H O W L

This week's track is what I think is one of the best releases in a while from one of my favourite artists ever - the brand new single from Banks.  With her second album set to be out on 30th September this year, she announced the release of 'Fuck With Myself' last week with a slightly terrifying music video involving a waxwork version of her own head being set alight and a group of contortionists wearing masks of her face - worth a watch if you're a fan of American Horror Story or similarly creepy films and TV shows. 'Fuck With Myself' is the second single taken from the new LP, following the release of 'Better' at the end of last year.  It immediately reminded me of FKA Twigs; slightly awkward and clanging piano notes being used in the introduction of the track and also the unique way that she claims to "fuck with [herself] more than anybody else" at the end of each verse (you really need to hear it to understand what I mean). Upon fi...

Ahead of the release of their debut album 'Warm on a Cold Night' next Friday, electronic duo HONNE have just shared a brand new track called 'Good Together'. I am a massive fan of HONNE, so choosing them as this week's choice was obvious.  Lyrically speaking, 'Good Together' is another example of the wonderfully persuasive love songs that Andy and James are so great at penning.  With Andy's smooth and rich-toned vocals backed by what sounds almost like a gospel choir in the chorus, this musical attempt to convince the girl in question that the pair are "good together" and that she always "get him feeling better" is certainly convincing in my opinion. In terms of the instrumentals of the song, it features heavy percussion (which I'm sure is ideal for encouraging audiences to clap along at gigs) and also the use of a lot of guitars, keyboards and synths. Having witnessed their exceptional live performances, "Good...

This week's track is semi Glastonbury related - trying to choose only one song from an act that I saw over the weekend was not an easy decision. However this is brand new from Disclosure, who are one of my favourite bands and rarely disappoint me. 'Boss' is taken from the 'Moog for Love' EP that they released a couple of weeks ago, which features three new songs, including a collaboration with British producer and DJ, Eats Everything and also a track with Al Green. The EP as a whole flows really well together and has a very summery vibe, but I instantly loved 'Boss' when I heard it live during their headline set on the Other stage at Glasto.  The vocals featured could be mistaken for being sampled from another song, but it is in fact one half of the duo, Howard, that is singing - his voice has been significantly pitched down. The track features a club appropriate drum beat and the brothers' signature layered synths. Although the vocals us...

I discovered Zak Abel last year when I first heard his incredibly catchy and jazzy track, 'These Are The Days', which reminded me quite a lot of Justin Timberlake's 'Senorita', in all the right ways.  Following this I immediately downloaded all of the material that he had to offer, my personal favourites being 'Say Sumthin', produced by KAYTRANADA, and also 'Soul Child', taken from his 'One Hand on the Future' EP. I went to one of Zak's shows last November where he played a small gig at the Notting Hill Arts Club.  He has one of the most flawless live voices that I've ever heard - it honestly sounds like you could be listening to a studio recording him on your iPod.  So I was very keen to try and see him the next time he played in London. The show sold out in a couple of days which certainly demonstrates his rapidly growing popularity in the UK music scene.  The venue was the ideal size for him and his band; big enough to ...

This week's track comes from the soundtrack of the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes' bestselling novel, 'Me Before You' (this obviously isn't a book blog but I would highly recommend reading it before seeing the film - a proper tearjerker but a great holiday read).  I'm looking forward to seeing  the movie anyway, but when I found out that one of my favourite artists, Jessie Ware, had a song on the score, it made me even more excited. 'Till The End' is exactly what you'd expect from Jessie Ware - slow, romantic and expertly showcases her husky and sultry voice.  The keys and echoing backing vocals used provide the track with a nineties R&B vibe which I really like, but it still manages to remain true to Ware's unique sound.  I think that sometimes artists can lose a sense of their own genre when featuring on film soundtracks, but 'Till The End' certainly doesn't have that effect. If this particular track is anything to g...

This week's track comes from British electronic artist Bibio and is taken from his seventh studio album, 'A Mineral Love', released earlier this month.  If you haven't heard of him before, then you'd probably recognise Bibio's 2009 track 'Lover's Carvings', which has been featured in the background of several adverts. The chosen track 'Town & Country' is wonderfully uplifting and has an almost jazz-like feel to it with the instruments that he uses.  It discusses the idea of working hard in the city for your money and how rapidly (and somewhat annoyingly) that you manage to spend it all.  Think most of us can relate to that problem. Despite talking about a somewhat disheartening topic, the promise of the countryside is what allows this song to retain its positive and summer appropriate vibe.  The contrast between the hustle and bustle of big cities and towns with the dream-like country makes this track ideal to listen to at th...