The Music Dispatch: May 16th, 2023
Inside: tripleS, Wednesday Campanella, Loreen, IVE, songs in fonts, and the bid for song of the summer
Welcome to The Music Dispatch! This is a weekly part of this Substack where I shortly review every new(-ish) release I listened to. Out every Tuesday. All mentioned songs are available on your streaming platform of choice unless stated otherwise. Is there an album you want to recommend me? @ me on Twitter or head on over to the Retrospring!
For a while now, I’ve puzzled over Matty Healy, the The 1975 frontman. The context: Taylor Swift is dating him. Why, the internet asks. How can she be in love with an alt-right guy? Does she not know better? I don’t like Matty Healy myself; some The 1975 songs are very good, sure, and two albums of theirs are decent, but the persona-music balance skews more towards (abrasive) persona and antics, and his vocals are so-so overall. But I’m sorry to tell you that he — his antics off-stage and on-stage, and yes, I really do mean all of it — is no more or less a rock guy than guys like Steve Albini1, Johnny Rotten2, Iggy Pop3, Gibby Haynes4 and whatnot. (Actually, he’s very much Steve Albini in younger years lmao). In my view, he thinks of himself as different, which makes fans and detractors think of him as totally different of this conversation, too. But when the dust settles, which it eventually will in ten-fifteen years, he’ll be hailed as a rockstar that acted like all the rest of them. I don’t mean to say this as a praise, but if you think about it, he’s the sole rock star we’ve got left in the classical sense, which is not something we’re quite used to as a society (the last time rock stars were mainstream popular, Kurt Cobain was still alive5) so that lends Matty Healy the whole feel of like… being different/musty/exceptionally horrible. He’s definitely one of these things (looking musty), but not all three. Now I know what you’re thinking: what about [nice rock guy]? They have always existed, too; I’m not saying that they didn’t, only that the particular brand of “rock star” is full of foulmouthed, attention-seeking, smelly-looking provocateurs that absolutely love that you are outraged, just the way they want you to be — and that’s exactly what Matty Healy is. Actually, the very people I mentioned to you before, they’d argue they’re nice guys, too, and I’m sure they were/are in some contexts and situations. But y’know, Ian McKaye (he’s most known for being a Fugazi at this point) was beating people up in Minor Threat shows and swore up and down he was a nice guy actually, so. So how dare Taylor Swift date him? I don’t know, and I don’t have it in me to really care, either. I do know that we’re going to enter some very interesting albums for both the group and her, though.
EPs and Albums
tripleS — ASSEMBLE
I didn’t want to talk about tripleS at length the last time I covered a subunit of theirs (Acid Angel from Asia). You’ll recall the last time I rolled my eyes at what seemed like a bunch of old songs, especially from the Loona-Odd Eye Circle vault (I went back to Generation last Friday just to confirm, and I was still bored). But as I heard the highlight medley of (KR)ystal Eyes and was excited at the snippet that became the lead single, I thought I should get up to speed. So: Jaden Jeong, creative director who usually has a good idea and then eventually dips or is dipped (Lovelyz, Loona, OnlyOneOf?) now houses his own label, MODHAUS, and a girlgroup more ambitious than debuting of the month. Behold: tripleS is “a 24-member fan-participation girl group under MODHAUS. The group plans to combine the worlds of NFT and K-pop. The members will rotate between the group, units, solo, etc. chosen by the fans. They will present a new ‘dimension’ every season with new concepts. […] They will have a full group song every year depending on the number of S’s.” Forget the NFT, that’s over. Let’s focus on the more important things — hahahahaha, so now groups are not fixed, more a mix and match… [Lee Sooman’s face when he realizes Jaden Jeong continued the NCT (Johnny’s AKB) model] (But between us: eventually the units will be fixed unless Jaden Jeong wants to continue his inaccessible art project for self-satisfaction reasons, lol. Or is dumped again.) What you’re hearing on ASSEMBLE isn’t the full form of tripleS yet: they’re ten of the eventual twenty-four members. Just like with Acid Angel from Asia, the songs themselves you’ve heard before: sleek, chic R&B pop music that K-Pop dubs “newtro” (new + retro) of the likes of NewJeans, especially the way vocal harmonies are looped in Rising the way it did with Attention. There’s Loona B-side material on here, and the vocal harmonies — this very pleasant but a little timid tone, very Heejin-esque — will surely recall efforts by 1/3 if not the whole group. This is a good or bad thing depending on your perspective: I thought the EP was quite spirited, sleek, and charming at many points, like Colorful, the guitars on The Baddest, and the boisterous synth-led New Look. New dimension this is not, but it will make do.
tripleS +(KR)ystal Eyes — <AESTHETIC>
This is the second subunit — I can only suppose this is meant to be the pure one or whatever. The Loona similarities continue, now with the album cover and even the way two of the girls look like Hyunjin and Heejin a little. Lead single Cherry Talk completely shoots itself in the foot with the chorus just repeating “Boom cherry talk, boom boom cherry talk” over and over; overproduced, underbaked in melody, this is NewJeans through and through. It’s overly content to simply pass you by in a way a B-side is. Elsewhere, that same 90s R&B nonsense that plagued LOONA 1/3’s release haunts AESTHETIC also, stuffed to the brim with production choices that really detract when listening to it closely: instruments swirling around in the mix that are totally unnecessary for Benign Song #192381923. And “Dimension (KRE Ver.)” sounds like the girls (just like Acid Angels from Asia) were forced to record this one underwater and the mixing engineer punished them by mixing them extremely low. I pray for the days K-Pop chooses to do be exciting again. We’re stuck with easy listening for a couple years at least. I posit that this type of unadorned, and frankly almost mechanically subpar, singing is the pendulum swinging away from big, showy main vocals and autotune to something “raw” and “real”; not just a byproduct, but the desired effect from debuting girls under the age of 18. It’ll be interesting to see how hard the pendulum will swing back from this, and how soon. New dimension this is most definitely not.
★ Wednesday Campanella — RABBIT STAR ★
Off the heels from the first album with new vocalist Utaha last year, RABBIT STAR ★ sheds some of the K-Pop (fine, NCT) hints that permeated last year’s Neon with more dance-influenced tones: boogie on Shadow, an insane breakbeat at the end of Seven Lucky Gods, and calmer beats on Little Red Riding Hood and Shadow. Utaha makes for an immensely magnetic personality throughout, whether she’s rapping or singing, never feeling like she’s behind the ever-shifting sonic palette. As a result, this is a fun collection of tracks that sit between pop, experimental hip hop, and dance, and they bring in much-needed color to this year’s pastel tones in music. Bookending the EP are the already released Hot Pot Commander (the vocal fry is still so cool) and the clubby Tinkerbell.
Singles
Loreen — Tattoo
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner is only of interest to me because she sung the flawless Euphoria ten years prior, a song that I (like any self-respecting gay person) was frankly obsessed with. Tattoo is… not as good as that song. The problem here is that it never goes off, even though every instance of the melody seemingly begs for a release. However, I like the acoustic version (as acoustic as electronics can get) as a moody piece, and I found out that Loreen released Neon Lights last year, and that one is simply fantastic — big synths, vocal dramatics, beautiful payoff in the climax.
Jayda G — Scars
Sitting a little outside the section below, Jayda G’s single is nevertheless very summery and just as introspective in lyrics as Circle Back Around. So far, everything she’s released has a high polish on it. I am hyped for Guy coming out in June.
IVE — WAVE
This insistence on girlgroups right now to resort to easy listening makes it fairly easy to stand out — all you have to do is be a little louder than the rest and you’re already set. aespa, as much as I think Spicy is subpar for them, ventured to 2019/ITZY. Le Sserafim does Blackpink-esque music for the boygroup fan that has a desperate need to prove they’re not misogynist by listening to a token girlgroup, and leaves enough wriggle room for sounds riffing off other girlgroups (Red Velvet and Twice) in their B-sides, as well as the clubby side for gay people. (And NMIXX is NMIXX.) IVE has an incredibly easy game. Maybe their game was always easy because Jang Wonyoung is the most famous celebrity of her generation, but the music hasn’t rested on that alone. WAVE is their first original Japanese single and delves a little to their B-side material (Royal, My Satisfaction) with a guitar that I can only describe as Neptunes-esque (think Justin Timberlake’s Senorita). And here comes the sitar in the bridge… okay…. hey cousin, I’m still onto you! WAVE is a little too satisfied with its hook (Double U-A-V-E) and whip sound to really rank among the rest of their Korean discography, but is still remarkably fun and remarkably different from the rest of girlgroup K-Pop. While everyone else has subpar vocalists for a second coming of S.E.S (children’s R&B), IVE make real pop music! Now let’s do a belter next time.
Arlo Parks — Pegasus (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
Arlo Parks has killer taste in music, which is why she’ll always have a chance with me. Pegasus is track four of a five-track rollout of sophomore album My Soft Machine and lullaby-esque in its melodies. The percussion keeps things alive lest it totally veer off to the sleepy. Phoebe Bridgers mumb— harmonizes with Parks throughout. It’s fine. (Blades, the single released prior this one, is more charismatic.)
Queens of the Stone Age — Emotion Sickness
The upcoming new album of the stoner rock band is called In Times New Roman…, which begs the question: do songs generally come in fonts? Emotion Sickness, the lead single, rocks and rolls, and frontman Josh Homme sounds wisened now. There’s a Rotten-esque roll of the r at Ferocious here, and before I whip up fun facts about Simon Ferocious, let me simply say that the song itself sounds older than it really is. When this one ends up on the Grammy nomination ballot, just know that sounding mid-aged is not an aesthetic, but a lifestyle. Anyway, the font of this one… sure, why not, Times New Roman. 12pt, double-spaced, place the title a third halfway down your page… shit, sorry, this isn’t the Modern Manuscript Format. Now about these Simon Ferocious jokes…
(G)I-DLE — Allergy
Full review out on Friday. This one is too close to 00s pop punk (Avril Lavigne, various Disney rock songs) for its own good, but it does grow on you quite a bit and it’s a good thing they continue the pop punk streak. (I gasped when I heard Queencard’s opening riff. Holy shit, Seven Nation Army!?)
The bid for Song of the Summer
It is mid-May. The weather is getting warmer, which means the battle for song of the summer is on. (No, Get Lucky won’t be the song of the summer this summer, although Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories did turn 10 this year.) The big names are all touring or doing other things, which means that the arena is wide open for everyone else. I mean, if TikTok had it their way, we’d be looking at Cruel Summer hitting #1 on the charts… three years after its release. We’re in a crisis… but the girls are on their way! The sound of the summer drives from reggae and Afrobeats: warm surf guitars, dembow, and a beat that will make your hips shake. It all sounds rather reminiscent of the album Beyoncé eventually scrapped: Wake Up, Standing on the Sun, Ring Off. What’s it like to be so ahead of the curve, I wonder? Anyways, all three of the new singles are great.
★ Jorja Smith — Little Things
Jorja Smith’s newest single uses a quick dembow beat and a busy piano as Smith’s rich contralto glides over the melody, that the little things get her high. Little Things is hypnotizing and engaging at the same time, and there’s rarely a moment of rest here: even when Smith isn’t singing, the beat is all too happy to dictate the rhythm on the hips in the outro. Try Me, the single prior this one, is even more sultry with a great sense of drama. She’s been on this dance-centered streak since late 2022’s Rose Rouge with Joy Orbison. It’d all make a great dance-centered album. An album is coming our way, though no title has been announced yet. Anyway, I’m seated and I suspect Little Things will do well on UK charts!
Janelle Monáe — Lipstick Lover
Age of Pleasure is coming out on 6/9. Between this and Float, Monáe will certainly deliver the album of the summer. This is sexy, fun, and utterly relaxed, the reggae vibe suiting their sultry voice extremely well. I’m taken by the pre-chorus: ooh you talkin nasty, and I like it / whisper in my ear, only me and you can hear, when they take on a rap-like cadence with their singing. This one’s for the beach and for tanning in the sun, and very catchy to boot. Sorry to everyone that expected something like Dirty Computer, but it seems we’re done with deep introspection for now. Summer is for going out and the people around us!
Victoria Monét — Party Girls (feat. Buju Banton)
Sitting very close under Lipstick Lover in the Are & Be playlist on Spotify (6.5m likes) is Victoria Monét’s Party Girls, herself no stranger to releasing summer bangers! (Multiple, in fact). Though a midtempo track, the dembow and strings (and the surf guitar there!) match well with Victoria Monét’s buttery vocals. Buju Banton assists with a very spirited verse here. This reggae jam sounds like a hit in the making. If first single Smoke featuring Lucky Daye is any indication, reggae and long summer nights is where we’re headed for the next project!
Here’s the playlist of all the tracks/releases I talked about thus far in the Music Dispatches:
Producer of many albums, most notably Nirvana’s In Utero. He wrote in zines in a very troll-like manner, and according to Our Band Could Be Your Life, people did not seem to be certain whether or not he was an actual raging bigot or just doing it for jokes.
aka John Lydon, he was the frontman of the Sex Pistols and currently fronts Public Image, Ltd. It’s said that eventually the title got to him — many anecdotes of him being a rude person abound. Also, you know, Trump supporter for some reason.
The Stooges frontman, later became a punk rocker in his own right. Just a wild personality on stage, at least in the Stooges era.
Frontman of Butthole Surfers (yes)… who had extreme antics on stage
I am not available for “But what about [emo rocker of the 2000s]” conversations at this time. I said what I said!