10 songs you need in your life this week

Adding labelmate Lucky Daye to the mix this time around, the sister duo’s new take on their Homegrown EP single adds some additional sultry energy to an already silky-smooth track.”You got me taking my time / Pressing rewind, just to make the moment longer / Can you slow down the time from 9 to 9,” Daye sings on the song’s new opening verse.— SE

If ignorance is bliss, clarity — at least the kind articulated on “Brutal Truth” — can feel like your eyelids being peeled off. The discordant sludge metal track from the Oklahoma City band is a wildfire in a manic search of more accelerant, with every element lighting its own match. Everything comes together perfectly: Randy Heyer, the band’s vocalist, raves with the intensity of a man who saw the face of God and saw that he looked like his worst enemy, while a merciless machine grinds away around him. It may not be constructive, this “Truth,” but it is purifying. — JD

Taken from the upcoming Beautiful Vol. 1, a project compiled by U.K. DJ and producer Sherelle to showcase Black electronic artists and her label of the same name due August 31, 3LON’s “Fragile” sounds like a gentle descent from the stratosphere to terra firma. Jagged drums rub up against the Baltimore-born artist’s intimate vocals while intergalactic synths combine to create a cocoon-like effect against anything less than soft. The whole thing ends as soon as it begins, sending you scrambling for the replay button. — DR

A recurring theme in the avant-garde pop music of Fauness is the tumultuous period of adolescence. Her 2018 single “Sixteen” bemoans when she used to be “a little girl in a woman’s body, like a chrysalis” and a lack of agency in a lecherous world. Her new single “Dragonfly” flips the coin, celebrating the transformation — be it physical, psychic, or both — while understanding the sacrifices that must come with it. “Cut the cord for me, set your girl free / My destiny is mine” Fauness sings on the chorus, and we can hear the chains loosening with every note — JD

Angel Olsen goes for glamour and high drama on this Billy Idol cover, the undoubted highlight of her new 80s covers EP, Aisles. Where the synth-heavy tracks on All Mirrors leaned dark and dirgey, “Eyes Without A Face” is remarkably bright, like an AM radio tune heard from afar on a sunny day. — SD

“Justifu” utilises cut up soul samples and funky bass slides to create something classic yet somewhat removed at the same time: like listening to a vintage house party from your bedroom next door. It’s creator, 7headc0, is one of a number of Nairobi-based artists featured on an upcoming collection by New York-based label Air Texture, due September 24. Curated by ambient artist, and Nairobian himself, KMRU, Place: Nairobi is a non-profit released in aid of The Green Belt Movement. All proceeds from the album will go toward aiding women in rural Kenya with their efforts to conserve the environment and other community development work. — DR

Benny the Butcher says the entirety of his new EP Pyrex Picasso, including this track with longtime collaborator Conway the Machine, was recorded in a single day back in 2018. Thanks to the soulful, chopped sample-infused production, the song stays true to Griselda’s usual nostalgic vibe and offers up more than enough room for the two rappers to lyrically spar in the best way possible. — SE

The newest offering from Gallipony has the Brooklyn-based DIY provocateur transforming his trauma from a near-death encounter into an oversized, walloping pop smasher. It's a testament to staying alert at any cost, peppered with savage wit and unflinching aggression. — SM

Ross From Friends spent the better part of the past year teasing a massive track called "The Daisy," first spinning it into his 2020 Boiler Room set and later on Flying Lotus's Grand Theft Auto radio station. At long last, its here in all its two-step glory, heralding the impending arrival of his new album Tread with every bit of ascension we've come to expect from the London producer. — SM

Katie Crutchfield’s loose, delightful cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” is perfectly unadorned — it plays like Crutchfield just picked up a guitar seconds before recording and decided to bust out a quick cover. Although she’s blessed with a fabulous voice, it feels great to hear Crutchfield in this cheeky, conversational mode, playing a song that connects Americana’s current generation with its most important forebearer. — SD