There is a VAST and overwhelming amount of music released every single day, and it can be hard to keep up. Even on INHAILER Radio, each week there's a slew of new songs and albums and artists that we'd like to introduce to you, our listener's. It can be a lot, so let me help you digest the new stuff you're hearing each week on INHAILER by delving a little into some of the new music that's exciting me the most, whether it's a familiar name or something completely new, I know I'm going to find something you'll love.
1. Bon Iver - Faith & Jelmore
From emotional singer-songwriter who birthed Bon Iver in a cabin in Wisconsin due to a break-up, to an experimental and collaborative artist who has worked with everyone from Kanye West to The National's Aaron Dessner to Francis Starlite and everyone in between, Justin Vernon is a musician who puts everything into his work and shows no signs of stopping soon. With a newly announced album i,i out August 30th featuring a long list of collaborators and a fresh batch of tour dates, there has never been a more exciting time to be a Bon Iver fan.
2. Jay Som - Tenderness
Bedroom/Dream Pop artist Melina Duterte, who performs as Jay Som, has shared another single from her forthcoming LP Anak Ko. The title, Anak Ko, means “my child" in Tagalog, one of the native dialects in the Philippines. It was inspired by an unassuming text message from Duterte’s mother, who has always addressed her as such: Hi anak ko, I love you anak ko.
In a press release, Duterte referred to “Tenderness” as a “feel-good, funky, kind of sexy song” that addresses “the curse of social media” affecting relationships. “That’s definitely about scrolling on your phone and seeing a person and it just haunts you, you can’t escape it,” Duterte said. “I have a weird relationship to social media and how people perceive me—as this person that has a platform, as a solo artist, and this marginalized person. That was really getting to me. I wanted to express those emotions, but I felt stifled. I feel like a lot of the themes of the songs stemmed from bottled up emotions, frustration with yourself, and acceptance.”
3. Sampa The Great - OMG
Zambian-born Australian singer-songwriter, and rapper Sampa Tembo AKA Sampa The Great is finally releasing her debut full length LP after 2 mixtapes and years on the scene. The debut single is called OMG and it will be on her debut record The Return. On the music video for the single:
“I got to do something that I’ve never done before,” Sampa said in a statement. “Which is to have my parents in one of my music videos. This is the first time they have been involved in my music at this level and it was important for me to express accepting and flexing my culture with the two people who know me most!”
“I personally feel that people on the continent have a duty to our family in the diaspora, to re-teach our culture, language, spirituality, ways and return our peeps to ourselves,” Sampa added. “To me ‘OMG’ sounds like the songs we heard in our childhood. It’s broadly about flexing your culture! Loving where you’re from and even being shocked at the realization of not knowing how dope it is to be ‘who you are.’”
4. SAULT - Don't Waste My Time
In today's day and age, it's hard to have mystery and anonymity as a band but SAULT are a band that so far, are still somewhat behind the scenes. It took some digging (and almost some misinformation thinking this was a metal group's side project, oops) but this research led me to discover this is a London based trio featuring Dean "Inflo" Josiah, which is one of many names this enigmatic producer has gone under. His production/writing/session work has been over recent works such as Grey Area by Little Simz, Lux Prima by Karen O and Danger Mouse, For Ever by Jungle, Woodstock by Portugal. The Man and many more. This infectious groove is full of a worldly retro charm with chants, handclaps, and a healthy dose of funk and groove.
5. Caroline Polachek - Door
You may not think you know this musician with only one song available to stream from the past 5 years but I guarantee you know her from the synth-pop duo Chairlift who unfortunately disbanded in 2017. Polachek is no stranger to other projects though, she has a solo project/alter-ego named Ramona Lisa where she strictly created an album on her laptop and as well as her upcoming solo album, she has an ambient project under the moniker CEP. She's moving into a PC-Music era of sounds on her new solo single 'Door' with unconventional pop hooks and liquid artificial synths. This debut is one to look forward to.
6. Golden Dawk Arkestra - Allo Allo Boom
The Austin based collective known as Golden Dawn Arkestra are a sight to behold, both their costumes and stage presence as well as their afrobeat, Sun Ra/Talking Heads influenced music. Taking their name directly from the late-great Avant-garde jazz musician Sun Ra, Golden Dawn Arkestra blend disco, funk, afro-beat, jazz and more for infectious grooves you will immediately get stuck in your head. Don't worry, you won't ever want them to leave.
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