There isn’t much on my mind this week, so I’m just going to write about some songs I’ve been listening to a lot recently.
The Beths- “Little Death”
The Beths are a New Zealand band whose first full-length album, Future Me Hates Me, came out last year to a generally positive reception, at least to my knowledge. They weren’t really on my radar until late last year, and despite the non-stop praise from a friend of mine I didn’t even check out the album until this past week. And wouldn’t you know it, the album is really, really good. Each song is incredibly well-crafted with memorable melodies, exhilarating arrangements, and all-around impressive musicianship. “Little Death” is probably my favourite song on the album, but it’s pretty hard to pick one reason why. There’s the way singer Elizabeth Stokes’ voice cracks singing the titular line, the way her bandmates come in with counter-melodies later in the song, or generally the way the band builds the song’s energy over the 5-minute runtime. It’s great stuff, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Vampire Weekend- “Sunflower”
Six years is a long time for a band to be away, and the inevitable return is bound to be a little rocky. Things only get tougher when one of the founding members of the band, who also had arguably the largest influence over the band’s sound and arrangements, leaves (amicably, to be fair) to instead focus on his solo career. That’s the situation Vampire Weekend currently find themselves in with their upcoming album Father of the Bride. Since the album’s not out yet, I obviously can’t pass judgement on whether or not they succeed, and even with the four songs already released I’m still not sure what to think. I kind of hated “Sunflower” the first time I heard it, but then it kept getting stuck in my head and eventually grew on me. So, well, I don’t know.
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