FEATURE: Tracks of the Week - 18/10/13

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (18/10/13)

Another week, another attack of exciting new music. Here’s our selection of the best tunes from the last seven days.

Elusive London duo Jungle unveiled their new track, 'Lucky I Got What I Want' and got everyone’s ears pricked up. Smooth urban grooves and richly layered vocals make for another faultless song from the nameless pair, readying us for the release of The Heat EP on Monday.

Building on the urban jungle was the latest offering from SZA, the first female signed to TDE (Kendrick Lamar/Black Hippy’s label).'Teen Spirit' trapped us in its web of dreamy RnB with the New Jersey artist threading her sultry vocals between deep beats and crisp-clean production.

There have been some startling remixes of Lana Del Rey's work over the past few years (personal favourite: Jamie Woon's, 'Blue Jeans') and Mokadem has done a fine job on 'Gods & Monsters'. Glassy synths drop on downbeat rhythms as the South London producer plays sensitively with Del Rey’s vocal. It’s all pretty doom and gloom, but completely encapsulating.

Sensuality runs throughout the lead track from Rainer's upcoming EP, due for release in November. Lyrics detail the tugging and pulling of a relationship as beats pop and synths throb to off-kilter harmonies. The song’s unpredictable nature keeps you pressing refresh until you’re satisfied you’ve got your head around it – all part of its devilish allure.

Finally, Oli Bayston of Boxed In couldn’t have impressed us more on his catchy debut single, 'All Your Love Is Gone'. Driving, Krautrock rhythms, gritty guitar solos and deliciously languid vocals seem to loop on forever and ever. Quite frankly, we don’t want it to stop.

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

WATCH: East India Youth - Looking For Someone

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (17/10/13)

Bloggers went crazy for East India Youth’s sound experiment 'Heaven, How Long' earlier this year. Now William Doyle presents his first official video for 'Looking For Someone', taken from April’s Hostel EP.

The dizzying, schoolboy harmonies that open the track go hand in hand with video vertigo; Mr Doyle is seen floating up London’s Heron Tower with skewed camera angles and barf-inducing twists. The heavy layering of electronic sound, here reminiscent of Animal Collective, and ecclesial organ nicely compliments the slow-burning journey up to the heavens.

East India Youth will release his debut album on Stolen Recordings in early 2014.

LISTEN: Magic Island - Baby Blu

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (16/10/13)

Experimental Berlin-based popstress Magic Island dishes out a new track just two months after the release of her debut EP, Intoxicated Sunset.

'Baby Blu' sounds like stripped-back Lana Del Rey, with Canadian Emma Czerny’s clipped vocals exerting complete control over honky-tonk keys and hip-hop rhythms. Sickly lyrics about romance and glistening percussion slip in and out whilst harmonies fall on top of each other. The closing oohs and aahs hark to the 90s RnB that fellow Canadian Grimes continually vows to make.

'Baby Blu' is taken from Magic Island’s upcoming EP, Wasted Dawn.

LISTEN: Boxed In - All Your Love Is Gone

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (15/10/13)

It’s a promising start for London soloist Boxed In with his flourishing debut single ‘All Your Love is Gone’, and a far cry from helping out on Lily Allen songs.

Credited for work on records by Allen and TOY, Oli Bayston is now taking the solo spotlight with a thriving, pulsating debut single in ‘All Your Love is Gone’. Crisp piano and meaty bass meander around a tight motorik rhythm as Bayston curls his lip with drawled vocals. Repetitive melodies and sharp beats deftly build the song to a gratifying climax, with the combined textures sounding not a world away from ‘No.1 Against The Rush’ by Liars. It’s exciting stuff.

‘All Your Love is Gone’ is released on limited edition 7″ vinyl and download on 25 November via Moshi Moshi Singles Club. Boxed In headlines The Waiting Room, London on 2 December.

LISTEN: YUNO - Grapefruit

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (14/10/13)

With the nights drawing in, the balmy new track by Florida bedroom musician YUNO couldn’t sound more out of place. It’s just what we need, though.

Put the heavy clouds and wet clothes aside and let ‘Grapefruit’ be your new hot water bottle; its warm RnB rhythms and breezy vocals are an immediate comfort. Synths chirp happily to one another as tropical drums weave in between the main hook.

Although its quite different to YUNO’s earlier surf-pop (remember summer anthem, ‘Sunlight‘?), ‘Grapefruit’ sounds very sure of itself, giving us curious insight into us into his forthcoming, Kickstarter-backed debut LP, V.

LISTEN: Boardwalk - Crying

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (10/10/13)

LA pairing Boardwalk lie somewhere between Big Deal and Beach House with their lo-fi guitars and hazy vocals - due to get teenage knickers in a twist as their debut LP release approaches.

The reason for this? Boardwalk – formed just last summer – know how to sex up dream-pop. On ‘Crying’, Amber Quintero’s lethargic, come-back-to-bed vocals effortlessly climb over Mike Edge’s muted garage-rock guitars. Slow tempos and floaty guitar solos are the ideal soundtrack to a Sunday morning spent with a sore head, with simple rhymes ensuring you’ll be pressing the repeat button.

Boardwalk’s self-titled debut album is out on 15 October via Stone Throw Records.

LISTEN: Killing Fields of Ontario - Our Place To Drown

*Originally published for The Line of Best Fit (9/10/13)

Leeds via Birmingham via London five-piece Killing Fields of Ontario might be a little displaced geographically, but their uplifting folk-rock remains rooted in its soil.

They’ve been simmering quietly in the background for a few years with regular slots on Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing show, but new track ‘Our Place To Drown’ sounds like a band vying for more. Train rhythms and playful bass confidently carry billowing guitars over Tom Brewster’s pseudo-Southern drawl. It’s gentle but purposeful, the soundtrack for an endless journey.

Partner it up with the intense folk-country of lead single, ‘Cloud’ – taken from their forthcoming album, How The World Ends - and the rest of it looks rather promising.

How The World Ends is out on 28 October via KFoO Records.