Each week, Vulture highlights the best new music. If a song is worthy of your ears and attention, you’ll find it here. Listen to them all.
Tame Impala, “Posthumous Forgiveness”
“Posthumous Forgiveness” is easily the highlight of the latest crop of singles from Tame Impala’s upcoming The Slow Rush, because it doubles down on what front man Kevin Parker does so well. Parker excels at creating music that exists out of time, using sonic signifiers of the moment (you’d be forgiven if you thought the Weeknd in some way contributed to the vocals here), but as he moves further and further away from the relatively straightforward psych rock of 2010’s Innerspeaker, he continues to find a home in zonked out, hypnotic self-reflection. Here, he burrows further and further into his own life and memories, exploring his complicated relationship with his father, and how he wishes he could tell him about what his life is like now (hence the song’s title). “Posthumous Forgiveness” is ultimately the most lyrically direct Tame Impala song that exists, which also makes it the most heartbreaking. Parker’s greatest trick, though, is you’ll get exactly as much as you put into this song: At a minimum, it’s gorgeous sonic wallpaper, but spend a bit of time with it and it’s a fascinating artistic leap from an artist in the process of cementing a brilliant legacy. —Sam Hockley-Smith
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
The King of the Fall has risen and is transporting us back to the ’80s. The Weeknd’s second single “Blinding Lights” off his upcoming fourth album is serving a manic explosion of energy, that pairs well with his companion single, and it’s music video, “Heartless.” Abel stays in a euphoric state in “Blinding Lights,” as he has an intimate affair with the City of Sin and a bunch of strung-out synths (he loves the synths!). It’s lighter, it’s trippier, and it’s peak Abel. It feels as if it’s the truest caricature of the Weeknd the brand. He’s promoting on Instagram again, he’s “going crazy” on late-night shows, Abel’s back, baby. —Clare Palo
Torres, “Gracious Day”
As the days grow dark and short and long drawn-out baths are the reward for a year of toil, the warmth of an acoustic paean to a dream of everlasting togetherness can fill a cold space with hope and the desire to recuperate for another trip around the sun. “I don’t want you going home any more, I want you coming home,” sings Mackenzie Scott, asking of her love to switch allegiance from the past into the future, to unsettle and resettle from old to new with the promise of lifelong commitment. It’s the time of year for “going home,” but that subtle distinction between sending oneself and being received is what has made Scott such a smart lyricist throughout her varied works, provoking such consideration in a few small moments. —Eve Barlow
Caribou, “You and I”
Melancholy, as a concept, is incredibly pervasive in the music we listen to. Who doesn’t love to wallow in a particularly beautiful downer jam from time to time? (By “time to time” I actually mean multiple times daily, or all day every day). Dan Snaith, as Caribou, has perfected a sad-on-the-dance-floor strain that manages to celebrate love even as it laments the more painful aspects of it. I had assumed that he’d reached the apex of this sound on 2014’s Our Love,which positioned him as the sort of nerdy club king of romanticism, but “You and I” takes the world he created there even further, letting synths waver and ripple, before pulling off the inclusion of a cheesy ’80s pop-metal guitar solo. It shouldn’t work, but it does. —Sam Hockley-Smith
Poliça, “Forget Me Now”
“Forget Me Now” isn’t your typical breakup song; it’s exempt from the regret that categorizes so many soured love stories. “What about me, what about me, what about me makes you lie right into my face. Laying alone in your mistake. Make it up to me someday. No, I’m gone.” Singer Channy Leaneagh builds her chorus one line at a time. Her lyrics expose layers of frustration yet her delivery is (almost eerily) serene. Blunt lines like “All the good men that I know / Lost their light to pills and blow” hit like a sucker punch nonetheless. Sometimes there’s no making good, there’s just moving forward. Poliça’s expression is one of confidence and grace. —Corinne Osnos
Kali Uchis, “Solita”
There’s a saying in Spanish that goes, “Mejor sola, que mal acompañada,” or better to be alone than in bad company. Kali Uchis took the saying to heart and is taking it one step further on “Solita” (“Alone”), the singer’s latest single since the January release of her debut Isolation. “Bailando aquí sola / Es mejor que con el diablo,” she sings, roughly translated to “I’d rather dance alone than with the devil.” Uchis sounds unhappy as she mourns a relationship, but don’t get it wrong: This song is not one for wallowing. During her Beats 1 interview, the singer said of the “sad yet horny” single, “I think that just goes back to wanting to feel empowered about independence, rather than feel like, ‘Poor me, I’m alone.’ It’s not really like that. I just feel like if you’re not adding value, you’re polluting my space.” There you have it: Uchis has no time to waste — and neither do you. Think of “Solita” as your theme song for the new year. —Daise Bedolla
Porridge Radio, “Lilac”
There is no way I would ever have predicted the existence of a band called Porridge Radio but now that one exists I cannot understand a world without one. Porridge Radio, who met in the U.K. seaside town of Brighton some years ago, actually sound like their name: Their musical landscape has a viscous, gummy heaviness that is incredibly satisfying to prod around in. “Lilac” is the band’s first release after having just announced a deal with Secretly Canadian. It begins with emergency guitars, strings, and a rhythmic patter that’s then interrupted by vocalist Dana Margolin’s assertions of hitting a brick wall. “I’m stuck, I’m stuck, I’m stuck, I’m stuck,” she frets, trying to work out how to be a well-intentioned person. “I don’t want to get bitter, I want us to get better” is a very relatable plea for the things we face as we strive to be better to each other and often find it’s much harder than we’d like to admit. But this Porridge Radio refuse to give up the fight as they screech through a final crescendo toward the light. —Eve Barlow
NoMBe, “Paint California”
NoMBe serves up a much-needed dose of vitamin C on “Paint California.” While New Yorkers are pulling on their puffer jackets, Angelinos are frolicking in Y2K midriff-baring tops barefoot on the beach. The music video proves nothing more and nothing less. This isn’t the first time the German-born artist has aired his appreciation for his adopted home (see “California Girls” from 2016) and it probably won’t be the last. Rippling synths and electric guitar color this Technicolor beat. —Corinne Osnos
Friday, November 22
Maggie Rogers, “Love You for a Long Time”
Maggie Rogers’s “Love You for a Long Time” is overflowing with hope. “I saw your face and I knew it was a sign / And I still think about that moment all of the time,” she sings. “And in the morning when I’m waking up / I swear you’re the first thing that I’m thinking of.” The song comes straight on the heels of her Grammy nomination for Best New Artist — perfect timing as Rogers herself noted this was actually written before she finished her debut album Heard It in a Past Life. “It’s a song about love in all its forms … I wanted it to sound like the last days of summer. I wanted it to sound as wild and alive as new love feels,” she said. In other words, it’s the perfect antidote to your end-of-year blues. —Daise Bedolla
Tinashe, “Link Up”
In April 2018, I told you Tinashe wasn’t a music-industry prisoner. Now here she stands a year later, one label down and one project up — this time, under “Tinashe Music Inc.” This week’s Songs For You is her first independent release, 15 songs reminiscent of her early mixtapes released between bickering with her former label home, RCA, over her albums. The distinction here is that, now, Tinashe answers to herself. But truthfully, she’s always had the mind of an independent, DIY by-any-means-necessary creator; Songs for You is an extension of this ethos. Even a track like “Link Up,” a made-for-Instagram pussy-stunting anthem, shoots above algorithm basics to experiment with a beat and even cockier attitude change halfway through. Give Tinashe her things! —Dee Lockett
HAIM, “Hallelujah”
Well, I don’t know who hurt HAIM, but it is inspiring some of their best work since the initial buzz that made them a household name (and worthy of Taylor Swift’s inner squad). No, but on a serious note, HAIM have been candid about all the shit they’ve worked through on their forthcoming album (here’s Alana sharing the awful story of the loss of her best friend that inspired her verse on “Hallelujah”). For awhile there, I thought HAIM might’ve run out of steam once they started to coast on PTA-directed music videos. (Their streak continues, but at least now the music and visuals enhance each other.) It’s so cruel and kind how tragedy and pain will bust open the creative juices. In this case, “Hallelujah” processes death with a level of vulnerability (and Stevie Nicks energy) I don’t think we’ve yet heard from the sisters HAIM. I’d love to hear more. —Dee Lockett
Soccer Mommy, “Yellow Is the Color of Her Eyes”
Ahead of 2020, I’m also incredibly excited for Soccer Mommy’s (a.k.a. Sophie Allison’s) future releases. There has been a glut of confessional female singer-songwriters with an emo bent in their late teens to early 20s in the past few years, but this Nashville singer-songwriter is the best of her ilk, and she’s only getting better. This song was written while Allison was on the road, thinking about the time she was losing out on with her mother. “’Cause every word is a nail that slips in slowly/And I can’t hammer it down enough to keep holding in,” she sings. Time! It is evaporating through our fingers. —Eve Barlow
Bad Bunny, “Vete”
Listen, I’ve had a hard week (month), and Bad Bunny isn’t helping. The Puerto-Rican reggaetonero may have just been nominated for two Grammys for X 100PRE and Oasis (with J Balvin), but his latest single “Vete” (“Go away”) is a break-up song that sees him in hisfeelings. The song interpolates Noriega and Kartier’s “Si Te Vas” as he sings, “Nadie te está aguantando y la puerta está abierta, eh / No te preocupe’ por nosotro’ do’, nuestra historia ya está muerta … Se acabó, por ti ya no siento nada.” His sadness is tinged with anger as he tells his partner that the door is open for her to leave because their love is dead. Add this song to your breakup playlist, and pray you won’t need it any time soon. As for me, I’ll be listening to the song on a loop this weekend, not to mourn a relationship but to mourn my messy week. —Daise Bedolla
Grimes, “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth” (Algorithm Mix)
Was it the final mercury in retrograde of the decade that had me feeling some type of way this week, or do the latest releases from galactic goddesses FKA Twigs and Grimes have me more in my feels than usual? A few weeks after Twigs dropped MAGDALENE, a masterpiece full of glitchy, haunting tracks like “Fallen Alien,” Grimes released not one, but two, mixes of “So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth,” the second release from her upcoming LP Miss_Anthropocene. Lyrically, both tracks traffic in detachment, defeat, and impending doom. If listening to “Fallen Alien” feels like living a dystopian nightmare out loud, “So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth” feels like the out-of-body experience that precedes it. The Algorithm Mix is a mind-numbing blend of softly layered synths and relaxed vocals. Liquidnovocaine. —Corinne Osnos
The Big Moon, “Take a Piece”
Based off singles alone, The Big Moon’s forthcoming second album Walking Like We Do is currently my frontrunner for 2020. It’s about time you knew more about this London-based fourpiece, so let me tell you about them. They put out a debut album in 2017 and were nominated for the coveted Mercury Music Prize in the UK. Although they did not win the gong, they took the success of that first outing into the world and now appear to have channeled an even greater confidence into the debut’s follow-up. As with all great indie bands, the four members of The Big Moon are such bright and differing personas that it won’t be long before you choose your favorite. They’re having fun with it all, too. “Take a Piece” is their poppiest number ever, and an ode to the craziness of life as a pop star, so naturally the music video sees them embody all their pop dreams, performing dance routines in perfect ’90s boy-band garb. Remember East 17? The Big Moon do. That’s why they’re legends. —Eve Barlow
Friday, November 15
Billie Eilish, “everything i wanted”
Just eight months after her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish is back with a song cataloguing her meteoric rise — and the pressure that comes from her newfound fame. “I tried to scream / But my head was underwater … ’Cause everybody wants something from me now / And I don’t wanna let ’em down,” she sings on the Finneas O’Connell–produced track. The 17-year-old told DJ Annie Mac on air, “Pretty much that whole song is about me and Finneas’s relationship as siblings. We started writing it because I literally had a dream that I killed myself and nobody cared and all of my best friends and people that I worked with basically came out in public and said, like, ‘Oh, we never liked her.’” So what happens when you get everything you wanted, and you’re still not happy? Would you do it all over again? These are the questions Eilish finds herself asking, and while there’s no turning back time, she finds a lifeline through her brother. At the end of the day, isn’t unconditional love and support what we’re all after? Eilish knows she has it —Daise Bedolla
Labrinth, “Like a Movie”
The brainchild behind 2019’s breakout series Euphoria’s epic finale song is English singer and producer Labrinth. (No matter how you felt about the show, the score slaps.) His latest release, “Like a Movie,” also has cinematic flair. The record begins with a spoken-word bit: “Be careful what you wish for son, you may wake up and one day you fucking get it.” Labrinth is on the receiving end, stretching his voice to new heights with the line, “So many bottles of Champagne, I’m in a room with famous faces.” Labrinth braids dance-y pop formulas with quick-paced piano, bluesy strings, and a scat rendition. If Diplo remixed a Michael Kiwanuka song, I imagine it would sound something like this. (Diplo is a frequent collaborator of Labrinth’s, in fact, the pair recently formed a pop group with Sia called LSD.) Warning, the chorus — “This shit is like a movie. I feel like Scorsese” — is bound to stick in your head. —Corinne Osnos
Moses Sumney, “Virile”
“Virile” is a highly dramatic return from the former L.A.-based, currently North Carolina–dwelling visionary Moses Sumney. With theatrical strings, rolling drums, and an ever-crescendoing vocal, Sumney is teasing a double LP titled grae, an album that’s supposedly themed around “greyness” — but the track is anything but middling or drab. It’s forceful without being excessive, its strength enforced by delicate instrumental runs that, when cascaded on top of one another, form an army of melody. —Eve Barlow
J Balvin, “Blanco”
J Balvin’s new music video has everything: flying cats, hypnotic dancers, an array of animal sculptures, and Balvin himself covered in monochromatic paint. The Colin Tilley–directed video illustrates his latest single, “Blanco” (or “White”), the followup to his most recent feature on Major Lazer’s “Que Calor.” The Colombian reggaetonero takes “Blanco” as an opportunity to remind us that, in case you forgot, “Hago solo éxitos a lo Benny Blanco / No puedo parar, si paro me estanco / Sobra prosperidad, eso lo sabe el banco.” In other words, he only makes hits “like Benny Blanco” — and his bank account has the proof. It’s a good addition to the reggaetonero’s collection of, yes, hits, but don’t read into it too much. It’s fun. It’s made to dance. You know what to do. —DaiseBedolla
Lily Kershaw, “Now & Then”
Today the L.A.-based troubadour celebrates the release of a new album, Arcadia, after a month on the road opening for Joshua Radin and the Weepies. I caught the first night in L.A. at the Troubadour, and had my heart captured by Kerhsaw and this deeply honest ode to an old flame. It’s lyrically bereft (“You kept me on the line but never close to be mine”) but the sweetness of her rooted vocal ensures that it could never, ever be bitter. For all those feeling a little pensive as the winter kicks in. —Eve Barlow
Friday, November 8
Niall Horan, “Nice to Meet Ya” (Diplo remix)
Reader, look, I hear you: How the fuck are we meant to process the existence of a Diplo house remix of former One Directioner Niall Horan’s little pop-rockish banger? Well, like everything with Diplo these days (and always?) just go with it, I guess. 2019 has seen Diplo go full yeehaw culture, full Latin trap, and full literally whatever insanity he can think of next. The beautifully ridiculous video for this remix has Diplo in Niall Horan cosplay; the actual remix, though, is Diplo in Calvin Harris cosplay. That sounds like a diss, but I can assure you it’s not! Calvin Harris remixes always slap; Diplo’s are … hit or miss. But Diplo’s always at his best when he uncomplicates the art of club music, stripping it down to its purest form and remembering what this shit’s all about. His “Nice to Meet Ya” is good enough to make you want to go back and check out the original – the marker of any successful remix. —Dee Lockett
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