Dear listeners,
I feel bad for the songs released in this current temporal buffer zone — after most people have made their year-end lists, but before the next year begins. A lyric from a recent Vampire Weekend song comes to mind: “Capricorn, the year that you were born / Finished fast, and the next one wasn’t yours.”
Today’s playlist gives some of these poor, forgotten songs of 2024 their day in the sun. It comprises some of my favorite entries from the last few weeks of our Friday Playlists, almost all of which came out after I compiled my best-of-the-year lists. (I say “almost” because I had such a love-at-first-play response to one of these tracks that I actually sneaked it onto my songs of the year list, right at the buzzer.) We’ve got two exciting collaborations between artists I like a lot individually — Julien Baker and Torres; and DJ Koze and Damon Albarn — plus solo tracks from the Japanese electronic artist Sakura Tsuruta and the R&B singer-songwriter Amber Mark, among several other tunes. If you haven’t finalized your own best-of-the-year lists yet, give this a listen first.
Have you ever seen a sun rise twice?
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Julien Baker & Torres: “Sugar in the Tank”
As a member of the trio boygenius, the singer-songwriter Julien Baker is no stranger to collaborating with her contemporaries. But this stomping, country-rock duet with Mackenzie Scott, who records as Torres, brings out a side of Baker I’ve never quite heard before. Baker and Scott’s voices blend well, and the pair have been playing some shows together recently and debuting new material — might a full album be in the works?
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. DJ Koze & Damon Albarn: “Pure Love”
Here’s one reason to look forward to 2025: The free-spirited German electronic musician DJ Koze will be releasing his first album in nearly seven years. (His previous album, the blissful “Knock Knock,” is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t heard it.) The first single from the forthcoming Koze LP, “Music Can Hear Us,” is a drifting tropical reverie that features vocals from Damon Albarn, of Blur and Gorillaz. “I told you I was OK, but that was untrue,” Albarn croons, his voice sagging with his signature melancholy. Nobody’s allowed to be too sad on a DJ Koze song, though, so Albarn enlivens his second verse with a casual chuckle.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Sakura Tsuruta: “Onyx”
The Toyko-based producer Sakura Tsuruta makes music that is both intricate and opalescent. In late November, she released an album with a highly appropriate title: “Gemz.” Do you remember those children’s toys that look like vacuums but are actually a sort of popcorn-popper/gumball machine hybrid? Listening to this song makes me feel like I am inside of one, in the best way.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Horsegirl: “2468”
Here it is, the late-breaking entry on my songs of the year list! I am a sucker for anything that sounds even a little bit like the great post-punk band the Raincoats, and this sing-songy tune, from the Chicago group Horsegirl’s forthcoming second LP, “Phonetics On and On,” fits the bill perfectly. Warning: This song will get stuck in your head.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Amber Mark: “Wait So Yeah”
As she works on her next album, the genre-hopping singer-songwriter Amber Mark recently released a fun, eclectic 19-minute EP called “Loosies.” The whole thing is worth a listen — the undulating, strobe-lit “Won’t Cry” is a personal favorite — but “Wait So Yeah” is a playful introduction to Mark’s particular musical personality.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Squid: “Crispy Skin”
How about we go out with a six-minute post-punk song about cannibalism? Don’t worry, it’s not autobiographical: According to the drummer and vocalist Ollie Judge, “Crispy Skin,” the first single from the British band’s forthcoming third album, “Cowards,” was inspired by Agustina Bazterrica’s 2017 dystopian novel “Tender Is the Flesh,” which contemplates moral complicity in troubled times. That all might sound a little heavy, but a buoyant bass line, a jaunty keyboard riff and Judge’s energetic yelps make the song — dare I say? — easily digestible.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“6 New Songs You Should Hear Now” track list
Track 1: Julien Baker & Torres, “Sugar in the Tank”
Track 2: DJ Koze & Damon Albarn, “Pure Love”
Track 3: Sakura Tsuruta, “Onyx”
Track 4: Horsegirl, “2468”
Track 5: Amber Mark, “Wait So Yeah”
Track 6: Squid, “Crispy Skin”
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