song reviews

On the second single from her upcoming album, rising cult star (and David Byrne protégée) Annie Clark gets as close to full-on pop as she ever has. Bouncy robo-horns and shaky-on-purpose vocals slide into a retro-futurist chorus that hits like classic Madonna. It's the sound of an art-pop weirdo throwing a curveball by playing it delightfully straight. | More »

A rewind of the harpsichord-centric Modern Vampires of the City highlight ditches Ezra Koenig's verses to let three MCs riff. In the song's spirit, Heems flashes back to Wesleyan days, Despot quotes Robert Frost, and Danny Brown hazily imagines a bridal bouquet. For a jam inspired by both Bread and Souls of Mischief, it's perfect. | More »

Conjuring both Run-DMC and Company Flow, this turned up as a bonus cut on the U.K. version of El-P and Killer Mike's double-team debut from 2013, with a menacing El-P beat and battle-grade scratching from DJ Qbert. "Tag team of the goddamn century," spits El on verse five, by which point it's tough to refute him. | More »

Mysterious U.K. dance producer Sbtrkt floats the voices of singers Ware and Sampha over a twitchy beat and warm, ghostly synths for a 75-second wisp of a snippet of a track. It's the spirit of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?" haunting the club as a benevolent EDM apparition. | More »

These alt-rockers have never been shy about admitting they watched a lot of 120 Minutes back in the day, and on this new track they continue to fine-tune their mix of fuzzy guitar chug and glassy beats. It sounds like the techno side project Billy Corgan never got around to foisting on us circa 1999. | More »

The theme of this spirited cover (from Springsteen's new LP, due January 14th) is bedrock Bruce – the struggle for love and prosperity in a nation where, as original songwriter Tim Scott McConnell put it, "you pay for everything." The revelatory beat merges Caribbean percussion, New Orleans swing and Bo Diddley stomp, topped with scorched-earth wah-wah guitar from Tom Morello. It's music that pushes past desperation into the rotten heart of Saturday night. | More »

U2's return starts like funky church–synth-choir hosanna and the gentle hammering of electric piano – and rolls with steady, compelling restraint. Bono fires a few bolts of falsetto in the chorus, and the Edge's terse guitar break suggests the ring of a wounded church bell. But "Ordinary Love" is about the seeds of dreams, and U2 play it perfectly: down-to-earth, while looking up. | More »

The young U.K. dark-groove producer who lent next-level flavor to Yeezus drops an awesome slice of bass grind. Proof that yesterday's avant-EDM producer can be today's mainstream hip-hop beat hero. | More »