Do I overuse the word BANGER on Velvet? Most definitely. Is What’s Good This Week a showcase of new bangers and future classics? 100%.
SIPHO. – BODIES
Sampling Monster Boy’s garage classic “I’m Sorry”, SIPHO. brings a spacey, alt-hop sound to his latest track ‘BODIES’. Taken from his upcoming “AND GOD SAID…” EP, expected on June 25th via Dirty Hit, and inspired by his god-fearing upbringing, ‘BODIES’ finds SIPHO. coming to terms with his own religious ideologies. With a bluesy sounding guitar opening reminiscent of Hanni El Khatib’s ‘You Rascal You’, fused together with Young Fathers on “Cocoa Sugar”, SIPHO. delivers a hypnotic, alt-hop R’n’B performance on his latest track. It’s an undeniable truth that SIPHO. is absolutely killing it at the moment with each new track he’s releasing and ‘BODIES’ is bound to be a future classic alongside the likes of Monster Boy.
School of X – Feel of It
Are you still looking for that indie-pop banger to define the 2021 summer and subsequently add to every playlist you have without realising it? Well, strap on in because School of X has got you covered with ‘Feel Of It’. It’s an easy statement to declare an indie-pop banger as being such. But, when it’s done well, there’s no room for debate and Feel Of It’ is on par with the likes of NoMBe or Foster The People. It’s an upbeat piece of indie-pop on the surface, with an underlying message about breaking out of daily mundanity, that could not be more appropriate for everyone over this last year.
Giungla – Jump
So, there’s a handful of artists featured on Velvet over the years, that I become so engrained in with each new release, that I forget to also share it with you all. Giungla is one of those artists, and once you listen to ‘Jump’, you’ll understand (if you don’t already) why it’s so easy to get lost in her music. Producing garage rock that sounds like a clash between Blood Red Shoes and Sleigh Bells, ‘Jump’ follow’s Giungla’s previous release ‘Turbulence’, this time producing alt-rock made to dance to as though it was actually synth-pop, alongside obvious head-banging.
TIIVA – IT BREAKS
TIIVA is back with the companion single to her double AA side, ‘LOVESICK’, sharing ‘IT BREAKS’. Drenched in melancholic electro-pop beats, TIIVA’s lyrics on their latest single plead out for a helping hand, a guide to help them through a turbulent time of self-doubt and hopelessness. Speaking about their new track, TIIVA shared: “‘IT BREAKS’ is a song about recovery, the balance between the edge of that nothingness and the energy it takes to stay on the right side of being ok. I wrote this song as a letter to my younger self and anyone who has just not been able to keep going, saying not to give up and that your life is worth so much.”
Genesis Owusu – Same Thing
Bringing What’s Good to a phenomenal close is Ghanian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu with his sublime new single‘Same Thing’. Following his debut album “Smiling with No Teeth” released back in March, Owusu’s latest is a funk-fuelled, piece of psych-pop accompanied by a weirdly wonderful music video, directed by Byron Spencer. Speaking about ‘Same Thing’ and its video, Owusu shared:
“When the band and I were creating Smiling With No Teeth, we essentially made 60 hours of music for the album in 6 days. The songs chosen for the album conveyed a very specific narrative, but we also made a lot of great music that didn’t necessarily fit the album’s narrative points. “Same Thing” was one of the tracks born from the seemingly limitless SWNT sessions. The track is still in the realm of the album’s themes of mental health (more specifically, the crazy shit the mind makes up), so the video follows suit with a psychedelic barrage of both colourful and claustrophobic imagery.”
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