Welcome to February, M Readers! Feel quite a lot like January? That’s because it is. Luckily, though, the new music wheels are now in motion and the releases are coming in thick and fast. This week we’re blaring tracks from Nasty Cherry, Bull, Arlo Parks, Fredo and Thyla, and think you should be too. Enjoy.
Nasty Cherry – Lucky
Ahead of the release of their new EP, badass girl band Nasty Cherry have unveiled Lucky, their first track of 2021.
The band write: ‘Lucky is a song we wrote for each other during the pandemic where the 6 weeks we got to spend together felt incredibly precious and introspective. It’s a reflective, sweet and spiky little song.’
Watch the Kristen Jan-directed below.
Bull – Eugene
Slacker four-piece Bull have announced their debut album Discover Effortless Living and dropped the triumphant single, Eugene.
‘I wrote the song Eugene when I was feeling dissatisfied with what I was doing' guitarist and vocalist Tom explains. ‘It’s kind of a self-hate song, you know when people talk about self-love? It’s not that. I’m slating myself; it moves through the key changes and different moods, and ends in a way that mocks the sadness, another form of self-deprecation!’
Discover Effortless Living is due out 26 March on EMI.
Arlo Parks – Hope
Hope is one of 12 tracks from Arlo Parks’s highly anticipated debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams, which came out at the end of last week.
Speaking on the track, Arlo says: ‘This video to me is a warm, vibrant exploration of friendship and introversion. I think there’s something so powerful about the saturated, filmic textures, the human portraits and depictions of euphoria.’
She continues: ‘The song surrounds isolation, being present in your pain and knowing that you’re not the only one on the planet feeling low. I think especially in times like these it’s important to focus on the inevitability that things will get better.’
Fredo feat. Dave – Money Talks
Last week Fredo released Dave collaboration Money Talks, shortly before dropping his new album Money Can't Buy Happiness. The album, which was executive produced by Dave, includes additional appearances from Young Adz, Summer Walker and the late Pop Smoke.
Discussing the album, Fredo said: ‘A lot was going on in life that I was angry and confused about. I really thought that once you have money you can't not be happy inside, even if stuff's going on, but it's not like that. I felt like the project I was working on before was me but doesn't really explain me. I don't want people thinking that certain things I rap about are important or the key of life because they're not. Most things I rap about are just what I been through or reality for me and my friends.’
Watch the Edem Wornoo-directed visuals below.
Thyla – Breathe
Brighton quartet Thyla are back with their new single Breathe. The band has also confirmed they will be releasing their debut album later this year, following on from their sophomore EP Everything At Once.
'Breathe was written in the early hours of the morning,’ lead singer Millie Duthie explains. ‘Eventually we chanced upon this really vibey atmospheric lick that you hear in the intro, and the whole song grew from there. The song blossomed into a slightly melancholic dream-pop bop, it’s bittersweet and has a slightly inconclusive feeling to it; imagine a film where the main character never actually gets the happy ending you’ve been so long yearning for.’
