Pregnancy a creative spark for musician
Latest U.S. Girls release, ‘Bless This Mess,’ draws on Toronto artist’s physical, emotional journey
Star Tracks compiles the most interesting new music from a range of established and emerging artists. This week’s playlist features tracks from U.S. Girls, Skrillex, Wednesday, Gracie Abrams and more.
U.S. Girls: Only Daedalus
Toronto-based musician and producer Meghan Remy wrote “Bless This Mess,” her latest release under the moniker U.S. Girls, while she was pregnant with twins. Faced with the physical and emotional trials of pregnancy, she turned to mythology for inspiration: “My body was completely distorted. I could feel my rib cage expanding. Just wild stuff. It was like being in a car crash for eight months,” she told Stereogum. “I needed big stories. I needed big imagery. I wanted to be connected with large forms and also a lineage.” The album’s opener — which nods to the immaculate yacht rock of ’70s-era Steely Dan — offers a clever musing on Daedalus, the master craftsmen of Greek mythology who created an ill-fated pair of wax wings for his son Icarus. “You can chain whatever you want to the wall / Yet Icarus will fall,” Remy sings over a funky bounce of synths, playfully toying with the liberating effects of impermanence. “Don’t get too high / On your daddy’s supply,” she warns on the song’s bridge, dragging the ancient tale of hubris firmly into the present. RICHIE ASSALY
Skrillex: XENA (feat. Nai Barghouti)
Sorry folks, but the “Skrillenaissance” is real, and it’s probably here to stay. It’s been about a decade since the meteoric rise, fiery crash and subsequent backlash to the aggressive sub-genre of EDM sneeringly (but appropriately) labelled “brostep.” And yet its influence — the wobbling bass tones, the digital squiggles (a.k.a. “the dolphin”) and the hyperactive beats — is all over contemporary pop music, thanks in no small part to Skrillex, the DJ and producer born Sonny Moore. Through a series of impactful collaborations with artists such as Justin Bieber, A$AP Rocky, J Balvin and Ty Dolla $ign, Skrillex has reestablished himself as a palatable — nay, highly desirable — producer within the world of mainstream music. In February, he played a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York. That brings us to “Quest for Fire” and “Don’t Get Too Close” — a club-oriented project and the latter an emo-rap showcase, respectively, both arriving last week — which mark Skrillex’s first full-length producer showcases since 2014. Together, the albums offer an impressively varied smorgasbord of sounds and arrangements, with a laundry list of collaborators that range from Bieber to Missy Elliott to Four Tet. The most immediately arresting of the 27 tracks is “XENA,” a high-octane banger featuring Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti, whose Arabic vocals and trilling zaghroutas are chopped up, manipulated and skilfully arranged amid frenzied percussion and thunderous bass drops. It’s a thrilling track, best listened to outdoors, lest you feel the need to run through a wall.
RICHIE ASSALY
Wednesday: Bath County
“Country and punk music aren’t too different,” guitarist MJ Lenderman told NME about his band’s upcoming album “Rat Saw God.” The observation rings clear and true in Wednesday’s latest single, “Bath County.” What starts as an ode to alternative ’90s grunge quickly entangles with something noisier and then something twangier. Vocalist Karly Hartzman narrates a bumpy road trip through Virginia, playing with the contrast between loud and soft, sweet and sullen. Born and raised in North Carolina, the band can be tonguein-cheek with its Bible belt origins: “Every daughter of God / Has a little bad luck, sometimes.” But ultimately, they dig deep into their roots to carve space for themselves within the vast indie rock landscape. DHRITI GUPTA
Gracie Abrams: Good Riddance
Abrams’ first full-length album feels like a peek into her notes app; a wander through her most intimate thoughts and neuroses. Aaron Dessner’s complex production complements Abrams’ simple and striking lyrics. We hear allusions to the Abrams of the “This Is What It Feels Like” EP — the younger and more tentative self who wrote “Rockland” — but this Abrams has grown up, and she’s done so with grace and total artistic integrity. “This is what the drugs are for” and “Amelie” in particular stand out as examples of Abrams’ sharp, clean, songwriting. A winner of a debut. AISLING MURPHY
Can’t Swim: Nowhere, Ohio
Believe it or not, the grind of touring can actually be severely lonely at times. That’s the crux of the third single from New Jersey pop-punk/ emo-rock outfit Can’t Swim’s new album “Thanks But No Thanks,” out Friday. The band leans heavily into its pop-punk roots in “Nowhere, Ohio,” with a playful nod to ex-Blink-182 guitarist and Alkaline Trio singer Matt Skiba, and a radical ’90s-era music video that makes you want to dig out your old roller skates from your parents’ garage. The track has those dirty/ semi-grungy guitar tones that pair well with the soft vocals of singer Chris LoPorto, plus it hooks you in with an incredibly catchy chorus that, contrary to what the lyrics are, is definitely worth repeating. JUSTIN SMIRLIES
Gorillaz: Tormenta (feat. Bad Bunny)
If I had to list collaborators I expected on the new Gorillaz album, I’m not quite sure if Bad Bunny would have come to mind. Nonetheless, the collaboration between the virtual band and the Puerto Rican rap star proves that an unlikely combination can often be magical. On an album that also features Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Beck and many others, “Tormenta” is a reggaeton-jazz hybrid that finds a way to stand out from the crowd. Its lyrics, in both English and Spanish, emphasize living and loving in the moment. Damon Albarn, co-creator of the band, said in an interview the collaboration exists thanks to his daughter’s influence. He also shared that the track was recorded in Jamaica. “We recorded the track very quickly, very spontaneously, after a huge storm, hence the name ‘Tormenta’ (Spanish for storm),” Albarn said. It might only be March, but I already want to put this song on my summer playlist. “Cracker Island,” the eighth album by Gorillaz, is out now. SIMA SHAKERI
Begonia: The Only One
After landing on the Polaris Prize long list and nabbing a Juno nomination for her 2019 debut album “Fear,” Winnipeg singer-songwriter Begonia (real name Alexa Dirks) is back with “Powder Blue,” a joyful and ambitious indie pop album that strikes a fine balance between quirky storytelling and earnest emotional expression. On “The Only One,” Begonia offers an update to the Robyn classic “Dancing on My Own,” as a lonesome narrator seeks communion among the disco-ball lights of a jam-packed nightclub. “When all the lights come on / I don’t want to be the only one,” she yearns in effortless falsetto, shattered but exulted.