Bop Shop: Songs From Jhené Aiko, Waxahatchee, Zah, And More

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  Zah: "Lilith"
  
  
  
  
  
  whenever a mainstay within New York's downtown nightclub scene — whether staging harrowing performances with the roving queer Asian dance party Bubble_T, fronting the punk musical group Sacred Spiral, or transforming MoMA PS1 into an all-out rave for the Lunar New Year — the multidisciplinary artist Zah has gone all nevertheless nomadic for the better half of each year. They traveled to Los Angeles, then Japan, where they gathered field recordings of insects and wildlife from an island off the coast of Kanagawa, which were later used as samples within sweltering electronic compositions. The result is "Lilith," an eerie kaleidoscope of rolling synths and operatic howls, and also because the title track off their debut album, which releases this spring. On it, Zah compares the experience of being othered to a folkloric demoness: "I'm completely embracing my shadow self and everything that comes with it," they tell MTV News. —Coco Romack
  
  
  
  
  



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  Waxahatchee: "Fire"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=cEyYlyRr2_U
  
  
  
  If you've followed Katie Crutchfield's career, you know how much noise she can make. Guitar-driven songs like "Hear You" and "Under a Rock" have habitually defined her Waxahatchee project, nevertheless so have quieter moments of grace. "Fire" is one of the latter. It may be the opening Waxahatchee song that grooves, an exhilarating development that emphasizes the warm crackle of meaning underneath. "If I can love myself unconditionally, then I can move by way of the world a little bit easier," Crutchfield mentioned about the song's inspiration. Self-love is a tall ask. Loving this song is simple. (Waxahatchee's new album Saint Cloud is out March 27.) —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



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  TOPS: "I Feel Alive"
  
  
  https://youtu.Be/gG79QGmKt7U
  
  
  
  As our fantastic nation's vibe checks are revealing that 2020 has done nothing more than repeatedly shove us into a more and more turbulent maelstrom of anxiety and panic, we need all of the positive encouragement we can get. Montreal dream-pop musical group TOPS's new single "I Feel Alive" has arrived at just the correct time, reminding us that love exists and, hey! Although it may be complex, that's in general a good thing! The title track of the band's upcoming fourth album, the song remains light on its feet while dealing with the trials of matters of the heart. Better those than impeachment trials, am I right? (Sorry.) I Feel Alive is out April 3. —Bob Marshall
  
  
  
  
  



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  AWOLNATION: "The Best"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=x62B8FgaGOI
  
  
  
  Who hasn't yearned to be the perfect, above all else? AWOLNATION's mantra is an electric ode wish to be the perfect possibly can, even in the event you know you're not going to personally be "the" best – which, as Aaron Bruno reminds us, is "impossible." I can't get enough of this gritty electronica that takes us back to the band's Megalithic Symphony era, back where I first fell in love with their music. What does it take to be the ideal? I can't mention, however I know I'll routinely keep striving for it. —Brittany Vincent
  
  
  
  
  



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  Jhené Aiko: "P*ssy Fairy (OTW)"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=wy2ujCUtCHU
  
  
  
  I feel about Jhené Aiko how Helga Pataki felt about Arnold Shortman on Hey Arnold! — save for having a shrine of her in my closet or penning elaborate prose penned in her honor. It's because of her knack for making brilliant songs about the thin line between romance and lust that feel authentic, even once they're about breaking up and attempting not to go back to the cause of your pain. There's a narrative that exists across all of her music that I find so captivating: how sex ties us all with each other and strengthens some emotions while weakening others. It's addictive. "P*ssy Fairy (OTW)" is the latest chapter of this amorous story, finding the singer exploring why she has someone wrapped around her finger. She's good in bed, so good that she's allocating necessitates that her partner will follow without questions asked: "Fuck all your free time / You don't need no me time / That's you and me time." Aiko's word choice is so particular and direct that you can't help however hope to follow her every group. —Trey Alston
  
  
  
  
  



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  Wilma Archer ft. MF Doom: "Last Sniff"
  
  
  https://youtu.Be/c9QmBUBD-AI
  
  
  
  Producer and songwriter Wilma Archer helped create both the subterranean pulse of Nilüfer Yanya's Miss Universe (one of MTV News's 2019 albums of the year) and the kinetic force of Sudan Archives's Athena. What'll really grab you on "Last Sniff," his new group effort with MF Doom, is simply how good Doom sounds rapping over an analog beat. Each measure of Archer's designs finds a new instrumental surprise — bouncing strings, glowing guitars, smoky harmonies. It's chamber rap; step indoors. —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



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  Sorry: "More"
  
  
  https://youtu.Be/_IiE_hKTnTw
  
  
  
  North London duo Sorry's debut album is on its way, and its first single "More" is a scuzzy ode to excess and the toll it takes. Heavy drumming and fuzzed-out guitar juxtaposes singer Asha Lorenz's half-bored plea for "something to look at," finding a bouncy balance between elation and indifference. Is there anything more rock and roll than being unimpressed while wanting... Well... Needing it all? 925 is out March 27. —Bob Marshall
  
  
  
  
  



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  OTL Beezy: "Popstar"
  
  
  
  
  
  I grew up listening to raps filled with soul samples that gave me chills, and over the years, it's exceedingly interesting to me how I've grown away from that. My relationship with nostalgia is all messed up; as an alternative opposed to actively wanting the past, I've grown away from it, looking to get into music that takes me in a different direction entirely. Maybe that's what's got me hooked on Louisiana rapper OTL Beezy's "Popstar," a barebones, sinister song built around the same four-note loop. Beezy murmurs his raps like Friday's Deebo coming down off of laughing gas, delivering some aggressive threats about a lifestyle that'd be rated NC-17 if it were a movie. It takes a number of listens for its simplistic splendor to strike, yet before the end of the day, you'll be humming those same damn notes again and again. —Trey Alston
  
  
  
  
  



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  Chelsea Cutler: "NJ"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=koMecSq6fgw
  
  
  
  Relationships end — some days before we're willing to let them go. Chelsea Cutler's "NJ" is all about the opening blow, as soon as the wounds are so fresh and your ego has just taken the greatest hit of its life. And then the self-blame creeps in. "Tell you I’m sorry for the mistakes I've made,” she sings on the pre-chorus before supplying forgiveness to her likely undeserving ex. And though she wants to repair things, she doesn't quite know where to start. "I desire to call however what the fuck would I mention she asks desperately.
  
  
  The chorus, nevertheless, is where we can really hear Cutler's grief. "Oh, NJ / Tell me that you're leaving so / One day / You'll be prepared to come house she sings in a digitized harmony. Here, she hopes that they only split up so that they could someday get back with each other. And while that might seem naïve, some days it's what we have to tell ourselves to reach the other side of heartbreak. —Jordyn Tilchen