Lately July 20

Recap of July 13-17

Hello!

Thanks so much for reading Lately. I’m working away each week combing the internet to find new music releases that speak to me, as well as sharing the music that I’ve been into lately.

New Releases

Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Boys (Acoustic)

We are officially BACK! “Lost Boys” did not quite feel like the triumphant return that Phoebe Bridgers deserved; I think a combination of the lyrics, production, and melodies in the chorus combined into this sort of weirdo sing-song-Jack-Antonoff-style track that didn’t quite land. Cut to last week where she released the acoustic version, and wow are we cooking with gas again! It’s funny because the original is sonically similar to “Kyoto” which is a track I love, but something just really didn’t work here. Acoustically though everything just has so much room to breathe, her vocals sound so much more sincere and weighty. I hope she didn’t feel bullied online to release this version because of the lukewarm reaction to the original, but I sure am glad we have it.

Genesis Owusu - HUMAN AGAIN

Fantastic new single from Genesis Owusu, who just released his album in May that I loved. This track is so good: I love the hook, production is frenetic yet so groovy, his vocals are characteristic as ever. Honestly not that much to say other than that I’ve been listening to it nonstop, and if it was on the album it would be top 3 tracks for sure.

Julia Jacklin - I Wish

Really nice new single from Julia Jacklin, has a bit of a country/folk flare to it which is all the rage lately, but it works so well here and I’m a sucker for it when it does work. I think her vocals are honestly sounding better than ever? I’m not sure I’ve ever appreciated them more than on this track and her last single. Really excited for the album.

Hovvdy - You Will Go Far

Finally a Hovvdy single that can breathe a little bit of life into their album rollout. The last two singles have just been so forgettable and a bit irritating to be honest, this one feels as though it recenters them and recaptures what makes them great. I just feel that their melodies have been really weak on this run and the production has been bland. It’s such a shame because I love their self titlted album but something just isn’t clicking for me on these tracks.

nour - nour / نور

nour is an Egyptian artist that I’d never heard of before, but I came across her debut album and it’s quite good! She sort of fuses Arabic music with Western pop, which I always find interesting given that they use entirely different scales, with the so-called “Arabic scale” incorporating microtones that Western music doesn’t typically rely on. Production is cool and there are some great vocal melodies across it.

Steve Lacy - Oh yeah?

I have to admit I’m a bit of a Steve Lacy hater and unfortunately I gave this album a fair shot and my opinion on him just hasn’t changed. I find his voice so grating, his guitar work not very interesting, and his songwriting just bland. He put out this album and if you’re a fan I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and more power to you, but I just can’t get on board with the guy!

What I’m Listening To

Ólafur Arnalds released three choir versions of tracks from his album with Talos A Dawning, and I’ll be honest the choir versions are just OK but it’s got me digging back into the album, it’s so beautiful. I’ve written about it many times here before but it was a project started between Arnalds and Talos, and as they were working on it Talos passed away. It left Arnalds with the responsibility to finish the project and it’s this really surreal piece of art. I rave about Arnalds all the time on here, and I would really recommend this album if you haven’t listened yet. It’s serene and gorgeous and sad, I don’t always love Arnalds’ work with vocalists but I’ve really come to cherish this album.