Forgive me for seeing a title like "ICE.MOON" and thinking I'm going to get a blast of cold, ambient air and little else. Not so on SZA's new track from her upcoming, simply-titled EP S. This is churning, atmospheric pop with R&B inflections and rising bells that twinkle their way right into the center of your skull.
British duo AlunaGeorge has been poised for domination since early last year, and "Attracting Flies" is a flurry of dance-ready electronic punches that's hard to resist. It'll appear on the group's upcoming Body Music LP and get the single treatment on March 10 with remixes by Baauer and S-Type.
Little Boots is back for another round, following-up her 2009 debut Hands with the Tim Goldsworthy-produced Nocturnes on May 6. "Motorway" is your first taste, and it's all light pop gallop, glitzy texture and chunky '90s house chords that create a retro-meets-future feel. Andy Butler of Hercules And Love Affair and James Ford from Simian Mobile Disco are also featured on the record, so expect to dance really hard in an adult sense.
As one of the preeminent Terius Nash aficionados of this era (or any before), his imminent Fourplay LP makes me want to scream and shimmy all over the place. Yes, and now the long-awaited album from The-Dream has its first official cut – a Valentine's gift to the world of bed-ridden activities entitled "Slow It Down." How's it sound? Well, honestly like nothing new but it's still great to hear Nash bemoaning the prevalence of dance records and dropping one-liners like it was his primary motive on earth. More May 7.
Download: The-Dream - Slow It Down (feat. Fabolous) [Stereogum]
In case you missed it, at Sunday's Grammys Rihanna performed a stellar, redeeming (remember that SNL catastrophe?) rendition of "Stay." The gut-wrenching ballad – written and assisted by Mikky Ekko, who we first introduced via Ryan Hemsworth's excellent remix of Ekko's "Pull Me Down" - was made all the more powerful by RiRi's live interpretation, with cues taken from air-traffic controllers, professional flag-dancers and Mayor Bloomberg's sign language interpreter. The visuals for the track find Rihanna back doing what she does best: being beautiful and not moving much – this time in a bathtub!
2012's Late Nites With Jeremih made all sorts R&B, pop and filthy music lovers freakout. With good reason, too! It's an album-quality ride that, between the Mike Will Made It-produced "773 Love" and newly-renamed "All The Time," has two legitimate singles that should own the world this year. On this updated version, Jeremih adds Lil Wayne, who drops one of his most eye-rolly guest verses in a long history of them, and that doesn't even come close to ruining its steamy environment.
Autre Ne Veut has long had a love affair with new age shininess and Prince-indebted R&B that pops. But a love affair sometimes doesn't fully translate into the real deal for a listener. Arthur Ashin's past work often felt more like fascinating outsider art rather than capital-p POP. Influenced, sure, but not ready for an actual club. Yet that's not so with "Play By Play" – a breakthrough of oddball shimmer and cascading immediacy. It's an early contender for 'jam of the season,' so find someone to hold and be anxious with and don't be ashamed about it. Anxiety comes February 26 via Software / Mexican Summer.
In some sort of bid for complete blog domination, buzzy UK duo Disclosure has hooked-up with AlunaGeorge for a new track – the plinky, sultry, submerged and utterly danceable "White Noise." It's basically irresistible, so put it on right now and get freaky in the mirror or something.
Earlier this week, our favorite Atlanta astronaut Future, assisted by the Champagne Papi himself, dropped “Fo Real” – a rap game master-crooner pièce de résistance with production from Mike Will in anticipation of this forestalled mixtape. But now we get to cherish F.B.G: The Movie in full, which is technically the debut mixtape from Future’s Free Band Gang, but it essentially amounts to a Future journey with some filler. In addition to Drake, the autotune innovator corrals high-profile features from Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes and Juelz Santana. Still eagerly awaiting the full-length Pluto follow-up.
For anyone who found The-Dream’s 1977 project wanting in terms of danceability and, well, fun, Brooklyn producer Slava has your answer. Reworking the emotional, pained, Casha-featuring "Used To Be" expressly for the club, the result is equal parts intensity and party vibes. Casha sounds especially appropriate against an up-tempo pop-treated backdrop. Pray for Love IV.
