Huge hot girl summer blowout sale happening now at Paste Magazine! As this season comes to an end, we’re offering some of the best tracks available to listen right now. Want to blow out your car speakers with that bass on high? Check out the latest Denzel Curry! We also have the finest selection of summery jams from Future Islands, Low and Miloe. Want to Postmates some Chuck E. Cheese? Don’t forget to bring Remi Wolf with you! Whatever you’re looking for, we have. Come on down to Paste today and end your summer in style. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Bedouine: “The Wave”
Los Angeles-based folk singer/songwriter Azniv Korkejian, who performs and records as Bedouine, has announced her third album, Waysides, set for an Oct. 15 release via The Orchard. Tender and tranquil, “The Wave” is inspired by “the loss of a close friend, specifically the swell of emotion I try to resign myself to when thinking of her premature absence,” according to Korkejian. The song layers Korkejian’s wistful vocals over a fingerpicked acoustic guitar, minimalist percussion and subtle keys, which fill the negative spaces around her heartfelt emotion. The singer/songwriter sounds overwhelmed, yet strangely at peace: “I cannot contain the way I feel for you / Or anything / I ride the wave,” she sings, making a friend of her own internal turbulence instead of fighting it. —Scott Russell
Circuit Des Yeux: “Dogma”
For years, composer and songwriter Haley Fohr has been recording inventive, eccentric and often hypnotic avant-garde music as Circuit des Yeux. On Aug. 17, she announced her signing to the famed Matador Records along with her new album -io, out Oct. 22. Recorded with a 24-piece ensemble consisting of strings, brass and winds, the album was written while Fohr grappled with personal loss amidst the avalanche of grief that the pandemic brought, and represents “a place where everything is ending all the time.” Arriving with the announcement is the bold lead single “Dogma,” which finds Fohr’s cool baritone soaring atop Can-like rhythms created by thunderous drums and Western guitars, sounding massive as the song reaches its apex. —Jason Friedman
Denzel Curry: “The Game”
Denzel Curry has no shortage of bangers in his system, so it’s only right that he was asked to contribute to the Madden NFL 2022 soundtrack. The Charlie Heat-produced track is an explosion of Curry’s pointed delivery as he walks us through what it takes to reach his level of success. Taking cues from his Florida hometown’s aggressive rap scene, Curry speaks with a hunger over the clanging maximalist beat as he reminds us year after year that he is one of hip-hop’s brightest stars. —Jade Gomez
Future Islands: “Peach”
Baltimore quartet Future Islands have released their first new music of 2021, a one-off single titled “Peach.” The track follows the 2020 release of the synth-pop veterans’ sixth album, As Long As You Are. “Peach” is slick and danceable, upbeat in instrumentation, but far heavier on a lyrical level. Frontman Samuel T. Herring is caught amidst conflicting forces larger than himself, like a man overboard struggling to stay afloat on stormy seas: “Death is in season / And it’s pushing me round,” he sings, evoking Alice in Wonderland (“This one makes you big / In a cruel world / And this one makes you small / In a lonely world”) and ultimately resolving to hold onto hope: “But I’m not giving up / Not today.” —Scott Russell
Low: “More”
Following the singles “Days Like These” and “Disappearing,” indie and experimental stalwarts Low have shared another cut from their forthcoming album HEY WHAT (out Sept. 10 on Sub Pop), the epic and striking “More.” Once again finding the band merging elements of noise, static and sonic decay with bits of melodic simplicity, “More” feels like it’s trying to bear its own weight against increasingly heavy gravity. The noisy, thunderous guitar that serves as the track’s foundation guides the song into almost a distorted take on classical folk. Bolstered by Mimi Parker’s enchanting vocals and a subtle but impactful rhythm, the song is a convincing soundtrack to our current state of entropy. —Jason Friedman
Militarie Gun: “Big Disappointment”
Los Angeles-based hardcore group Militarie Gun have announced their newest EP All Roads Lead To The Gun II, out Sept. 10 via Convulse Records. Fronted by Regional Justice Center’s Ian Shelton and featuring members of Drug Church and Modern Color, Militarie Gun have gained a lot of momentum, in part due to their blend of hardcore and indie rock carried by Shelton’s urgent vocals. The band’s newest single “Big Disappointment” is a soaring, anthemic hardcore banger with a minimalist palette. Shelton’s vocal chops shine, placing him amongst fellow legends such as David Yow from The Jesus Lizard with his emotional delivery. It’s hardcore at some of its most innovative while still staying true to some of the earliest pioneers of their unique, abrasive sound. —Jade Gomez
Miloe ft. Jamila Woods and Vagabon: “Winona”
20-year-old Mineappolis-based and Democratic Republic of Congo-born producer and songwriter Miloe enlists famous friends Jamilla Woods and Vagabon for an enhanced version of his Greenhouse EP cut “Winona.” Replacing the original version’s bright synths with more complex rhythms and guitar arrangements, the additional artists lend the song an exciting emotional dynamism that complements the already-bold melodic elements. Vagabon said of her contributions, “When Miloe asked me to hop on the remix for ‘Winona,’ I went back and listened to the original and immediately said yes. It brings me so much joy to see another West African kid, like myself, influenced by so many genres of music and playing guitar music.” —Jason Friedman
Parquet Courts: “Walking at a Downtown Pace”
The Parquet Courts boys are back, and with one of Paste‘s most-anticipated 2021 records in tow. Brooklyn’s own indie-rock cult heroes have announced their first new album since 2018’s acclaimed Wide Awake!, Sympathy for Life, coming Oct. 22 on Rough Trade Records. Though the band say they completed their new record pre-pandemic, lead single “Walking at a Downtown Pace” could not be more on point in capturing the feelings of this fraught time period, from the yearning to recapture day-to-day joys (“I’m making plans for the day all of this is through / Seeing my path and hearing the song I’ll sing and / Food that I’ll taste and all the drinks that I’ll consume”) to the cabin fever and isolation (“Pick out a movie, a sandwich from a screen / How many days of life will I spend underground?“). It’s cathartic to hear those feelings rendered against Parquet Courts’ celebratory, animated dance-rock, which adopts its eponymous fast pace, yet never comes across as rushed or harried. The band drew inspiration from Screamadelica, knitting their new record together from self-samples, yet on “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” you’d be hard-pressed to spot a seam. —Scott Russell
Remi Wolf: “Quiet on Set”
Remi Wolf is one of pop’s brightest rising stars, collaborating with legends such as Nile Rogers and Beck, and making her first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On Aug. 18, Wolf finally unveiled her long-awaited debut album Juno to be released Oct. 15 via Island Records. The album follows her recent single “Liquor Store” (which we named one of our favorite songs of July) and the remix EP We Love Dogs!. The announcement comes with two new singles, “Quiet On Set” and “Grumpy Old Man.” The former is a funky romp in Wolf’s technicolor world with a hip-hop flair. The effortless R&B bounce surrounds her morphing vocals, layered harmonies and maximalist production that features handclaps and guitars. —Jade Gomez
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Spirit Was: “I Saw The Wheel”
The tone-setting, two-part opener of an album years in the making, “I Saw the Wheel” is a jaw-dropping statement from Spirit Was, aka former LVL UP member Nick Corbo, who named his new project after a track from the band’s final album, 2016’s Return to Love. Corbo’s full-length Spirit Was debut, Heaven’s Just a Cloud (Oct. 22, Danger Collective), finds him melding fuzz-rock odysseys familiar to fans of his former band with heavier, more experimental sounds, negotiating a path from past to future. “I Saw the Wheel” is a microcosm of that journey, from its subtly bluesy intro and crashing rock verses to its total breakdown halfway through—as if in observation of a moment of silence—and its gradual reconstitution, first as a lone acoustic guitar, then as a rapidly quickening kick drum that cues Corbo’s anguished howls, roiling percussion and metal riffage. Vocals from Crying’s Z Santos act as the Greek chorus of Corbo’s tragedy, as he mourns LVL UP’s collapse—“Everything folds! Standing like a tower, crawling ‘cross the floor,” he laments, later cleverly heralding the breakdown with, “The whole thing’s coming down heavy”—while cello from Rashaad Jones heightens the song’s sorrow. In every end, there’s a new beginning, the old cliché goes. Corbo has found his. —Scott Russell
