THE PLAYLIST

PLOT/ Yaab Lae Haao

Thai punk trio PLOT are hinting at their debut LP with Yaab Lae Haao [Vain and Vulgar], their first offering since 2015’s Mai Sanid Yaa Len (Strange People) and Hai Mae Lae Khun. Clocking in just under two minutes, the song boasts a tight, no-holds-barred composition and lyrics about the struggles of life in a big city (i.e. Bangkok). “Here to do some searching, homeless and faithless/ But just like you said, don’t get hung up on fate,” frontman Jitivi “Pai” Banthaisong sings during the refrain. Then, the whole thing is over before we know it.

Beck/ Dear Life Compared to last year’s trap-lite Wow, Dear Life sees Beck dialling back on the unexpected and serving up his signature half-serious whimsy. Built around jaunty piano and crisp guitar riffs, the track appears on Colors, Beck’s forthcoming 13th studio outing set to drop next month. “You drove your Rolls into the swamp/ You stole away like a thief, reeling from the sticker shock/ Of the price they put upon your soul/ You buy it back from the burning ashes of the devil you know,” he intones, all tongue-in-cheek, before turning sombre. “Dear life, I’m holding on/ How long must I wait/ Before the thrill is gone.”

The National/ Day I Die

“I don’t need you, I don’t need you/ Besides I barely ever see you any more,” Matt Berninger wastes no time in setting up the insistent tone of The National’s latest cut Day I Die. Joining a handful of singles released ahead of the band’s seventh album Sleep Well Beast, the track is by far the most sonically propulsive, thanks largely to Bryan Devendorf’s solid drumming. Still sounding bummed out, Berninger muses about people in his life from “ghosts of girlfriends call from Cleveland” to his great uncle Valentine Jester who “had to deal with those people like you who made no goddamn common sense”.

The Rural Alberta Advantage/ Brother

One of the most underrated acts to have come out of Canada, The Rural Alberta Advantage have just unveiled a new single entitled Brother. Lifted from their forthcoming record The Wild, the track rides on a breezy-then-rousing indie-rock instrumentation that’s matched by vocalist Nils Edenloff’s characteristically raw vocals. In the background, there’s anthemic shouting of hoo-ha! which recalls The Lumineer’s breakout hit, Ho-Hey.

Cymbals/ Where Nothing Can Be Defined

Another criminally underappreciated band, Cymbals are a London-based duo consisting of Jack Cleverly and Dan Simons. They have just followed up their 2014 debut The Age of Fracture with Light In Your Mind, the sophomore effort on which Where Nothing Can Be Defined appears. “All these planets above us are the words I wanted to tell you/ Oh, this ship is travelling further/ On a sea that’s not even really there,” Cleverly sings over synth layers and twinkly ‘80s postpunk groove. “Where the wind is just a light in your mind/ And nothing can be defined.”