances they were in at the time. The lyrics flicker between mundane distractions and fairly horrific images of war. Selling Shovels is a reference to ‘selling shovels during the gold rush’.”

Originally featured.

Or:la

Chant

The Derry DJ and producer Or:la has announced a debut album Trusting Theta to be released on September 20th on Fabric Originals, and feaures contributions from SOAK, Eliza Rose, and Mary Lake, and pulls from Or:la’s (Orlagh Dooley) wide-array loves of acid, breakbeat, UK bass, tribal house, deep house, 90’s techno and garage.

New song ‘Chant’ is a body riddling-rhythm with vocals by Or:La herself inspired by life in London, and the city’s socialites.

Originally featured.

Skinner

New Wave Vaudeville

Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer Aaron Corcoran is back with a song inspired by the New York no wave scene.‘New Wave Vaudeville’, is a song inspired by the freeform art club in New York in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and is out today on Faction Records.

I actually got to meet the artist David McDermott while I was writing the song. He was the original host and MC of New Wave Vaudeville in the 70s and he lives in Dublin now. He agreed to meet up with me and I got to ask him a bunch of questions about it and the New York No-wave music and art scene in the late 70s. He’s a very inspiring guy and talking to him really helped me to piece together the song more accurately.”

It’s a song about being proud of being weird.

The song is inspired by the variety show extravaganza New Wave Vaudeville.  It was a musical variety freak show hosted in the 57 club in New York in the late 70’s with an emphasis on showcasing strange and unorthodox acts. I liked the ethos they had about embracing the weird and wanted to try and incorporate that idea into a song.

DOI: I manage Skinner

Jamie xx; The Avalanches

All You Children

Jamie xx’s forthcoming album In Waves (September 20th) has had some great guests so far with Robyn and Honey Dijon now joined by Australian electro psych-sampling band The Avalanches on a Giorgio Moroder esque electronic jam, with nods to tropical pop.

Chanel Beads

Police Scanner

New York-based musician Shane Lavers and close collaborators Maya McGrory and Zachary Paul make up Chanel Beads, and their album of indie, electronic, pop, and alternative music called Dedicated To The World came out on Jagjaguwar in April.

‘Police Scanner’ is a returning visitor to my ears from the record, and it makes sense that the band have been supporting Mount Kimbie, as their music reminds of Mount Kimbie’s current iteration, with more of a foot in the singer-songwriting realm.

Chanel Beads play Bello Bar Dublin on November 17th.

Kynsy

Stereo Games

Following recent single ‘Money’, London-based Dublin artist Kynsy has dropped another indie rock banger on Nice Swan.

‘Stereo Games’ is influenced by New Young Pony Club, and Wet Leg, which you can detect readily. It’s the kind of bright and breezy pop rock song that should do well on UK guitar radio.

“This song is a wild ride through the chaos of love and self-destruction. It’s about the intense, sometimes toxic, passion that can consume us, turning heartbreak into a form of art. With a nod to mythic and modern icons like Dionysus and Kendrick Lamar, it’s a rebellious anthem that immortalises the madness of love in a ‘stereo game’ of emotions and dreams”.

Watch the video above which is giving A Tale Of Two Sisters in technicolour vibes, directed by Dougie Chalmers.

A Lazarus Soul

The Dealers

A Lazarus Soul chiefly identify as a Dublin band. Their last album was called The D They Put Between the R & L, and their songs talk of the true Dublin working class.

Five years later, and the band’s album No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens is released today, and features this beautiful stirring acoustic and string-arranged song about Dublin street traders Bridie and Tessie.

The pleasure of listening to the lyrics of these characters is a big part of the appeal, as is Brian Brannigan’s vocal.

Money for jam.

A Lazarus Soul’ Tickets upcoming gig dates are at Vicar Street in October, Coughlan’s in Cork and Cleere’s in Kilkenny.

Caribou

Broke My Heart (Champion remix)

The Champion remix of Caribou’s ‘Broke My Heart’ is encapsulating the sound of the bass-driven dancefloor cuts I’ve heard at festivals lately (pretty sure Four Tet played this at Forbidden Fruit), along with live streams at Coachella in April where Caribou played it.

His Father’s Voice

The Blues

From the Beach House-esque ‘Forgot To Feed’ to April’s ‘Arm’s Length’ , and now to their newest single ‘The Blues’, Limerick band His Father’s Voice are a band catching the ones to watch tag fast.

The song brandishes darkly lit guitar lines under Ash O’Connor’s bright melodies and underscores the duality of the light and dark with a video by Graham Patterson (Out of Place / Feile na Gréine), that was inspired by the 1981 psychological horror film Possession.

The band cite Siouxsie & the Banshees, Protomartyr, Drahla and The Altered Hours as sonic inspirations and share the following statement alongside the release:

Originally posted here.

Mica Levi

Slob Air

A surprisingly warm-hearted 12 minute song from composer Mica Levi (Zone Of Interest / Zola / Tirzah) on Hyperdub. Seems to be a once-off single that just glides on a drumbeat and strings without resolve.

It’s on 12″ released in September.

EFÉ

2000SEVEN

Dublin-based artist Anita Ikharo aka Efé moves her music firmly into indie-rock with a new track.

‘2000Seven’ is released on the Fader label, and premiered on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show.

It’s a guitar fuzz song that throwbacks to early 2000s rock, with pleasing melodies and a great video directed by EFÉ and Wiktoria Weintritt to accompany it, as the artist continues her rise.

Palmbomben II, Kid From Amazon

Boy I Can Dance

Dutch lo-fi house producer Palmbomen takes inspiration from Brazilian music scene, on his latest release Dancing & Crying: Brazil.

‘Boy I Can Dance’ is a pleasing tropical dance pop shuffle with vocals by Brazilian singer Kid From Amazon.

It’s reminding me of this Pional tune.

D*mp

don’tunderstandaword

Producer Ryan Dwyer aka D*mp’s latest is a woozy slice of AMSR electronica that works well alongside the work of John Glacier.

From the f2f EP of demos which Dwyer says “some slightly sadder spoken word and noises taken from my grandads piano back in Dublin, reworked into logic as an instrument and then these kind of sounds come out.”

Emma Noodles

Breath Away

Kildare artist Emma Noodles dropped a roller-skating themed self-directed and made video for her recent song ‘Breath Away’, a glossy retro synth pop tune that immediately jumped out of the noise recently.

The video was made with the help of her dad who drove the car with her friend Jack with the camera in the boot. The incoming car beeps lead Emma to skate into the ditch and pick up some cuts and bruises.

All in the name of art.

THEY.

Diamonds & Pearls

If The Weeknd made soft late-night R&B music that was more sensual than sleazy, more Miguel than The Idol, then it might sound like this.

They are Drew Love and Dante Jones.

Clara La San

Things You Didn’t Know

Clara La San is a relatively mysterious musician from Manchester, who most people will recognise from featuring on the recent Bicep records, and she has provided backing vocals for musician Yves Tumor.

Made Mistakes is the artist’s new album an entirely self-written, produced and issued album of nocturnal R&B-pop songwriting.

Salimata, MIKE

u know who u are

A pal put me onto the new album Wooden Floors by Brooklyn rapper Salimata, and this track features MIKE. The song’s twilight jazzy MF DOOM-esque production is a perfect bed for MIKE guest verse.

As the video suggests, the pair are on tour.