"Hard Drive Gold"- Alt-J
I have mentioned before that I am SO excited for Alt-J's first album in five years coming out next month. The lead single from the album, "U&Me" slaps, but I thought the second single "Get Better" was pretty boring. "Hard Drive Gold" is sweet, sweet redemption. The song was written at the heigh of the crypto craze and is just about that. It's catchy and weird with lyrics that create more questions than answers, just like Alt-J's best music. They recently said in an interview that something died on their last album, Relaxer, that comes back alive for the new album, The Dream. I actually really liked Relaxer, but if they're only getting better, I have no reason to not be excited.
"Sacrifice"- The Weeknd
I recently saw on TikTok that a trend that is happening with the radio right now is that people overwhelmingly prefer catalog music (meaning older than 18 months) to anything new coming out. This poses the question: how is The Weeknd still able to dominate the charts? The answer is that his music borrows very heavily from the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince and basically sounds like re-purposed 80's music. And holy shit, it works. To tie together my point, this song is being compared heavily to "Wanna be Starting Something" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough." So imagine that, but produced by Swedish House Mafia. You've probably already heard this song, but if you haven't, just go ahead and listen to all of Dawn FM. Early call: it might be album of the year.
"Last Day on Earth"- Tai Verdes
For a song with the title it has, it sure does feel good. Tai Verdes is pretty new to me, but blew up on Tik Tok and has become one of the newest artists to make the festival lineup rounds. I don't see anyway his success won't build in 2022, especially with songs like this one. This song is an instant serotonin boost and is great for morning walks or starting your work day.
"Stress Dreams"- Greensky Bluegrass
The title track from Greensky Bluegrass' new album is anything but stressful. The easy listening, progressive bluegrass sound mixed with their vocal harmonies is smooth as can be. If you're not into long jams, this might not be for you (8 minutes), but if you are looking to dip your toe into anything jam-band or bluegrass adjacent, this is a good choice.
"Chocolate Hills"- Khruangbin & Leon Bridges
The second release from the Texas Moon EP (sequel to Texas Sun) is a slower jam than the previous release "B-side." Now "B-side" sounded more Khruangbin than Leon, but "Chocolate Hills" sounds more Leon than Khruangbin which is a good balance. If you can imagine Leon's song "Motorbike", but with instrumentation by Khruangbin, this is what you'll get. Texas Sun is one of my favorite music projects of all time, so my expectations for Texas Moon are high and so far are being met.
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