Five Songs You Should Listen to Right Now: Ladies Only Edition

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zola jesus

I usually don’t have a theme for these posts but there are SO many great female artists catching my ear right now that I wanted to share their tunes in one place!

Zola Jesus – “Dangerous”

The new Zola Jesus song is a BANGER (to use one of the favorite words of my fellow blogger Mario Cotto).

It’s a synth pop track that manages to be both dreamy and hard hitting. It’s dancefloor ready and marks a big step up for Zola, who I’ve always considered very powerful, yet more ethereal and experimental than pop (this remix by David Lynch always stands out as a favorite).

Freshly signed to Mute Records, Zola is not holding back. If this is any indication, her full length “Taiga”, out in October, could be one of the best dance records of the year.

Lia Ices – “Thousand Eyes”

“Thousand Eyes” manages to be kinda weird but catchy and blissful at the same time, hence the “experimental pop” label Lia Ices has been given.

The dreamy track is our first listen to her forthcoming album, Ices”, due in September on Jagjaguwar.

She tells Consequence of Sound the album “is a celebration of flight, levity, and the conviction that you can leave earth…You take wing in an airplane, you go to real places when you dream, you have out-of-body experiences, you get high, you lose yourself in someone else.”

Mapei

Mapei – “Change”

Mapei’s insanely catchy track “Don’t Wait” introduced me to the soulful Stockholm native, whose debut album “Hey Hey” will be out on Downtown Records in September.

Her music is full of life and I really love her approach. “Change” is a powerful, anthemic affirmation that truly showcases her talent as a vocalist.

It’s worth noting that she has LA tour dates opening for both John Legend and Chromeo in the coming months!

Julia Holter – “Don’t Make Me Over”

Julia Holter is a fascinating local favorite and I never know quite what to expect from her.

Last year’s “Loud City Song” was one of our standout local releases, and she just announced new double-A side 7-inch with a couple covers – Barbara Lewis’ “Hello Stranger” and Dionne Warwick’s “Don’t Make Me Over”.

The latter is a powerful song that caught my attention even when I was a child. And I’ve always loved the story behind it (as well as the sentiment!).

It was written by Burt Bacharach/Hal David after Dionne shouted the title line at them after they rejected a version of another song she had recorded. This demand for artistic acceptance easily translates to a love song and this simpler, jazzy version lets you really dig into the lyrics.

Jessie Ware – “Tough Love”

I was a big fan of UK singer Jessie Ware leading up to the release of her debut full length.

She built up a following slowly (having Disclosure remix her track “Running helped) and then delivered with “Devotion“.

As soon as I heard she had a new song, I couldn’t wait to press play and “Tough Love” did not disappoint. Just hearing Jessie’s voice again made my music heart happy.

But it also has this Prince vibe to it that I love.

It was written in NYC with BenZel (the duo of Benny Blanco and Two Inch Punch), who executive produced her forthcoming album.

RR