Best Tracks – 7.29.22
Beyoncé – “Virgo’s Groove”
Probably the most anticipated release of the year, Renaissance
does not disappoint. For over an hour Beyoncé guides herself through glitchy
disco and dance pop, always surprising with her left turns and the ease at
which she makes them. “Virgo’s Groove” unfolds like a Jessie Ware leftover,
with its groove consistently bright and bubbly, with just enough layering to
suggest a darker undercurrent. Beyoncé herself floats through the mix, singing
like a rapper would, dotting in and out and leaning into her stretched out
vocal runs. If this really is the first of three acts, as Beyoncé has noted, then
she just showed us the gun.
Maggie Rogers – “Symphony”
Surrender, Rogers new album, was narrowed down from
over a hundred song sketches to these prime cuts. There’s no filler here and even
the lesser cuts are catchy enough to keep off the cutting room floor, but for
my money if one of these tracks is going to age the most gracefully, its “Symphony”.
One of the more restrained songs, “Symphony” has a deceptively strong melody,
but is marked by a soft vocal delivery and some propulsive beat and synth work.
Coming in towards the very end of Surrender, Rogers knows this track’s
drama works best as reflection of herself and not just as a song she’s written.
Sun’s Signature – “Underwater”
Elizabeth Fraser, beloved siren of Cocteau Twins, and Damon
Reece are debuting as Sun’s Signature, a moniker that does all it can to ignore
the importance of its existence. Not only is Sun’s Signature the
probable EP of the year, but it marks a proper resurgence from Fraser, who’s been
limited to one off features for most of the last twenty years. “Underwater”,
the opening track, is there at the front of the EP, purely to remind listeners
of the operatic cartwheels Fraser is capable of. At times she touches on the kind of vocal
cooing that made her famous, but more often she is delving into something completely
new.
Florist – “43”
Emily Sprague’s Florist has grown from a solo project to a
full-fledged quartet, but the music is just as wistful and mystifying as ever. Sprague
deftly balances the group’s embellishments without sacrificing her fiercely intimate
songwriting or atmosphere, and when tracks do pick up like on “43”, It’s hard
to imagine how she was able to keep it locked up for so long.
Friendship – “Chomp Chomp”
The fourth album from this Philadelphia mainstay is as simple
and exciting as they’ve ever been. Dan Wriggins continues to croon about the
everyday and the band backs him up with seemingly endless amounts of relaxed
professionalism. Love the Stranger is evocative in the way a comfort
movie is, effortlessly personal and warm in a well worn and welcoming way. The
third single, “Chomp Chomp”, in its depiction of “White Vans” and “light-washed
holey jeans” manages to pin down the ineffability of love in a way that feels
honest and frustratingly universal.
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