Singles Going Steady
Favorites: April 11, 2025 - April 17, 2025
Gabbie at New Bands for Old Heads wrote a note recently about how advanced singles don’t always give a good idea what to expect from an album. “Singles are liars.” I don’t disagree but feel compelled to offer a caveat that, sometimes singles never appear on an album. Perhaps that’s a form of quality or consistency control once reserved for B-sides. As Gabbie notes and we’ve too often experienced, “the entire rest of the album might be filler for all we know!” The New Bands for Old Heads general philosophy is to ignore singles and wait for the full album.
Gabbie also listens to an entire album, whereas I skim and make snap judgments about whether to devote time and energy to listen more attentively. I thought this was essentially just a difference in approach and how I manage to give even a cursory listen to a wide range of new music, but it now occurs to me that it might be a smidge of ADHD. That’s something to explore another time.
In addition to trying to respond to Gabbie’s thoughts in a timely manner, I’m also focusing on our different approaches because last week was heavy on singles and light on albums. This might have something to do with Record Store Day being last Saturday; perhaps bands scheduled new releases on other days to avoid competing with the annual event. A skim (What can I say? It’s a questionable habit) of RSD releases appears to reveal mostly reissues, special editions (with previously unreleased B-sides!), vinyl debuts, and a few exclusives. While I do have a few full-lengths to recommend (probably not coincidentally including a disproportionate number of reissues) below the fold, maybe we’ll have more full-lengths to sink our…er…ears into soon. First, my favorite singles I’ve listened to over the past week goes out to all the…
Singles
Tunde Adebimpe: “Somebody New” from the forthcoming album Thee Black Boltz, releases on April 18, 2025
Big Fear: “Sisyphus”
Lana Del Rey: “Henry, come on,” from a TBA “country” album
Fib: “You Ruined Everything,” from the forthcoming album Heavy Lifting, releases on April 25, 2025
Folk Bitch Trio: “The Actor”
Maia Friedman: “In A Dream It Could Happen,” from the forthcoming album Goodbye Long Winter Shadow, releases on May 9, 2025
GBMystical: “Mist”
Gold Dust: “Whatever’s Left,” from the forthcoming album In the Shade of the Living Light, releases on May 16, 2025
Goon: “Closer to,” from the forthcoming album Dream 3, releases on July 11, 2025
Greet Death: “Country Girl,” from the forthcoming album Die In Love, releases on June 27, 2025
Jeanines: “On and On” from the forthcoming album How Long Can It Last, releases on June 27, 2025
Lightheaded: “Same Drop” from the forthcoming album Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming, releases on June 27, 2025
The Limiñanas: Extra Faded EP
Ohtis: “Without Blemish b/w Bob”
Ouzo Bazooka: “Asia” from the forthcoming album Kapaim, releases on June 6, 2025
Meral Polat: “Meydana Gele,” from the forthcoming album Meydan, releases on September 28, 2025
A Place to Bury Strangers: “Bad Idea - The KVB Remix”
Yes, this breaks my general rule that I dislike remixes. A Place to Bury Strangers are often exceptional.
Louisa Stancioff: “Strange Currencies”
R.E.M. has also been discussed lately in the New Bands for Old Heads Community, so it’s a fun coincidence that this cover was just released.
swim school: “Alone with You,” from their forthcoming eponymous debut, releases on October 3, 2025
Tennis: “12 Blown Tires,” from the forthcoming album Face Down in the Garden, releases April 25, 2025
Now that we’ve dispensed with the singles, we can move on to full-length releases by genre.
Pop
Jangus Kangus: Fortune Cookie
Mamalarky: Hex Key
Charif Megarbane: Habibi Funk 030: Hawala
I’m confused by this. It’s a (Bonus Edition) with two (Bonus Tracks) but I haven’t found a regular edition. At first I assumed it’s a reissue but can’t find any trace of a previous version. Perhaps Habibi Funk unconventional and will release a version with fewer tracks later (haha?). I also considered introducing an “Honorable Mention” category this week because I’m not sure how enthusiastic I am about this. I tend to need more hooks for something to really be my jam and this sounds to much like the soundtrack to Emmanuelle in Beirut. I’ll give it more time to vibe.
Classical
Quartetto Vanvitelli: Se in fiorito ameno prato. Handel: Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo
Araz Salek: Peripheries of Nahavand
Jazz
Daniel Delorenzo: We Probably Wouldn’t Get Along
Yes, this is a departure from my usual apprehension about jazz guitar.
Ibex Band: Stereo Instrumental Music
Triology: The Slow Road
Anthologies & Reissues
Giants Chair: Red and Clear (Remastered)
I was fortunate to see Giants Chair live a couple of times as a teenager, at least once at Howard’s, a teen club in Wichita, KS, where they shared a bill with Boys Life.
Damien Jurado: I Lost My Wig: The “Motorcycle Madness” Home Demos
This is the third version of this album, following the stereo, remixed, and completed with additional instrumentation January 2025 reissue of the original 2023 album. It is interesting to hear all three of them to compare and contrast the different iterations of the songs though. I’ll probably find favorite versions of each song across all three releases as I listen more closely.
Suede: Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2
I refuse to call them The London Suede. There isn’t anything new here for the ardent collector, especially if you are a streamer, as all of these tracks have been available on deluxe editions of their more recent albums. It was a limited RSD vinyl release and it’s convenient to have all of the b-sides in one place. I enjoyed some of the songs more listening to them with fresh ears years later too.
Live
Frankie and the Witch Fingers: Live at KEXP
That’s it for this week. So many new things came out recently that I struggled to catch up before the Friday new releases come out tomorrow. I may need to adjust my cadence. I’d also like to describe how things sound and/or my experience listening to things more, or at least include more specific information about genres. These things take time. To be somewhat more convenient, I’ve put everything into one Spotify playlist below. In the future, perhaps I can add links to other streaming services. Please note that the artist names above are linked to their Bandcamp or official websites whenever possible. As always, buy their merch and concert tickets. Happy listening.
singles that don’t end up on albums make me saddest of all because they are homeless :’( …and some of my favorite (older) songs are non-album singles. but i think it’s a little bit less common these days. maybe i could be making that up just to justify my bad habits (?!)
The question of how common it has been recently for artists to release singles, EPs, or other non-album tracks sent me down a rabbit hole. I started with just the past 5 years because that's what I had in conveniently sorted Spotify playlists. As I tried to vet whether or not all of those were still singles or EPs, or had since been released on full-lengths, I came across more from artists' back catalogs. Given my haphazard approach, I'm sure that I've missed some orphans and some erstwhile single or EP tracks that have since found homes on albums. Whenever obvious, I've tried to omit recent singles that are clearly intended for forthcoming full-lengths or which have since been collected in B-sides/rarities anthologies. I've also tried to exclude (radio) edits, live versions, and remixes, which feels like cheating, but left acoustic versions. I don't know, a different version is a different version and maybe it would be fair to include them. Remixes are funny for me, as I tend to dislike them, but some artists, have especially good remixes. It bothers me to omit the BSÍ "Sometimes depressed... but always antifascist" but I think they got me on a technicality. On the whole, I'm pretty impressed by the quality and volume of songs that never become part of an album. With a little (okay, a lot) more work, this could be narrowed down to just my favorites and I could go further back in time to find some hidden gems that never saw an album sleeve. This has gone some way to satisfy my curiosity though. What have I missed? What's here that shouldn't be or isn't here but should be?
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fueIUuYxHMnPlM8mKh2Tp?si=f9121361a166428b