Your pregame playlist
ft. boygenius, Vagabon, and artists to know in 2023
The Big Game doesn’t start until 6:30 ET, so grab your headphones first — I’ve got some great songs for you to hear.
But first, here are two perfect pregame reads — one from Lindsay Zoladz on Rihanna’s big return tonight, and one from Caity Weaver on the chaotic CGI spectacle of Carrie Underwood’s “Sunday Night Football” intro.
New songs to stream
“$20” // “Emily I’m Sorry” // “True Blue,” boygenius: It continues to be extremely cool that Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker — three of our best singer-songwriters — have decided to form a real band and make music together. Their supergroup trio, boygenius, began with a 2018 EP that could’ve easily been a standalone stunt. Instead, it marked the start of a fruitful collaboration, with a full-length album now officially on the way. (And a fun recreation of Rolling Stone’s 1994 Nirvana cover.)
The first three tracks are all stunners, each emphasizing the best of the individual artists’ tendencies — there’s a clear “Julien track,” “Phoebe track,” and “Lucy track” — but still displaying enough harmonies and idiosyncracies to justify the team-up in the first place. The trio will be headlining a 12-city festival tour called Re:Set in June, and I cannot wait to hear that opening riff of “$20” live.
Here are a few more songs I have on repeat lately. As always, you can find all these picks in the Hear Hear playlist.
“Carpenter,” Vagabon: Vibrant electro-pop from the Brooklyn-based artist, who has hopped around genres since her breakout DIY rock album in 2017. This tune marks an exciting collaboration with Rostam, who adds his trademark balance of pristine polish and homemade warmth to the song’s bouncy synths and smooth vocals.
“Cave” // “The Natural” // “Many Days” // “STM,” Purr: Formerly known as Jack and Eliza on their stellar 2015 album, this duo keeps expanding their harmonic sound in wonderful directions — with Big Thief-y twang on “The Natural” and Dirty Projectors-style loops on “Cave.”
“Gorilla,” Little Simz: The North London-based rapper “displays command of her punchy rhymes with a cadence so casual it feels as if she could deliver them in her sleep,” writes NPR Music’s Teresa Xie. “The track closes the same way it starts: with the pomp and circumstance of booming brass notes.”
“Rice,” Young Fathers: This unique Scottish trio has shades of TV On The Radio's frenetic anthems. The opening track from their new album “sets a triumphant and ritualistic tone,” writes Stereogum’s Tom Breihan.
Reliably strong singles from The National, Whitney, and Fruit Bats.
Artists to know in 2023
The savvy teams at Nylon, Pitchfork, and NPR Music put together three thoughtful lists of their emerging artists to watch in 2023. I still need to explore these further, but here are a few initial highlights:
Baby Rose: “One of the most distinct voices in R&B right now” [on NPR’s list]
Blondshell: “Nineties alt-tinged indie rock that meshes the rawness of grunge with evocative scene-setting” [on Nylon’s list]
Grace Ives: “Offbeat electronic pop about crushes and the ridiculousness of the music industry” [on Pitchfork’s list]
Sobs: “This Singaporean indie rock trio can sound like The Cranberries, Alvvays, and Real Estate depending on the mood that strikes them” [Nylon]
Sudan Archives: Recommended if you like “sound baths, Solange, spontaneity, Funkadelic-style fearlessness” [Pitchfork]
Wednesday: Talented Asheville rock band pairing frontwoman Karly Hartzman with guitarist MJ Lenderman, whose twangy solo album was one of 2022’s best. [NPR]
Meet Me At The Altar brings pop-punk to late night
The Grammys also had a few performances worth sharing (Stevie Wonder & Smokey Robinson; Steve Lacy & Thundercat) but CBS doesn’t make the clips accessible. Womp womp. 🤷♂️ Fortunately this nice TV debut from rising stars MMATA is here to check out!
Joe Biden agrees: Ticketmaster sucks!
You knew that already, but it was nice to hear concert ticket fees get a shoutout in the SOTU, and I’ve been inspired by the recent coverage of Ticketmaster’s monopoly power. Kudos to soul-pop artist Clyde Lawrence for his testimony at a Senate hearing and excellent NYT op-ed breaking down Live Nation’s control of the music ecosystem.
Last but not least…
Episode 3 of HBO’s The Last Of Us was an instant classic, with a brilliant song choice to anchor the story: Linda Ronstadt’s 1970 ballad “Long Long Time.” The LA Times’ Tracy Brown wrote a nice piece about the song’s history and unexpected revival.
Somehow I completely missed Meet Me @ The Altar's tv debut, thanks for sharing it! Been loving their EP since it came out and I just can't wait for the LP this year!