Music For Your Weekend

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My past few entries to this revolving series of weekly music recommendations have been somewhat thematic (including my recent essay entirely devoted to The The); so, today I’m here to offer you more of a mixed bag. From the light as air disco of Friendly Fires’ latest to some sweet, sweet indie rock lady supergroup harmonies – there’s quite a variety for you to sink your teeth into.

Friendly Fires – “Heaven Let Me In”

Friendly Fires were clearly concerned that we weren’t dancing enough so they decided to step in and do something about it. Teaming up with Disclosure for shared production duties was a genius move, and the result is an effervescent banger. Sure, effervescent banger sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but this track manages to pull off exactly that. It’s a pretty neat trick, not to mention one that’ll keep you grooving all weekend long.

Peaking Lights – “I Can Read Your Mind”

We remain at the disco for this next one, but things have gotten a lot darker by now. Peaking Lights have long been a favorite project of mine as they make whip smart dance music that is clearly indebted to myriad post-punk influences. They’ve teamed up with the prestigious Amsterdam based collective Dekmantel for the brand new EP Sea of Sand, and I’m very excited that you’re about to hear my personal stand out from it; “I Can Read Your Mind.”

Boygenius – “Stay Down”

Boygenius combines the unimpeachable talents of 3 of indie rock’s current brightest lights. KCRW favorites Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker met and quickly bonded as each of their solo careers were on similarly ascendant trajectories. Somewhere along the way they decided to join forces as Boygenius, and record a self-titled EP (due out November 9th via Matador). The world is a better place because of this. The songs that I’ve heard cleverly combine the disparate styles of each of these women into something cohesive and lovely. The video below is of an early performance of my new favorite song “Stay Down.” Though Bridgers is unfortunately absent for this one, I’m sharing it anyway to highlight the sheer charm of Baker’s lead performance and the easy chemistry that is displayed once Dacus appears to harmonize. This is a project I hope to be tracking for years and years to come.

Boygenius feature image: Lera Pentelute , carousel: Beggars Group