ListenUp
Rhye, Austra, Schultz + Forever and more in this week’s musical round-up
Ezra Furman: Love You So Bad
It’s no small wonder to make a song that’s altogether likable, relatable and admirable. Ezra Furman does this with “Love You So Bad,” which has just been released in video form, directed by frequent collaborator Joseph Brett. There’s a dramatic and substantial upbeat energy to Furman’s well-composed world. The song will appear on Transangelic Exodus, the musician’s forthcoming sonic study on being an outsider.
Schultz + Forever: Backwards
With an ’80s-style exuberance and a NSFW music video that starts with a statement-making shot, “Backwards” makes for quite the experience. The vision of Schultz + Forever’s Jonathan Schultz and directors Glen Bay Grant and Ejner Seidelin, the music video features the Danish-born singer-songwriter posing as a nude model—before appearing and performing clothed. The song will appear on Grand Guignol, out next year.
Rhye: Count to Five
An album that’s been four years in the making, BLOOD by LA-based Rhye will be released early next year. From it comes the song “Count to Five.” In their immediately recognizable style, the track is breathy and breezy, but with a disco and funk influence that keeps it from becoming sleepy.
Austra: Change the Paradigm
A B-side from this year’s Future Politics, Austra’s “Change the Paradigm” slowly burns on an electronic fuse. Just after two-thirds of the way in, the track completely lets loose. It’s a turbo-charged number ready for the dance floor. Before 2017 ends, the band will be playing a final show in their hometown, Toronto.
Avey Tare: Ms Secret
With visuals “inspired by the coral and nautical motifs throughout [his 2017 album] Eucalyptus as well as this year’s total eclipse,” Avey Tare’s new music video for “Ms Secret” moves forward with beautiful, thematically-linked animation. Directed by Jack Kubizne, the video was developed by Steve Meyer with additional animation by Rick Manlapig and background art by Stephie Miller. The track itself has a measured grace with charm like no other—or, in a way that only a member of Animal Collective could produce.
ListenUp is a Cool Hunting series published every Sunday that rounds up the music we tweeted throughout the week, also found in Listen. Hear the year so far via Cool Hunting Spotify.
