Last Week's Releases Today: Daezed

Two weeks in a row. Are we ok hun? Probably not. Had something else to say but can't remember what so I guess we're good to go. (Spittin' bars like it's '04 or something.)

This week I am the most gassed about the grand return of Dae Zhen. Drew Lawrence a.k.a. Dae Zhen released what I reckoned was one of my favourite albums of 2014 - Women & Wordplay, which is still actually available for free here. That collection of tracks was good four years ago, sure, but I'm not certain they stand up as well in 2018. All of this is by the by because Dae Zhen has stepped it the fuck up with 'Hotline', his first single in what feels like forever. 'Hotline Bling' is cancelled, Drake is over, the telephone will never be the same again. Dae Zhen is good as a rapper, but I think he's possibly better as a singer - and this vocal is so smooth. I would be most grateful if somebody could give me the number for this hotline. Thanks.

In other news, #20GAYTEEN is off to an absolutely flying start with the return of both Australian pop prince Troye Sivan and lesbian princess Hayley Kiyoko. 'My My My!' is absolutely everything I could want in a pop song at this juncture in my life. Maybe I'm uncomfortable about how much I now reckon I fancy Troye Sivan, but also maybe I'm just excited about the homoverload that a potential Troye x Brockhampton collaboration could be. Who can tell? As a song I don't think I like Hayley Kiyoko's 'Curious' that much but the video, as are all her videos, is quite exceptional. There's a full on dance routine and everything. Oh my, (my) my outlook on the next twelve months has been vastly improved.

Speaking of grand returns, our ol' mate Emily Burns is back (again) with another great song (again) called 'Bitch', which is quite a statement really, isn't it? Like, it's not 'Homewrecker' but it is very good and I hope we don't have another year for the follow up. My final favourite this week is a Kali Uchis, Tyler The Creator and Bootsy Collins collab titled 'After The Storm' that surely must have been written around the same time as 'See You Again' for Tyler's Flower Boy. The vibe is similar and there are cross-references in the lyrics, although I guess one could argue the tracks are a little too similar.

Songs I like that I might get fed up of soon but I can't really tell right now are as follows. My mild interest in country as a genre continues with Missy Lancaster's 'Heatwave'. The Hunna called have a new single 'Flickin' Your Hair'. I know, I know, but I'm not finding it obtuse or offensive right at this moment however learning in this moment that it's "flickin'" and not "flicking" has made me a bit uneasy. Atella's 'Alive' is growing on me with every listen. Folly Rae, who I constantly forget I like, has teamed up with a man named "anton." for 'i need you here (cortado)' which was co-written by new WIIHAMB fave LDevine. This looks like a Oliver Heldens thing where the instrumental existed in a public space and a man at a record label was like "GET A WOMAN TO SING OVER THIS". I am not mad about this at all, just an observation. And finally Alexanderson (who I quite like and didn't realise for even one second before last week that he fronts XY&O) has teamed up with ADAL for a song by the name of 'Synthesize' that is more than alright.

Last but not least let's very quickly gloss over albums and EPs released this week. They were pretty much all trash. The Skott EP, Stay Off My Mind, took me five days to process because I was so surprised that the songs were almost upbeat but then I discovered that really I only liked 'In The Mood' and the rest were actually not that good. The BØRNS album, Blue Madonna, was a genuine shock to the system. It was good. It is good. Obviously I'm only holding on to four of the songs from it but overall I was impressed. I have started my first library playlist for 2018 but currently it is just those four BØRNS songs.

All the other songs I've mentioned can be found in my Keep It 2018 playlist here and below.