Music & Films for
Common People
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DAMN, DIS-MOI
Christine and the Queens
25
It's a little difficult not to get a little bit tingly when Heloïse Letissier sings in french verses about her sexual arousal, because it might be one of the first times that a woman in music is not placing herself as the object of lust, but the exact opposite; here, Chris (her new gender-bending alter ego) is charged with lust and stamina and is letting us know that we are the ones being seduced by her, and that once we've been disarmed by her approaches, she will be the one fucking us.
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By reversing the gender roles in the courtship ceremony, she manages to empower women and mock ridicule masculinity. There's an English version called Girlfriend, but we all know that the language of love and sex is French, so we stay with this one.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE
Arctic Monkeys
24
Five years ago, Arctic Monkeys released Do I Wanna Know?, their biggest single to date, and we were excited to see if their new singles would match that legendary anthem. Instead, Alex Turner and co. went for a big bold change that took some time for everybody to process. Going for a retro futurist aesthetic, with groovy guitar riffs taken straight from the 70s and an invitation for a rooftop taqueria in the moon, it is definitely a bold change for a band that was on the top of their success.
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But it might be because of these changes that Arctic Monkeys are still relevant while all the other bands of their generation, the Franz Ferdinands, the Kasabians and The Kooks are totally irrelevant at this stage. We're keen on scoring this transition with more than four stars out of five.
DIVE
Beach House
23
Dive begins as your standard Beach House song, the soft and ethereal voice of Victoria Legrand whispering a contradicting advice "Tell her something. Tell her nothing." and soon we're floating again in the puffy clouds of a beautiful dream, but then, unexpectedly, Alex Scally's guitar give us a strong and psychedelic riff that we've never heard in them before. We're still walking over silky clouds, but the sky has become technicolor and the trip is more acid than ever.
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How not to be grateful for these variations? Beach House is doing the most exciting music they've produced in a decade without losing their center, that primal quality that makes them a centerpiece of dreamy synthpop.
COLOSSUS
Idles
22
Idles build a constant tension in Colossus, from the first verse it manages to unsettle us, there's a sense of danger in the atmosphere as if something is about to explode and we need to protect ourselves. That tension might be very well addressing the male insecurities in a world where the white straight male is, for the first time, finding his privilege questioned.
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For a band consisted of purely white straight males, a song like Colossus feels not only monumental as the title suggests, but also incredibly necessary. The urge to fight toxic masculinity is aggressive, and explosive; a revolution in gender identities is happening, and punk is at the foreground of the battle
CHARCOAL BABY
Blood Orange
21
The most noticeable part of Charcoal Baby, opposed to the previous work of Dev Hynes, it is the prominent use of a guitar, a warm riff that carries the weight of a track about self-consciousness in black and queer identities. When you are part of the privileged group, you are able to be yourself, but when you're the odd one out, that idea of being black or gay or part of a minority is what defines you, bringing so much anxiety to your mind.
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The opening spoken words, courtesy of transgender activist Janet Mock bring to the foreground of creating your own community and being able to have a chosen family that allows you to be your true self. Hynes is talking to every black swan in a song that, with a groovy bass and a sax solo, is an embrace of fraternity.
LOVE IT IF WE MADE IT
The 1975
20
No other track this year carried the urgency that this track posses, a frenetic recount of one liners that is like scrolling down on your Facebook newsfeed only to find that the world is pretty much full of shit, among police brutality towards black people, fake news radicalizing the political spectrum, kids dying in the migrating caravans, young rappers dying from overdose and mature rappers taking the side of fascism... well, that exhaustion and sickness is what The 1975 manages to capture in a track that suits the post-millennial access to information.
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Even the distorted vocal noises in the background, a classic of any Spotify-era pop song here feel as a device rather than jumping on a trend. When modernity has failed us, we only get distorted voices that trivialize everything, from fossil fueling and masturbation to immigration and kneeling on a pitch.
ALWAYS TRYING TO WORK IT OUT
Low
19
One of the most accessible moments in their new album, although it might still be pretty alternative for non trained ears, Always Trying To Work It Out is a gentle rock ballad that takes it time at savouring every emotion, every atmosphere, every distortion. It is elegant and obscure, the use of reverb is used to enhance the ethereal aura of the song, and if it breaks the structure a few times, it only helps to convey that sense of fragility.
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Soft lyrics that have a cinematic sense to it, the contemplation of the object of our affection, that feeling of being inadequate and never finding the right moment, that idea that no matter how many years pass, that teenager insecurities when it comes to having a crush never abandon us.
FALLING INTO ME
Let's Eat Grandma
18
If you'd listen to Falling Into Me without paying much attention to the lyrics, it would have been a cute pop experience with shiny synths that swirl into a candy land world of pure bliss. But with a track whose opening line is "I pave the backstreet with the mist of my brain", you know that you're not facing your average duo of teen pop stars.
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Walton and Hollingworth might have the same insecurities than all the women her age at starting a new relationship, but the words they find to empower themselves are far more complex, full of mystery and magic, with tingling bells and a sax solo. Falling Into Me is a witchcraft spell they craft in order to gain more security and take consciousness of the real power inside of them. They break the song to claim "We got this", and that's totally true.
KING'S DEAD
Jay Rock feat. Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake
17
We first heard King's Dead as part of the soundtrack of Marvel's Black Panther, and the track seemed quite an unusual choice for a soundtrack of any kind that it needed to be a film that took a serious approach to expanding the limits of black representation in media the one that would have it as one of its singles.
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The beginning is a playful exchange between the three rappers (around the same old topics of money, sex and cars) about a crazy beat and a few intelligent structure breaks, but then the hazy vocals of James Blake announce that it's Kendrick's turn to get serious by going on a rampage of fury tackling the most social topics of the movie, and leaving clear that there's no other rapper capable of achieve the same glory that he gets in every intervention.
AFTER THE STORM
Kali Uchis feat. Bootsy Collins & Tyler, the Creator
16
Above all, the music of Kali Uchis is about the vibes. No matter if she is dealing with R&B, rap, funk, reggaton or indie pop, she is able to create a moody universe where the emotions awoken by the beach, the sun, or a lover, are just an escape for a life that never fully delivers what we expected.
In After the Storm, the lyrics might be very basic, a straightforward "things suck, but if you don't give up, something better might (or might not) come", but it is her defeated delivery what renders it from cheap empowerment to something wider: her flattened voice repeats those self-motivation book truisms as if they weren't important at all and she didn't even believe in them; the lyrics in this song are like the quote we need to get for our perfect Instagram pic just because it will look empty without them.
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HIGH HORSE
Kacey Musgraves
15
On her clearest attempt to crossover from country to danceable pop, Kacey Musgraves succeeds with honors, not only because she creates a smart disco tune that takes the best from the guitar 70s vibe of Bee Gees and Nile Rodgers, but also because in the end she manages to keep her personality with a riff that is as country as you can get, the use of banjos (yes, banjos in a track ready to inflame the dancefloor!) and lyrics that bring references of the countryside lifestyle without being horribly in your face.
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With an openly liberal feminist like Musgraves, it's hard not to think that this song is penned to the president of her country, and oppossed to Beyoncé or Lana preaching to converted liberals, Musgrave's voice might have a real impact on those who need to "Giddy up".
PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ
Rosalía
14
Flamenco music is characterized by the deep passion that it exudes; whether you play it, sing it or dance it, you really need to put your heart in it and show through your performances how it is thorn. In Rosalía's modern take on Flamenco, she knows how to capture that sense of passion with beautiful and intense verses in Spanish that claim "I think in your piercing gaze, a bullet in the chest".
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A cautionary tale about the perils of jealousy, Pienso En Tu Mirá brings the rhythmic hand clapping of Flamenco as the bass, and then ads mixed synths and effects to get a much contemporary approach. Purists may be inflamed, but Rosalía has done much more services towards rescuing Flamenco and making it approachable to a new generation than any other musician in the last couple of decades.
BLUE ROSE
Amen Dunes
13
Damon McMahon sings Blue Rose as if his life depended on it, and given that it tackles the complicated relationship he had with his father, probably it does. The falsetto ads personality, but all along, McMahon brings words to its full intensity, either by whispering them or shouting them.
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There's a big sense of confrontation, of dealing with deep wounds that refuse to seal, but also a deep sense of cathartic discoveries, specially when he closes with the big statement: "You weren't much a man to me, but you're the only one I've ever had". The hazy guitars give it a sense of exoticism, as if we were discovering a new continent, but in reality the trip is to the inside, to the most vulnerable spot inside us.
ME & MICHAEL
MGMT
12
MGMT goes fully retro on a song that is a quintessential 80s synthpop ballad, one that Pet Shop Boys or Duran Duran would have loved for themselves. This might be the catchiest track they've done since their late 00's classics in Oracular Spectacular, another hit for his live performances that will have hordes of people singing along.
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Whilst the meaning of the lyrics is a bit ambiguous, the easy way (which most of the times is the right one) to read it is as an hymn of male friendship, a much needed call to express our feelings towards that "brother from another mother" that our social restrictions on masculinity won't let us bring that easily. The hazy vocals and dreamy synths almost call for being the perfect soundtrack for a photo collection of the best moments with your BFF.
MISSING U
Robyn
11
Robyn is the queen of danceable heartbreaks, but if until now the tears on the dancefloor were caused by failing and complicated relationships, now she brings her sorrow out of loss as the engine behind her frenetic banger. After the death of her friend and collaborator, Christian Falk, Robyn pays tribute to him in the way that the late producer would have liked it best, with a song that immediately will drag people to dance under the strobe lights.
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Eight years passed since we had a track of Robyn on her own, but her comeback was so uniquely hers that it is as if she has always been there for us, as if she was preparing ud for this massive moment where she is ready to claim her throne of alternative pop diva.
