EGN NEWS DESK
Following her worldwide 2023 hit “Water,” the South African songwriter Tyla has now launched her self-titled debut album, merging African rhythms with English lyrics and R&B supply. The album’s songs toggle between method — like “Water” — and avoidance. In “Safer,” Tyla pulls away from temptation. The tune harnesses the log-drum beat and sparse, subterranean bass strains of South African amapiano as Tyla worries that “This feels too good to be true” and decides, “As dangerous as I would like you, I do know that it’s hazard.” Choral call-and-response vocals carry South African custom into the digital wilderness of Twenty first-century romance. JON PARELES
Olivia Rodrigo is aware of all too nicely how vulnerable a younger lady might be to bodily attraction and an excellent line. With the speedy, pumping new wave rock and breathless vocals of “So American” — from the prolonged model of her 2023 album, “Guts (Spilled)” — she sums up a man with “fingers that make hell appear chilly” who “laughs in any respect my jokes and says I’m so American.” For three frantic minutes, self-consciousness isn’t any match for pheromones. PARELES
Remi Wolf, ‘Cinderella’
The pop singer-songwriter Remi Wolf’s colourful charisma programs by means of “Cinderella,” the enjoyable first single from her forthcoming second album, “Big Ideas,” due July 12. Breezy, funky and prominently that includes a triangle, “Cinderella” is a showcase for Wolf’s persona, occasional insecurities (“Is there one thing improper with the way in which I’m designed?”) and wacky wordplay. “Like Cinderella making infants on the corporate’s dime,” she sings, turning a non sequitur right into a catchy hook. “We’re making pennies out of paper, higher discover a new slime.” LINDSAY ZOLADZ
Marsha Ambrosius, ‘One Night Stand’
Marsha Ambrosius, previously of Floetry, revels in remembering an evening of sensual extra that “felt so proper.” Her delight conjures swooping orchestral strings, jazzy horns, a cooing backup refrain, suave however surprising key adjustments and a stretch of ecstatic scat-singing — bliss translated into musicianly thrives. PARELES
“What About the Children,” which seems like a late-breaking, guitar-forward sequel to Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City,” seems on the Texas bluesman Gary Clark Jr.’s new album, “Jpeg Raw,” which pushes each boundary of the blues. Wonder, who co-wrote the tune, sings and performs harmonica as he and Clark take into account poor mother and father’ pressures and tasks. Clark’s guitar riffs and pokes and wails, and he and Wonder shout collectively about “all of the damaged goals.” PARELES
Alicia Keys that includes Maleah Joi Moon, ‘Kaleidoscope’
In this new single from the musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” which debuts on Broadway subsequent week, Alicia Keys duets with Maleah Joi Moon, the actress who performs Keys’s autobiographical alter ego, Ali. “Light it up, put it within the air and let it go,” Keys sings, capturing the exuberance of youthful optimism. The observe begins within the register of shiny, minimalist pop, however halfway by means of, Keys’s signature piano is available in and provides the association the texture of a Broadway showstopper. ZOLADZ
Two Shell and FKA twigs, ‘Talk to Me’
“Talk to Me” is a certified tune, launched after the London digital duo Two Shell posted on Bandcamp — after which took down — variations of the tune with vocals assembled from recordings by Taylor Swift, Jungkook from BTS, Chris Martin and Frank Ocean. The observe races ahead, thumping and galloping as assorted sounds and chords go out and in of focus, FKA twigs sings breathily about continuously redialing somebody “despite the fact that I do know you’re by no means choosing up.” Her voice will get chopped up, bent and melted down together with all the opposite sounds, however her eagerness by no means flags. PARELES
The music sounds completely joyful: main chords, a waltzing however versatile beat, a supportive backup choir bolstered by orchestral strings. But Angélica Garcia is singing, in Spanish, “What is the colour of ache?,” with vocal inflections that trace at each Latin pop and Indian ghazal. “Even although I’ll by no means sever the tie with my pains/I paint them full of colours,” she declares, as her voice affirms her willpower to prevail. PARELES
Four Tet, ‘Daydream Repeat’
Four Tet — the digital musician Kieran Hebden — thrives on taking sonic tangents from typical membership beats. “Daydream Repeat” is paced by crisp techno hi-hats and an insistent syncopated bass line. But Hebden tops them with, by turns, harshly distorted scraping and fairy-tale harp plucking, hinting that each noise and prettiness are all the time inside attain. PARELES
Shabaka that includes Floating Points and Laraaji, ‘I’ll Do Whatever You Want’
The English saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has made a status with hard-riffing fusion jazz in his teams the Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet. But his subsequent album, “Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace,” turns towards the ambient. This observe has Hutchings on flutes and whistle, joined by vocals from the ambient pioneer Laraaji and synthesizer from Floating Points (Sam Shepherd), backed by a studio lineup together with André 3000 on Teotihuacan drone flute (from historical Mexico), Esperanza Spalding on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. “I’ll Do Whatever You Want” is ambient however extremely changeable. It begins with blurry electronics and bits of flute melody that coalesce right into a staccato pulse, then dissolves and reconfigures with a bass riff and Laraaji’s free-form vocals. Hutchings stays self-effacing, guiding the stream. PARELES
