UNSLUMP! Volume VII: May 2024
UNSLUMP! Volume VII: May 2024
May's top 7 tracks worth checking out!
What’s cooking? Welcome to UNSLUMP! The Music Recommendation substack. If you’re getting this email, that means you are finding yourself in a music SLUMP (bad), and I am here to give you some recommendations (good)!
May 2024 was a fun music month- lots of great femme-fronted indie releases, so if you like yearning, free jazz, and lesbian anthems…. this month won’t disappoint!
UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!
Follow along on Spotify. (Sorry, Apple Music users).
7 - Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl - yeule (I Saw the TV Glow) [May 2024]
For fans of: tastefully reworked songs, teenage nostalgia, AMC A-List status (join my entourage, I dare you!)
Starting out this month’s mix with a song off of the soundtrack for I Saw the TV Glow, a film I recently saw as a part of the Seattle International Film Festival’s lineup. The film itself if a psychological horror-drama that follows gender dysphoria, aging and nostalgia of things we used to love. Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine gave great performances, but it’s the soundtrack and score that stands out- the former being composed by Alex G. The soundtrack features notable songs from Caroline Polachek, Florist and Drab Majesty, but I’m highlighting this rework of Broken Social Scenes’ “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl”. The track is haunting, choppy, and scratches an itch in my brain.
This movie has been living rent-free in my head the past few weeks, and it was so jarring that I feel it’s worth seeing… while it does drag at some points, overall it’s such a shivery yucky and visceral movie… my friend Paul described it as something he “loved, but never ever wanted to watch ever again”. You should see it!
6 - LUNCH - Billie Eilish (HIT ME HARD AND SOFT) [May 2024]
For fans of: Rigoberta Bandini, Katy Perry’s classic “I Kissed a Girl”, MTV-style music videos
Billie Eilish doesn’t disappoint with HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, her third album. The album is the most varied from Eilish we’ve seen- lots of layered vocals and genre bending make for an exciting listen- this album kept surprising me!
“LUNCH” is a bold track to be sure- Likening lesbian sex to an afternoon meal, Billie puts out a queer anthem just in time for pride month. Eilish says the song helped her to explore and confirm her sexuality. It’s so so so so so so so catchy, and that’s really why it’s here. I recognize a classic when I see it!!!
5 - Seeds of Evil - youbet (Way To Be) [May 2024]
For fans of: Fleetwood Mac, forest nymphs, illuminati hotties, sitting in the grass, Zyrtec
Recently, every time I go outside, I start crying. At first, I thought I was just really emotional about life and how I am happy to be alive (true), but am coming to terms with how I might be allergic to things, which frankly is just unfair. Still, this song rocks to cry to, even if the tears aren’t as sentimental as you thought they were…
Nick Llobet, frontperson of youbet, was ready to give up on music when they ran into God herself (Patti Smith) at a train station. Apparently, that was enough, and here we are with Way to Be, a beautiful, folky, lovey, sweet sweet album. “Seeds of Evil” is a song that’s easy to love- that crunchy left-panned guitar is the reason it ends up on May’s mix, and I love the twinkly little synthesizer! Thanks, Patti Smith! You go, girl!
4 - Get Your Head Out - Jessica Pratt (Here In The Pitch) [May 2024]
For fans of: tiptoeing through the tulips, matcha lattes, old Hollywood, ‘60s pop
It’s the era of slow-burning folk-pop, and Jessica Pratt is back after a five-year break to give us an album that kills. This is my shower album- I listen to it in the shower, and it rocks in there! But it also rocks everywhere else- on a picnic, on a walk, on the bus, it’s stunningly simple, uplifting, and filled with hope.
Here in the Pitch was inspired by the hippie era of Los Angeles- capturing the darkness of fame and the smell of the ocean. Here in the Pitch is mesmerizing. Pratt cites the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as her inspiration for the project, drawing mystique and sunshine in through seamless production. In Pratt’s own words, the album contains a “weird optimism”- strangely fitting for this time in life, I think!
3 - Together - BJ the Chicago Kid, Kamasi Washington & Ryan Porter (Fearless Movement) [May 2024]
For fans of: Hip hop meets jazz, sexy sax, jazz in the garden, music that sounds powerful and big
Good things come in fives! Fearless Movement is American jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s fifth studio album, showcasing tons of great collaborators, including Thundercat, Terrace Martin (see UNSLUMP Vol. II), George Clinton, André 3000, and this featured track boasts a collab with BJ the Chicago Kid. The album runs 1.5 hours, which, for me, is a little long, but I’m here to happily report it’s a great 1.5 hours, and I did not get bored (I am a member of the 30 minute album love club)!
Washington says Fearless Movement is his “dance album”, but he means it in the way of “feeling music through your body”. The inspiration for the album comes from his newfound fatherhood, with his daughter even contributing to one song! I’ve been really resonating with the concept of feeling music from the inside, and as Seattle’s Northwest Folklife Festival just drew to a close, I’ve been craving that sense of community that music can so often bring.
Washington instills his music with so much meaning, even when there aren’t always lyrics present. The music is political, huge, joyful and spiritual. His music’s presence is immediate, even for a casual jazz listener.
2 - Like I Say (I runaway)- Nilüfer Yanya (single) [May 2024]
For fans of: Roland 808s, shoegaze, Sheryl Crow (have I mentioned her in previous UNSLUMP!s? feels like it… Okay fine, I’m a closeted Crow fan.)
Nilüfer Yanya’s new single is her first new music since the release of her celebrated 2022 album PAINLESS. The song is very spring/summer feeling, reminding me of Mazzy Star and 90s alternative rock. The song was written in collaboration with Yanya’s creative partner, Wilma Archer of Sudan Archives.
The song is about the passing of time and how precious it is, a sentiment always present in the back of our minds, especially as the days get longer and nights get shorter!
1 - Mood Ring - Dehd (Poetry) [May 2024]
For fans of: snapping and clapping, glam rock, invigorating live performances, beach rock
Since the release of this single, I’ve come around on it. It’s a little naive, a little immature, a little childlike, but I think that’s what makes it such an earworm. I saw DEHD a year ago open for Sylvan Esso, and man, were those guys having fun! Here’s another great example of music felt through the body, and the joy that comes with that. Let loose, dance a little!! It’s good for you!
DEHD’s got that DIY spirit. I’d love to catch them live again.
That wraps up Volume VII of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! What’s been on your Spring mix? Leave a comment or shoot me an email or text!
Until June - Stay out of the slump!
Jess