Today’s song rec is:
Feel Good x slowthai
I’ve been waiting for this song to drop since April 2022 when slowthai teased it at Webster Hall in New York. Nobody had heard it before and yet everyone lost any and all inhibition in a split second once it started playing. The record is finally here and it feels so goooood. I had a feeling it would be a sunny skatepark ska-adjacent punk hit once it was released, and I stand by that — I wholeheartedly believe in my favorite Northampton degenerate.
Joe Talbot of IDLES once described slowthai as “violently joyous,” an incredibly apt description that extends beautifully to this song. It’s really the reason I love slowthai: behind his manically destructive energy is clear goodness that’s looking to dismantle the shit and replace it with something much more pure, intentional and celebratory. In a press release, he describes the single as “a mantra to chant with a bounce to stir your bones, wake your mind and get you back on track with living (and loving) your life.” I’m sneaking this song into every Spotify queue I’m given access to for the next year.
slowthai’s new album, UGLY, drops March 3. I will be repeatedly boosting it.
& I didn’t do a newsletter yesterday, so here’s an extra song:
Starz In Their Eyes x Just Jack
I can’t even pretend this is a good song. Every verse cringes me out. THAT SAID, it’s part of the 2000s British indie cultural landfill that I love so much and the chorus is an absolute earworm. I’ll continue chasing the dopamine high those few lines give me and sit through whatever horrific lyrics I need to sit through to get there.