beyoncé backtracks and the week's best new music

Eden Samara! Rosalía! Sampa the Great! Rat Tally!

Obviously, it’s #RENAISSANCE week on the internet. In addition to the piles of glowing reviews (Wesley Morris’ probably being the best) there’s also a surprising amount of controversy around the new Beyoncé record. From removing an ableist term in one song, to removing a Kelis interpolation from another, even an album this well-packaged and calculated can’t escape the gaze of the extremely Online. Is this a trend of major label records leaning into the post-Pablo normalization of tweaking an album post-release ? Or is it just another set of execs worried about stan culture turning against them? Since this isn’t the Lefsetz Letter I’ll just say IDFK and we can move on.

Also, I got COVID. It sucks! Hence the late send. Sorry.

Anyways, here are the Good Links

• Enter SmartDumb - good friend and excellent musicmaker Nick Sylvester dropped a mix to outline his new production/label project last week. “Music that starts with a question mark—wait, what is this?—and ends with an exclamation point.”

• Kool Herc @ Christie’s - check this Instagram post of the soundsystem, records, and outfits from Kool Herc that are going to auction this week. Priceless hip hop history, now at a price none of us can afford!

And now, on to this week’s tracks - as always, you can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.

THE UNSKIPPABLES #47

Eden Samara - Madonna

I caught this minimal electronic pop jam on this week’s Beats In Space in the middle of Tim Sweeney’s mix. It’s the first single off Samara’s upcoming debut LP on Local Action, and I hope the rest of the album is as jittery and insistent as “Madonna,” which mixes a confident early 00’s R&B vocal pocket with a carousel of sliding synth textures.

Rosalía - DESPECHÁ

A piano-driven party jam from Rosalía, who debuted the song in live sets in her global tour. This track is more of a straight party song than some of her genre-bending work on this year’s MOTOMAMI, but her skill at holding the spotlight is still apparent even on a more direct instrumental. A pure summer jam, on top of her already incredible body of work from this year.

Sampa the Great - Bona

“Bona” bounces between insistent verses with a snakelike bass and grandiose, half-time choruses anchored on multi-layered vocals and giant pianos. To Sampa the Great’s credit, she’s believable over both halves of the song, and her deft touch as a vocalist and producer (her first official credit!) is nothing but impressive.

Rat Tally - Prettier

This is a simple song - but it pulls off something really difficult: it’s adorned with just the right level of dressing to elevate the sentiments, not drag it into shlock. A dry doubletracked lead vocal, a restrained string arrangement, and the descending chord moment when she hits “something rotten” — these are the moments that imply something bigger right over the horizon that never reveals itself.

Peel Dream Magazine - Pad

Ever wanted to hear a Brian Wilson song about just chilling at your apartment? Well, Slumberland Records knows you do!

THROWBACK CORNER

Jade - Don’t Walk Away

I think this might be the heaviest cowbell part to make it to the Billboard Top 10 - #2 in 1992!

And that’s all for this week, folks! Please subscribe if you’d like these opinions straight in your inbox. See you next week!