FEATURE: Tracks of the Week - 14/2/14

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (14/2/14)

We’ve done the rounds again and picked out the best new music from the last seven days. Consider your Valentine’s playlist sorted. 

Appropriately, we kick things off with Bella Union’s latest signing, Ráj, and his debut, “Let Me Love You”. Don’t be fooled though – this is no happy ending. Sheer heartbreak over empty guitars and spooky percussion, Ráj’s soul repeatedly bleats, “let me love you, ’till it hurts”, and we might just hurt a bit too. An exceptionally promising debut from the LA-based artist. 

Another heart-tugger, “1955″, from new London-based dream-poppers Anto Dust was too hard to ignore despite its imitative dreamgaze composition. Walls of reverb, echoed vocals, humming psych organs and dampened beats combine to make a song that never starts nor ends; an endless loop of expansive, otherworldly sounds.

Woman’s Hour treated us to the first fruits of their labour since signing to Secretly Canadian with “Her Ghost” - a soft, progressive number that glows with confidence. Thankfully, the London-via-Kendal four-piece haven’t lost their knack for keeping musical components at arm’s length: synths skittering at their own accord and guitar lines darting. Fiona Jane’s gentle Northern burr nicely blankets the track, snatching you away from February’s cold winds.

Perhaps it was all the attention on Prince over the last week that got us hooked on Meanwhile's funk-pop debut, “Luvletta”. Ignoring the obvious musical comparisons, the song is so buoyant it could blow the roof off any raucous house party. Horn-sections, big synth barks, colourful vocals and a vivacious rhythm section make for a surefire weekend winner.

Last but not least, Cornwall-based sister duo Hockeysmith dropped possibly the best thing we’ve heard this year: “But Blood”. Where previous demos were mesmerising, if not a little distracted, “But Blood” is the sound of a band truly beginning to hone their craft: angled on brooding sub-bass, skewered acid hooks, fluid drone and opulent vocals. The stunning video is also worth a peep.

Listen to our selection of the week’s best tracks below:

LISTEN/WATCH: Reptile Youth, Volcanoes, Anto Dust

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (11/2/14 - 12/2/14)

Reptile Youth - "JJ"

An exciting new offering from Danish duo Reptile Youth – “JJ” is an impeccably infectious debut. 

Bouncy rhythms and swirling, My Bloody Valentine-indebted guitars spin over five minutes of hypnotic shoepop, paired with stunning black and white videography. “Testing out your immortality”, vocalist Mads Damsgaard Kristiansen shoots from the back of his throat as we peer in on him and co-member Esben Valløe suitably sacrificing themselves to icy seas. As joyful basslines pop and guitars crunch, we are constantly awaiting their next move, if only to get swallowed by the track’s attractive, patterned melodies. 

“JJ” is out now, and the band’s new album, Rivers That Run For A Sea That Is Gone, is released on 10 March.

Volcanoes - "When We Melodise"

Sheffield four-piece Volcanoes reveal a charming, imaginative video to accompany their breathtaking new single, “When We Melodise”, premiering today on Best Fit. 

Comprised of paper puppets and abundant with symbolism, the video sees a young wanderer on a quest to find a key to unlock a happiness. Like the songs’s building kinetics, it has a natural flow that slowly gathers momentum. 

The track itself is some of the most promising music we’ve heard from a young band this year: brimming with frilly guitars, murmuring strings and glowing, call-and-response harmonies that would prick up the ears of many a Fleet Foxes fan. “When We Melodise”'s strength lies it its gentle composition, with layers of folk melodies playing tag and falling just short of one another. Truly wonderful. 

“When We Melodise” will be available for sale and download on 9 March and is taken from Volcanoes’ debut album, Radiogeist, to be released later this year.

Anto Dust - "1955"

Sometimes you chance upon a band that speaks to you right from the offset and there’s no absolute way to explain why. Step forward London five-piece Anto Dust and their spellbinding new track, “1955″.

Reverb-saturated guitars, whirring psych keys, breathy vocals, looped melodies – sure, there’s nothing remarkable about the track’s distinctive dream-pop makeup, but that doesn't matter. Founded last summer by Sardinian songwriter Anto Cossu, Anto Dust were conjured for one thing only: to “fulfil her vision of her music”. Brought up on a diet of Slowdive and The Velvet Underground, it’s clear to see how that vision has been met via ethereal walls of sound and beefy atmospherics.

A song that demands to be replayed – even when looped melodies render no strict beginning nor end – is a song that deserves to be shared. All hail, “1955″.