Best Tracks – 6.24.22

Best Tracks – 6.24.22

 

Soccer Mommy – “Following Eyes”

Sophie Allison hit her stride on 2020’s Color Theory, a record that at the very least, proved she was more than the timbre of her voice. Now with Daniel Lopatin handling production duties, Soccer Mommy proves it’s a project with legs. “Following Eyes” may show the biggest contribution from Oneohtrix Point Never, with its gurgling drums and gothy synths, but Allison shines on the biggest and brightest chorus on the album. But even when she is bursting out of the steady, low tempo fair, she never dissuades the track's inherent despair or seems too restrained by it.

 

Martin Courtney – “Sailboat”

Coming off the slight pastoral flicker of his solo debut, Magic Sign feels like more of a success than it is, partly because, unlike Many Moons, it sounds like it involved effort, and partly because it’s a throwback to the sound Real Estate has mostly left behind. Courtney’s control over his main project has taken the band into some interesting new fields, but their strongest work remains the twin masterpieces of Days and Atlas, two albums that, for lack of a better word, are very laidback. Now that that sound has been relegated to his solo career, Courtney seems determined to take it more seriously, but it’s actually when he diverts on “Sailboat” that everything comes together. A deliberate throwback, Courtney doesn’t just accentuate his guitar work more than he has in years, but he proves just how close the slacker Real Estate sound is to Dinosaur Jr.

 

Braxe + Falcon – “Creative Source”

French house standbys Alan Braxe and DJ Falcon are a perfect fit on this debut EP, finding all the right ways to deploy their Daft Punk adjacent brand of dance music to the current environment. “Creative Source” never sounds dated or revisionist, only pressing in the best way pop music can be. Even a Panda Bear collaboration couldn’t keep it from being the choice cut here.

 

Zola Jesus – “Efemra”

Nika Rosa Danilova’s newest under the Zola Jesus moniker is the same icy, esoteric, would-be Bjork you would expect. Somehow though, that sound actually seems more at home in the 2020s than it had before, even with Danilova proving more introspective. “Efemra” is still theatrical though, and the drums are as big as ever, but unlike the choral onslaughts that dominate the rest of the album, the strength here derives from one nasty earworm and a lot of freneticism. Not only is it the most fun, but it resonates for completely different reasons than most Zola Jesus cuts.

 

Lupe Fiasco – “Naomi”

I haven’t followed Lupe Fiasco in years, but on recommendation alone, I was drawn to the “Autoboto” single. It’s strong in a kind of late-career way and sufficiently warrants the full album it received, but “Naomi” is really where Fiasco transcends any connotations about his relevancy. Yes, everything here is decidedly low stakes, but only in a charming way. Like most of the songs here, Fiasco manages to unravel decent flows over more than decent tracks, that seem best suited to dispel comparisons to other rappers. He may not be swinging for the fences, but he is consistently compelling for over half an hour, that is more than anyone can ask at this point.

 

Empress Of – “Dance for You”

“Dance for You” is still pretty far from eclipsing anything from Lorely Rodriguez’s stellar debut, but in the time between, she’s never really stopped making exciting music, determined to just give us, piece by piece, another reason to believe in her. What’s more is that her poppiest tracks have become the highlight, which is especially difficult for someone as restrained as Rodriguez. She still knows how to build the drama and romance needed to sell the simplicity of something like “Dance for You”, but she imbues plenty of swagger into it as well, draining every ounce of regret from this breakup song and using its anthemic chorus as a point of pride.