Singles In Your Area: w/c Aug 11
Brand new music from KORA, Hayley Williams, MELODOWNZ, AFI, Amaarae, Disclosure & Anderson.Paak, Huia, and heaps more
Okay, yes, its a day late this week - I ended up getting busy preparing for a speech contest at Toastmasters (I came 4th), getting in some time with my kids, and indulging my new favourite hobby: preparing miniatures for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I’m putting together. I put fake grass on a miniature base after sticking a dinosaur on it. This is too much fun.
Anyway, here are a few tracks I was listening to while wondering if Aesop Rock plan to release a whole album of city engineering related raps …
New This Week!
AESOP ROCK - "Roadwork Rappin'"
Aes’ ode to roadworks - ‘Flashing amber hazard lights sure to set the mood / For a forklift all the way to the moon, stay tuned’ - is a one-off, not an album. But like 2021’s similarly kid-focused “Long Legged Larry”, this is a fun beat.
The California goth-rockers return with their 12th album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... in October, and based on this track, it’ll be another Cure-esque genre chameleon. I would add that Davey Havok sounds bloody great here.
The focus single for Amaarae’s Black Star, the follow up to 2023’s brilliant Fountain Baby. I’ll have more thoughts on that later in the week, I reckon.
BELLA KAY - "The Sick"
Hot 40 Singles: #03
One of the hottest names in pop music right now, Bella Kay has hit the big time on the back of this song, an ode to pining for an ex about which even Olivia Rodrigo might comment “no, that’s too much”. Kay has this disinterested vocal style evoking Lana Del Rey, but a better pop sensibility. Interesting song.
BLACK COMET - "Happen To You"
Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #12
While KORA mount a reggae-funk come back, former frontman Laughton Kora is rocking out with his new project, Black Comet. “Happen To You” proves that Kora has lost none of his talent, backed by an insanely funky rock track. Nice.
"‘I got myself revved up, thought about what Sam Neill would do, then we pressed record and just went for it’ former Roidz frontman Maxwell told Chris Schulz last week about the filming of the video for “Jesus’ Son”, a rowdy post punk alt rock track that gets more catchy with every listen.
DEMI LOVATO - "Fast"
Hot 40 Singles: #12
The lead single from Lovato’s upcoming ninth studio album is an electro-pop banger that sounds unlike (better than, even?) most of her previous music. No word on a release date for the album; it has to compete with releases for her performance in movie Tow and a cookbook in March 2026. Triple threat indeed.
DISCLOSURE - "No Cap (ft Anderson.Paak)"
I feel like a song named “No Cap” is guaranteed to age poorly. The fact that Paak isn’t even playing the drums is a travesty.
HAYLEY WILLIAMS - "Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party"
Ego Death refers to a loss of self-identity and a sense of interconnectedness with the universe. Williams is the second singer to refer to it that I’ve heard, following Lorde’s mention of it on “Man Of The Year”. It’s also interesting to me that as Williams ages, her solo music and Paramore start to sound closer to each other.
HUIA x BAITERCELL - "Kākano (Seed)"
Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #04
Kog Studio co-owner Huia Hamon is a perfect match with longtime electronic duo Baitercell, their DnB beats locking in with Huia’s Te Reo vocal. Gorgeous.
KORA - "Easy Now (Final Season)"
Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #05
I can’t even tell you how upset I am that the joy I get from KORA’s triumphant return is completely offset by the fact that they released a video in portrait mode.
LUNA LI - "You Didn't Have To Go"
Canadian multi-instrumentalist Luna Li - player of the harp, guitar, violin, and presumably all the other instruments as well - has paired together a moving vocal with a funky beat and a fairly amazing drum track. Love it.
MATT BERNINGER - "Nowhere Special"
I think this is the fourth single from Berninger’s Get Sunk, released earlier this year, and this video stars Tom Berninger - presumably Matt’s brother - playing Matt for a video shoot. Its the most The National video concept so far.
A new track to mark the reissue of 2017’s Avontales, MELO is completely off the hook here, fitting in more words-per-minute than Mavis Beacon. Combine it with the awesome backing track for it, and this is an incredible performance.
MUROKI - "Live For Today"
Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #16
I’ll be honest, I found myself noticing that Muroki - the part-Kenyan singer from the Waikato - is smiling basically all the way through the video for “Live For Today”. Smile he may: this is like the missing link between Ben Harper and the Kiwi-reggae sound. Funky song. Helluva lot of fun.
PERSONAL IGLOO - "billy apple"
Auckland singer Hamish Nixon - believe it or not, Personal Igloo isn’t his birth name - wanders the city with an acoustic guitar, while “billy apple” rocks out. That distorted bass sound is especially gnarly.
QUEEN SHIRL'E - "Somebody New"
Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #18
Samoan born, Kiwi raised, Queen Shirl’e teams up with Shane Walker on the track and in the video, which starts with a hilariously bad acted scene, that leads into a distinctly Pacific sounding rap track. Good times.
THE ARMED - "Broken Mirror (ft Prostitute)"
Completely anonymous hardcore act The Armed released their latest album The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed last week. “Broken Mirror” is a brutal statement on capitalism and self-image; ‘the world is an empty shopping mall / all mirrors are shattered / self image through a filter’.
THE LEMONHEADS - "The Key of Victory"
Lemonheads singer Evan Dando slows things down for the new single from upcoming album Love Chant. I’ve said it before: I reckon its a black horse pick for album of the year.
YG & LEON THOMAS - "Lovers Or Friends"
Hot 40 Singles: #15
The aggressive lyrics make me take pause, bit this is an otherwise strong track from YG, who is putting something good together. It helps when you get Leon Thomas on to sing the hook. Talented guy.
Also new this week:
$uicideBoy$:
- "Count Your Blessings" (Hot 40 Singles: #06)
- "Napoleon" (Hot 40 Singles: #02)- "Oh, What A Wretched Man I Am!" (Hot 40 Singles: #04)
- "Carried Away (ft Night Lovell)" (Hot 40 Singles: #09)
Bailey Zimmerman - "Chevy Silverado" (Hot 40 Singles: #30)
Big Thief:
- "Grandmother (ft Laraaji)"Eimear Kelly - "Demean Me" (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #10)
Forrest Frank And The Figs - "Lemonade" (Hot 40 Singles: #17)
Hayley Williams - "Glum" (Hot 40 Singles: #32)
Hilltop Hoods - "Get Well Soon (ft Six60)" (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #02)
Ivy - "Loon" (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #20)
Karan Aujla - "MF Gabhru! (ft Ikky)" (Hot 40 Singles: #08)
Kaylee Bell - "The Thing About Us" (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #09)
Kehlani - "(un)Folded" (Hot 40 Singles: #16)
Lucy Dacus:
- "Bus Back To Richmond"Luude - "Darlin' (ft Brodie, Sean Paul)" (Hot 40 Singles: #18)
No Cigar - "Under The Surface" (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #07)
Reneé Rapp:
- "Good Girl" (Hot 40 Singles: #19)- "Kiss It Kiss It" (Hot 40 Singles: #13)
- "Shy" (Hot 40 Singles: #11)
- "Sometimes" (Hot 40 Singles: #14)
Sam Barber - "Music For The Soul" (Hot 40 Singles: #21)
Sg. Nik - "crashwell ..." (Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles: #13)
Yeat - "COMË N GO" (Hot 40 Singles: #20)
Oh, one more thing:
Honestly, I don’t have anything to say here except that you should listen to No Cigar’s new album Under The Surface, starting with single “Clean”, which I am utterly obsessed with. A slow burn of an album, but hella good.
Oh, and Black Country, New Road played KEXP.
| Official Top 40 Singles | Official Top 20 Aotearoa Singles |
| Hot 40 Singles | Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles | Radioscope 100 |
| r/Indieheads | TheNeedleDrop | Pitchfork | 13th Floor | Sniffers |
Thanks for reading, team! See you later in the week!
Chris xo
Loving the hiphop releases here - Aesop Rock is going down well in the office focused on road building. The Melodownz choon is fyre.
I like ‘No Cap’ but when I tried to play it in the car my wife said ‘NO’ and made me stop it :(