SO.CO Team
New Music Monday - 21st August 2023
We’re back with another run-down of the must hear tracks of the last week or so. It’s an eclectic mix this week, so grab a coffee and strap yourself in.
Notes From A Wrist - d4vd
First up we have d4vd, the 18 year old prodigy from Houston who is being breathlessly labelled as ‘the voice of Gen-Z heartache’ by the music press on both sides of the Atlantic. David Burke started out using cloud music creation app Bandlab to create tracks for his Fortnite montages, before over-zealous copyright protections led him down a different path. The heartwrenching Notes From A Wrist is his first drop since May’s highly regarded nine track EP, Petals To Thorns, and shows a new depth and maturity in Burke’s songwriting.
Your Ex - Katie Gregson-MacLeod
Katie Gregson-Macleod has been writing music since she was 12 years old, and the 21 year old native of Inverness, Scotland, has mastered the art of the mournful yet uplifting chorus. Your Ex is a bittersweet reflection on past love and loss, moving on, and looking back. The Auto-Tune towards the end of the track is a little full on, but there’s real promise here.
Stay Blessed - Genesis Owusu
Stay Blessed is simply relentless. 2 minutes and 57 seconds of barely contained, bass driven joy. Fans of Young Fathers will probably be all over this, but if you’re not, then you’re missing out. Genesis Owusu has hit upon a formula here that is impossible to ignore.
Used To This - Finn Askew
I first came across Finn Askew at the behind-closed-doors SXSW Sessions, recorded in London during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, Askew has matured from a quietly spoken singer-songwriter with some smart ideas, into a confident, chameleonic artist with an uncanny ability to cross genres with ease. Used To This is the latest in Askew’s march to household-name status.
Too Much Yayo - The Streets
When Mike Skinner announced that he was resurrecting The Streets for a new album, fans were understandably delighted. It always felt like there was unfinished business after 2020s well received None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive, and from the early tracks, the October release of The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light can’t come soon enough.
Squelching, ominous jungle beats lie underneath Skinner’s laconic delivery and the sense of unease that runs through Too Much Yayo is palpable, and suits the paranoid, comedown fever dream subject matter perfectly. A real return to form.
Vacation - Priya Ragu
Vacation is the latest drop from Priya Ragu’s eagerly awaited second album, Santhosam. 2021’s damshestasmil was up there with my albums of the year, and it looks like her sophomore effort will be more of the same. Bollywood beats alongside thoroughly modern songwriting and production make for something utterly wonderful. It’s pure pop, but with something you just might not have heard before.
Cobra - Dead Pony
We’ll wrap up today on one that’s nailed on to wake you up. Cobra is the latest single from hotly-tipped Glaswegian four-piece Dead Pony. With nods to The Prodigy, Pendulum, Muse and The Deftones, and with more than a little nu-metal influence in there, Cobra is an absolute banger that is impossible to ignore. The band tore the British Music Embassy at SXSW a new one back in March, and a consistently superb run of singles is rapidly earning them legions of new fans. Cobra is certain to continue that pattern.
Words: Thomas Jackson
Header Image: The Streets by Danny Payne