New songs for January 29th, 2024

 here they are:


"A Love International" by Khruangbin:  Khruangbin (pronounced "KRUNG-bin") have a knack for seamlessly mixing funk, jazz, and psychedelic rock into a single entity. Their latest song, "A Love International," is no exception. The track is instrumental and repeats a lot of the same chord sequences throughout (although there is a key change midway through), but in doing so, they also manage to create a track that is impossibly blissful and guaranteed to lift your spirits! There's really not much to say about this track that hasn't already been said since there are no words to it, but its accompanying video is an oddly endearing tale of romance that blossoms on a beach. Think a Hawaiian version of Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" and you'll get the basic idea for the video, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e4oRKhilhA

"Burn the Hard Drive" by Jade Bird:  Known mostly for her indie-folk-rock compositions, Jade Bird's latest song, "Burn the Hard Drive," actually has more in common with the previously mentioned Khruangbin than it does with Bird's other material thus far! More focused on bass and drums than it is on guitar, "Burn the Hard Drive" is definitely a different sound for Jade Bird. The lyrics are also interesting, as they can be interpreted multiple ways. The song could be about Bird wanting to divorce herself from technology, a breakup song, or perhaps both, but it's the breezy, jazzy sound of this song that really wins me over!

"Neon Pill" by Cage the Elephant:  Both the alt and adult alt radio charts experienced their biggest sensation last week with Cage the Elephant's latest song, "Neon Pill." The song continues in the slightly psychedelic but mostly indie-pop-ish direction CTE have taken since roughly their third album. It should be obvious from the "pill" part of the song's title that it's about drugs, but it's a bit more specific than that in CTE's case. Apparently, lead singer Matt Shultz was not only under the influence of drugs when he wrote this song, but whatever drugs he took also led him to paranoia, and rather reasonable paranoia at that, since he was in possession of a loaded gun. Not often that such a heinous crime leads to an interesting song, but in this case, it did! Don't try this at home, kids!

"No Strings" by X Ambassadors:  X Ambassadors will probably never come anywhere close to their first two hits, "Renegades" and "Unsteady," but they've tried a few times. The upbeat Imagine Dragons-esque alt-folk-pop of "Ahead of Myself," bittersweet acoustic rock of "Hold You Down," and the funky blues-rock-y alt-pop of "Boom" were all attempts to remedy their two-hit wonder curse, although only "Ahead of Myself" seemed to endure even slightly. With their sixth adult alt radio hit thus far, "No Strings," X Ambassadors have resurrected the catchy acoustic rock formula that made their first and biggest hit, "Renegades," such a big hit. It almost feels like a "Renegades" rewrite even though it's in a different key and uses slightly different chords since the rhythm of both songs are similar. Even the lyrics to "No Strings" are reminiscent of "Renegades," as both have faux-rebellious lyrics about "living on the edge."

"Revelator" by Phosphorescent:  Thus far, Phosphorescent have had only two major adult alt radio hits with the achingly bittersweet "Song for Zula" and the more upbeat Paul Simon-esque "New Birth in New England" (with the psychedelic pop of "Ride On/Right On" being a contender for third on some adult alt stations). With "Revelator," Phosphorescent have attempted an adult alt radio hit once again. "Revelator" definitely leans more in the heartstring-pulling direction of "Song for Zula" than it does for the zippy worldbeat sound of "New Birth in New England," but there's a noticeable country-rock influence on "Revelator" that I haven't heard so far in Phosphorescent's other material. "Revelator" is almost a meditation of sorts that lead singer Matthew Houck thought up while rowing down a river whose sound evokes the peaceful qualities of river rowing. Houck claims it's "the best song he's ever written." I dunno about that. It's hard to beat the cry-on-the-inside vibes of "Song for Zula," which still haunt me deeply even after a little over a decade of that song's existence, but "Revelator" does come as a close second!

"Run Away With Me" by Cold War Kids:  If this song sounds funkier than most Cold War Kids songs do so far, there's a good reason. It's because of the songs they were inspired by when writing it! Sly and The Family Stone's "If You Want Me to Say" and David Bowie's "Station to Station" (from back when Bowie was experimenting with funk-rock) were two of the songs they looked to for inspiration for this one. Most Cold War Kids songs seem kind of urgent. It's nice to seem them let loose for a change!