Welcome to RXCOMMENDS, where our team of music curators pick the best tracks released this week. What new music has been occupying our office playlist and what fresh picks are we programming for our clients? Find out below!
“Wait, I Lied” – Alfie Templeman
By: Ben Birchard
I’m not a big “song of the summer” guy – some summers have bigger, more far-reaching, all-encompassing hits than others. Every so often though, one does breaks through in a BIG way and everyone loves it right up until the moment we collectively decide to hate it. It’s the musical version of our obsession with building up celebrities so we can enjoy watching them on the way down just as much.
All that said, I’ll now take a stroll down hypocrite lane and offer my early entry for 2021’s song of the summer. Alfie Templeman’s “Wait I Lied” off the album Forever Isn’t Long Enough has some pretty big potential. It’s some nice sugary pop with slick production, a driving beat, some funky-ish bass, shades-of-disco-guitar, and about 4 different solid hooks.
This tune is, really, really applicable. Doesn’t sound too romantic as a description but I can see it going with margaritas and tacos on a patio, shakin’ on a dancefloor, working it out in a gym, pretty much anywhere you can bop and chew gum at the same time. Maybe you never hear it again, but it’s worth a listen today, and if you end up sick of it by September, you heard it here first.
“Girl From Rio” – Anitta
By: Michael Primiani
When I tell people that I am a Music Consultant and that my job involves curating “background” music for commercial businesses – people often bring up this scene from Blues Brothers. Amidst the havoc of every special forces unit in the Chicago area trying to hunt down John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, they enter an elevator and are almost lulled to sleep by a Muzak cover version of “The Girl From Ipanema” which contrasts the chaos. Although a great track (we prefer the Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto version or the Frank Sinatra/Jobim version) the stuffy, smooth jazz and easy listening version has become a cultural reference point of background music as an omnipresent sedative. This bass boosted R&B cut from Anitta sung to the tune of “The Girl From Ipanema” serves as a testament to how background music has evolved over time to foreground music – what we at RX Music pride ourselves on. Although we appreciate a good instrumental, we are also committed to supplying our clients with music that is fresh and trendy. This is a track that begs to be noticed, that swings so cool but doesn’t sway too gentle so that when you pass the bar playing it on the patio you can go – “oooooh”.
“Strawberry Blonde” – chloe moriondo
By: Lindsay Bell
I walk through the doors of my high school gymnasium and enter the dance hesitantly. I wasn’t planning on going. I never go to these things…
Just as I enter, I hear the cosmic sounds of chloe moriondo ignite, sending all the young lovers into an anxious slow dance frenzy.
I start to type “pineapple” into my phone, a codeword my mom and I agreed upon in case things get lame, when at exactly 1:27 into the song “Strawberry Blonde” it all becomes clear. I remember why I came.
“Lost In Space (Feat. SG Lewis)” – Folamour
By: Michael Primiani
Folamour and SG Lewis are two recent producers that have been a hit with our clients for combining the classic sounds of disco and house music with newer sounds of synth pop, electro pop and future funk. This latest track combines the pitch shifted vocals of Lewis with Folamour’s distinct disco flair. It’s similar to the work of Daft Punk and Mark Ronson with the addition of R&B style vocal passages. This feel-good track will be a hit for happy hour and may result in some dancing on tables (your bar’s funky hanging steampunk lights are lower than they seem).
“RAPSTAR” – Polo G
By: Matt Lipson
I have a real soft spot for Polo G. He’s got this melodic sensibility and there’s a deeply personal tone to his voice. He doesn’t rely on gimmicks to stand out; instead, it’s bars like every day a battle, I’m exhausted and I’m weary / make sure I smile in public, when alone, my eyes teary / I fought through it all, but that shit hurt me severely that just have me rooting for him instantly. The beat on this track is delicious, a Spanish guitar loop lending a paired-down quality to the track – simple and effective.
“The Top” – Sarah Neufeld
By: Matt Lipson
Sarah Neufeld’s solo work is often laden with a tension and ethereality that’s either challenging or heavenly, and sometimes both. “The Top”, the latest single from her forthcoming album Detritus, falls firmly into the second category. There’s a beautiful push-and-pull quality to it, like a rubber band pulled to its extreme and snapping free. The track features a pretty circular melody, but Neufeld hones in on it with dynamics that break free from its boundaries and ride it to soaring heights. When a gentle vocal melody enters the scene, it adds a celestial quality, as if Paganini and Enya had met for cocktails.
“Incantation VIII” – Sufjan Stevens
By: Matt Lipson
Over a one-month period, Sufjan Stevens incrementally released his massive ninth studio album, Convocations, one volume at a time. A piece that I’ve been enjoying is “Incantation VIII,” a hypnotic looping sequence accompanied by restrained strings. There are no sweeping crescendos here, or really anything remarkable, which is what makes this track so satisfying. It’s sweet ambient music meant to be heard as actively or passively as you wish without any pressure to analyze or intellectualize – which, incidentally, is exactly what I’m doing.
You can listen to the tracks we mentioned along with other songs our team has been enjoying this week in the Spotify playlist below:
