Song of the Week w/c 21st April 2025

I've been really enjoying getting recommended a whole load of songs recently and really revitalising my listening habits (mostly gone are the days of constantly saying, "I've run out of music! I've listened to it all! It's all boring!"), so this week I've decided to go back and honour the original music-recommender in my life --- my brother. In this post, I chronicle some of my favourite songs and artists I've been recommended by my brother in the past year or so, before settling on my song of the week (sorry Martín).

Innerbloom by RÜFÜS DU SOL was a recent(ish) recommendation that I've been getting a lot of mileage out of. When he first played it for me, I was so blown away by the interplay of the different instruments that I literally immediately got home and bought the same pair of headphones as my brother because I needed to be able to experience the song in the same way again. It's such a gorgeous song, immersive, sliding its way through the different sections. I generally lean towards the joy of hearing unadulterated acoustic instruments, but I adore the ethereal soundscape the electronic instruments add to this track.

Pure Smile, Snake Venom was recommended to me a good while ago, and I ADORE it, so I'm bringing it back. Eartheater's gorgeous soaring falsetto vocals really make the song, as does the subtle vocal layering she does over herself. It's a little bit weird, a little bit alien, in a way I really appreciate.

Now, some radiohead, because of course: Let Down is a real good cry-every-time type song. Simple and so so beautiful. My brother is a big sort of corecore, writing poetry while sitting on the roof sort of person, and while I know his music of choice is often Sufjan Stevens, this is what I would pick. The lyrics are disjointed, vignette-like, saying just what they wish to and nothing more. Much more complex, but no less beautiful is Daydreaming off of the album 'A Moon Shaped Pool'. This one is actual a massive throwback to me --- my friend Sienna in highschool was a massive fan when this first came out (especially of Burn the Witch (if you haven't seen the music video, you HAVE TO)), but I really enjoyed the reintroduction from Lucas recently. Ethereal, alien, tragic in a way that isn't hopeless but accepting.

I realise, now, that I've used a lot of the same descriptors repeatedly, but I've decided that doesn't mean that I'm unimaginative, but that I've done a fantastic job of distilling a theme of music this week, and that's why there's so much overlap. Yeah.

I'd say by far my top two artists currently are Big Thief (almost entirely full-listen-throughs of 'Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You'), and Black Country, New Road, which is ALSO an artist my brother is a big fan of and has brought into my life. While readers will likely already be aware of how much I've been enjoying hit new album 'Forever Howlong', I've been rediscovering some older tracks that I had completely not registered were also by Black Country, New Road. Anyway, as I was really enjoying 'Forever Howlong', I ended up back at 'Ants from Up There' which apparently does include many songs I'd already known. I don't know, I'm really quite stupid when it comes down to it. Anyway, I've been listening to The Place Where He Inserted the Blade a whole bunch, and god is it good. I mean it's a bit sort of down on itself, I'll give it that, but as frequently discussed, there are few things I love more than when people yell on songs and their emotion irrevocably bleeds through into the vocals and they're sort of collapsing and and ... so, point is, this is a great song for little freaks like me. Another one I really enjoy off of that album is Chaos Space Marine, which is a bit more reminiscent of current Black Country, New Road, but still with more of that darker and more morose undertone characteristic of their older work. It has this sort of bombastic and up-beat tone that has almost a veneer of falsity to it in a way I really enjoy, confused and contemplative guitar covered up by joyful horns. No clue what he means by "Billie Eillish style" though. Let me know if you have any guesses.

So - I've already mentioned them; my song of the week comes from Big Thief. My brother is a massive fan of the English countryside, and looking really quite silly while dancing, and Big Thief is often the epitome of this to me. It's expansive and endless fields and sun on your face and an afternoon with nothing to do. This isn't one of the Big Thief songs he recommended to me (most notably, Vampire Empire), but it reminds me of him. A little idiosyncratic, joyful, off beat. God, I hope he never reads this. Anyway, I've chosen (surprising nobody) Time Escaping. My favourite parts of the song are the opening, where there's that slight gap in the song before it starts up again properly in the full beautiful carcophony of percussion (GOD I love percussion) and the bit where she says, "and the two hands clapping" and then there's clapping in the song. Love clapping along, it's so joyful. Everyone has to have that one bit of a song that immediately outs what you're listening to, and mine is this one (Anna's is, of course, "that's my grandma!") I have really rather pissed my mother off today by repeatedly saying, "You know what song would really be perfect for this moment?" and then playing Time Escaping again. But oh well, who cares, I LOVE it and it really does feel like your blood is being carbonated while you listen to it. And that's positive, I think.

I'm not 100% sure what shoegaze is, but I know my brother's a fan of it, so hopefully I've accidentally picked some for the shoegaze freaks out there. Unsure. Alright, hope you all had a lovely day, love y'all, see you next week :)

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