The Arts and Entertainment staff shares some of their favorite new singles of the week. Hear the full playlist on the Cornell Sun Arts SoundCloud here.
“High Road” by Cults: Cults’ newest single, which will soon be followed by their latest LP, Static, is decidedly darker than selections from their first release — no more going outside for this New York pop duo.
.
“Come Walk With Me” by M.I.A.: This woozy, disconcerting, and decidedly anti-party anthem finds M.I.A. in classic form. Just as subversive as ever, this track works as a new wave jangle or as something more … off-putting.
.
“Bitter Rivals” by Sleigh Bells: After conquering a high school cheerleading squad and rinsing the blood off their shoes, noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells bought a couple of neon ’80s guitars and took to the studio. The result is a new album Bitter Rivals, which the duo announced today with a music video for the title track. The new song uses Sleigh Bells patented, if not somewhat offputting, balance between screamy, dark electronic sound and light trilly vocals from singer Alexis Kraus in a song about a somewhat similar, also offputting, balance between the hate and need between so called “bitter rivals.”
.
“Dizzy” by White Poppy: White Poppy, a severely underrated (and, judging from its name and psychedelic sound, severely under the influence) solo project out of British Columbia, takes indie’s ‘60s fetishism a step further with this new single.
.
“Avant Gardener” by Courtney Barnett: Based on that time she passed out while gardening, Courtney Barnett’s “Avant Gardener” finds the songwriter, in her own words, weaving “an altruistic tale of allergies and suburban asphyxiation.” We dare say — she’s succeeded.
.
“New” by Paul McCartney: McCartney deftly manages to weave old and new here, with help from Mark Ronson, whose backing track helps make this silly little love song feel so familiar that you may think that you’ve heard it before. But it’s all “New,” and is an exciting marker of things to come.
.
Original Author: Sam Bromer