New Music: Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, Dirty Projectors, Drake, Bowie & The Flaming Lips

By JUICE Malaysia  •  23 Jan 2017 in Music

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Barely a month into 2017 and already we’re experiencing new music-overload from more-established acts such as…

 

David Bowie

It’s been a year since Bowie’s passing (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), and his birthday which was just a couple days later, marked the release of the Bowie’s latest posthumous EP No Plan, along with a video for the single ‘No Plan’.

Recorded around the time of Blackstar for the musical Lazarus, these are the artiste’s final known recordings. The stage show, which opened in New York late last year, is based on Bowie’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth, in which the musician played an alcoholic alien called Thomas Newton.

 

Gorillaz

Damon Albarn’s merry band of animations makes a comeback after 5 years of silence (their last outing was 2012’s ‘DoYaThing’ single). Featuring singer Benjamin Clementine, the new single ‘Hallelujah Money’ shows that the band’s signature post-apocalyptic chill is still intact. No doubt, fictional bassist Murdoc did publish in Facebook: “In these dark times, we all need someone to look up to. Me. That’s why I’m giving you this new Gorillaz song, a lightning bolt of truth in a black night. You’re welcome. Now piss on! The new album’s not gonna write itself.”

 

Arcade Fire

“It’s never been more important that we stick together & take care of each other,” said Arcade Fire while releasing their latest single ‘I Give You Power’ featuring Mavis Staples. Perhaps pointing at an uncertain period in American politics (though the band’s from Canada), all proceeds from single’s streaming and sales will go to the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Dirty Projectors

Brooklyn band, Dirty Projectors are planning on releasing their 8th studio album this year. To tease us, they have published a track off their upcoming self-titled album. Checkout ‘Up In Hudson’ and the album’s artwork below. The song contains such cool rhymes as “Now I’m listening to Kanye on the Taconic Parkway ridin’ fast / And you’re out in Echo Park blasting Tupac, drinking a fifth for my ass.” Yeezy would approve.

 

The Flaming Lips

Heavily influence by their time spent backing and producing Miley Cyrus’ SoundCloud-based, free-download album Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz, the Lips are back with a brand new album Oczy Mlody (their 14th studio album since starting the band 30 years ago). Here’s standout track ‘We A Famly’ (which incidentally contains Miley’s vocal as well) in the form of a lyric video:

 

Drake

‘Fake Love’ from upcoming album More Life sees Drake returning to form. No more embarrassing tennis-inspired dance moves or getting woman-handled by Madonna. More Life is scheduled to be released early this year. Though the single came out late last year, for now checkout this new MV of ‘Fake Love’. It’s worth your bandwidth.

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