THE PLAYLIST
Wonderframe/ 555 (ToT)
The Star Season 8 graduate Supakchaya “Frame” Sukbaiyen has done pretty well for herself despite the lack of substantial EPs and albums to speak of. Since appearing on the competitive singing show in 2012, Frame’s gone on to act in a couple of Thai TV series, but her real break came much later on when she released 2017’s debut single Yu Dee Dee Gor (featuring rising MC Youngohm) under the moniker Wonderframe, a tribute to her early YouTube days. Her new cut 555 (ToT) sees her exploring further into the pop R&B route while admirably attempting to rap. “I’ll just type 555/ Even though I’ve got tears in my eyes,” she sings, masking her emotions with stickers and emojis just like the rest of us.
Beach House/ Dive
Dive, the second cut from Beach House’s forthcoming album, opens in a typically Beach House fashion — with an emotive minuet of swirling synths, organ and spectral guitars. Here, the dynamic duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally create their signature exquisite melancholia only to later subvert our expectations by kicking it into high gear. “Empires lost in confusion/ Golden hearts left of illusion/You said my big imagination/Shattered, flickered creation,” Legrand murmurs before everything suddenly comes to a halt.
Pentatonix/ New Rules x Are You That Somebody? American acapella collective Pentatonix return with an impressive mash up of Dua Lipa’s smash New Rules and Aaliyah’s beloved classic Are You That Somebody? The result is a seamless sonic tapestry that brilliantly captures the spirit of the two tracks from two different eras. “I’ve got new rules, I count ‘em/Are you that somebody? Tell me you’re that Somebody,” the quintet vocalises as they flit in and out of Aaliyah and Dua Lipa. The track, alongside a cover of Camila Cabello’s Havana and other pop covers, are set to appear on Pentatonix’s forthcoming PTX Presents: Top Pop Vol. 1.
Dreams/ No One Defeats Us
After more than a decade in the making, the longanticipated collaboration between Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele and Silverchair’s Daniel Johns has finally materialised under the name Dreams. Their debut single No One Defeats Us is a rousing, straight-up funk jam that reflects the duo’s “journey into [their] vision of the future”. What stands out the most here, however, are those shouty, defiant vocals which are very much in line with Empire of the Sun’s material.
Sade/ Flower of the Universe
The undisputed queen of quiet storms has emerged from her seven-year stasis to bestow upon us mere mortals a little gift entitled Flower of the Universe.
Lifted from the soundtrack for Ava DuVernay’s bigscreen adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s sci-fi fantasy A Wrinkle in Time, the track finds the UK soul legend in her pristine element, her trademark silky contralto complementing lush acoustic guitar and hymnal backing vocals. A truly majestic song from a truly majestic diva.