Listen: Thnk U - Frogi

Thnk U is the latest track from Chicago-raised, LA-based Frogi, and it comes ahead of her new EP, Introvert. It is also the kind of brutally honest and vulnerable song I can’t help but fall for, a song all about the experience of getting stronger because you have to:

“The song Thnk U was the first song I ever wrote for the project. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the song that started this whole adventure. It's a reflective song about the person or people in my life that have really challenged me or hurt me, and how it's molded me into a stronger, wiser, all around better person.”

Thnk U opens with a choral vocal harmony and, but for a gentle electronic chord acting as the track’s bed, it is nearly an a cappella performance. At first blush it feels like a delicate song about loss and moving on, Frogi acknowledging she hurt the subject of the song and it is clear there is a desire for closure. The chorus lays it out bare though - a plain spoken lyric creating the song’s focal moment and surprising with it’s bitterness, “Thank you for fucking me up, cause if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have to fight to get back up”.

As the song builds to its climax, the instrumentation gradually builds - a huge sounding but simple percussion line snaps with fury, and additional layers of vocals add the equivalent of a bass line and melodic atmospherics. Taken in as a whole, it’s an incredible sounding record, full of anger and strength and emotional resilience. Whilst there is anger and hurt here, there is also clearly growth and gratitude.

Check out Thnk U below, and find the full Introvert EP here.

Listen: Reintroduce Me To Your Body - Noa Spott

Reintroduce Me To Your Body is a leftfield piece of folksy pop music about looking for a chance to reconnect with a love, and the work of Philadelphia’s Noa Spott

With production that veers between gentle intimacy and moments of big, cinematic wonder. The song was written about a trip the artist, Noa Spott, took with his partner. Following the trip they spent a period of time away from one another, and the song is about the feeling of strange distance that can open up between two people that are usually so close when they are suddenly physically separated, as Spott explains:

“I wrote Reintroduce Me to Your Body reminiscing on a trip I took out west with my partner. We spent some time apart after the trip and talked about how strange it felt to be separated - almost feeling like we forgot how the other person was.”

Sometimes there is a weird whiplash type feeling, when someone you are usually close to suddenly isn’t there. What did it feel like to hold you close? And are you still real when I can’t feel your presence right here? There is a yearning here in the song, but it is combined with an optimistic feeling. I know you are still real, and we will be together soon enough...

Reintroduce Me To Your Body is Noa Spott’s second single and you can check it out below.

Listen: Zeitgeist - Calcou feat. Bastien

Calcou is a Berlin-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Having grown up with jazz and funk music, he has played piano since early childhood and when he isn’t making electronic music he plays in contemporary jazz band White Noise Trio.

Whilst jazz is in his roots, electronic music opened Calcou’s eyes to the world of music production. The creativity enabled by electronics represented a challenge to how he even thought about writing music, moving from focusing on theory and harmony to sound and vibe. The result is a form of music driven by ambience, mood and shape, whilst retaining an inherent sense of humanity.

On Zeitgeist, Calcou’s third release, the artist has looked to fuse elements of jazz together with deep house and electronica. The result is a highly atmospheric tech-house track that boasts soulful vocals and dark electronics in a way that feels both elegant and eminently danceable. A solid four-four hits your body, underpinned by bouncing low end bass and thick, fuzzy synths.

For this track Calcou teamed up with his long-standing friend, Romanian born singer Bastien. The resulting vocals gracefully float above the track as sampled vocals are spliced into the track itself, creating an intimate and human touch that recalls those jazz influences.

The lyrics for Zeitgeist are a warning about the level of noise and unhelpful provocation we currently experience from politics and the media. Despite this the track aims for a considered but optimistic sound, a warning that comes with a bit of hope.

Listen: Watchu Saying - Hugh feat. Jylda

We are all a little lucky, because Watchu Saying is the third release we have had this year from Hugh, the collaborative project between Andy Highmore, Joshua Idehen and Martin Kolarides.

Watchu Saying gradually unfolds in a particularly distinct way - initially riding in on a weird wave of distortion, Idehen and Jylda’s vocals pad along on a gentle bed of electronics before jumping into the kind of cyclical chorus that feels as though it has no beginning and no end. This track feels like it gives lots of airtime to Kolarides’ guitar work, which initially delicately weaves its way around the bed of the track before becoming a focal point in the second chorus. This is a track that feels a little disorientating, but at the same time that trademark Hugh warmth feels like a musical embrace.

Whilst this is Hugh’s latest song, it’s actually one of the oldest that Idehen and Highmore have written together. Idehen’s inspiration for the lyrics came as he wrote a love song based on Star Wars after he read an old novel that is no longer considered part of the official canon. The line “You are the X-Wing, and I am the Y” stuck out, and ultimately Watchu Saying was the result.

Listen: Love You Too - Robert Loud

Robert Loud is a touring member of The Killers, but with Love You Too he is looking to reach out and release his own music.

Love You Too was written in hotel rooms with Killers vocalist Brandon Flowers whilst on tour in Australia. Robert’s general way of working is to record whilst travelling, then work with his drum machines in his home studio.

The resulting track combines the emotive lyricism of The Killers and key influence Kate Bush, with the kinds of experimental and electronic influences Robert Loud cites, including LCD Soundsystem. There is a stoic, unfussy feeling to Love You Too, which Robert produced himself, with Mikaeline “Blue” Bluespruce (Blood Orange, Solange, Empress Of) mixing the track. It feels like the song takes the straightest line towards the exact emotional sentiment it wants to land - bouncy electronic bass, deep 808 style drums and glossy keys. The main vocal is heart wrenching, but it is when the female led chorus enters, half instructional statement, half bandaid, that the song really lands it’s statement: “Nobody can love you if you can’t love you”.

Sometimes loving people is hard. Sometimes being loved is hard. I know there have been times when I need seemingly endless reassurance and reinforcement of love... Insecurity and a bottomless well of neediness leave me feeling empty, ignored and worthless. I try to remember the actions, the velocity, the direction, but sometimes I forget, and I know it can be a drain on those around me, like the value of their love is somehow in question.

So yep... Loving people is hard. Particularly yourself. But it’s so important, and this record is a wonderful reminder of that.