This week was really all about FADER fam. The artists we've sung along to and pushed replay infinity times on, the ones we've gotten deep with and asked the tough questions. Watching them grow, amplified in sound and reach and skill, letting them tell their story and giving them the whole front page to do it, that's what we're in this for. It's about hearing the reckless talent of "Club Going Up on a Tuesday" melded into a sad ballad. It's about fantasy boyfriends and friends of friends and believing in things and music that makes you feel big things on a Friday. This week was surreal and beautiful and when I remember it wasn't just a dream I feel strange and heavy and happy all at once. Clear eyes, full hearts, everybody.
MikeWiLLMakonnen, "Wishing You Well"
"I think it's the most beautiful iLoveMakonnen song in existence. It's epic poetry. He's goofing off in god mode."—Duncan Cooper. Read the full write up here.
PURPLE, Wet's "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl (Remix)"
"It's hard to believe it's been a full year since we first lost it over the original version of the leisurely-paced break up anthem "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl"—but it has. While we wait to hear something new from the trio, we have this sinister, pitch-perverted edit."—Patrick D. McDermott. Read the full write up here.
suicideyear, Saint Pepsi's "Fiona Coyne (Remix)"
"While the original song is like the electro-funk equivalent of the Heart Eyes Emoji, suicideyear's version sets Pepsi's lovestruck vocal blips against an inward-looking soundscape of sad chords and irregular, trap-style percussive patterns. This pairing feels like it was a long-time coming."—Patrick D. McDermott. Read the full write up here.
Tink, "Sounds Good"
"With low-key verve, Tink shrugs off an "I love you" that's hard to believe and long past affecting with a devastatingly disinterested brush-off: "Sounds good." One-upping the song's title, "Sounds Good" sounds great."—Duncan Cooper. Read the full write up here.
Tomorrows Tulips, When
"'Down Tuned Self Pity' is probably the album's bleakest song and also an early personal fave; it features lyrics like You don't understand how hard it is to be a man til you're broken like I am sung over clumsily strummed, slightly out-of-tune acoustic chords."—Patrick D. McDermott. Read the full write up here.
Nothing, "B&E"
"To celebrate the release, songwriter-guitarist Dominic "Nicky" Palermo took advantage of a bad case of jetlag last week to splice together some real-life home invasion footage he found on the internet."—Emilie Friedlander. Read the full write up here.
Lakutis, "Body Scream"
"He sprawls out in a bathtub plopped in the rolling fields of rural Pennsylvania, singing his heart out. The Frieda Kahlo-inspired flower wall is an even sweeter touch--whereever shorty is, we hope she can hear him."—Matthew Trammel. Read the full write up here.
Karman, Cubby's "Steady Now (Remix)"
"While the source song is like tip-toeing through an old creepy attic, the last minute or so of Karman's edit—streaming below—is like crashing through the rotten floorboards and tumbling into some type of darkness."—Patrick D. McDermott. Read the full write up here.
Gorgon City, "FTPA (ft. Erik Hassle)"
"From the very outset, the tune evokes the kind of smooth, R&B-inflected Balearic sentimentality of something like Sébastian Tellier’s “La Ritournelle,” working with mood and timbre to create a gliding, almost mauve sound palate."—Alexander Iadarola. Read the full write up here.
Flying Lotus & Kendrick Lamar, "Never Catch Me"
"Like the enigmatic musician that crafted it, the album tightropes between extremes: blitzing baselines and sustained, open-ended chords score debilitating pain and transcendent inspiration, the contradiction of feeling most alive after facing death nose-first."—Matthew Trammell. Read the full write up here.
