Weekly Music Roundup: Fémina, Little Simz, and Reese McHenry
Week of March 4: This week, a different kind of resistance song, a different kind of hip hop, and some classic garage rock.
Iggy Pop Joins Fémina For “Resist”
We’ve met the Argentine trio Fémina in one of these roundups before. They have created a distinctive sound by blending hip hop production with sounds of traditional Patagonian folk instruments and singing, and they’ve just dropped another single from their forthcoming album Perlas & Conchas (“Pearls and Shells”). This one is called “Resist,” and while that title might suggest something topical and political, the song is actually about finding love and purpose, even in hard times. It sounds like the West African balafon (a xylophone-like instrument) starts things off and then continues as a part of the sultry, tropical production. The song is a bilingual effort, thanks to a guest appearance by Iggy Pop. The proto-punk legend has played some of their music on his BBC Radio show (no, I didn’t know he had a radio show either) and now collaborates with them by lending his voice – both singing softly and speaking a few lines – to the song. And if you watch the video all the way through (not much happens for a while), you’ll see he lends his face to the man in the moon as well.
Reese McHenry’s Rockin’ Celebration of Detroit – And Still Being Alive
Once, Reese McHenry was almost a dead ringer for Janis Joplin; then she was almost dead. The North Carolina rocker had a big, bluesy voice, which she used to great effect with her garage rock band The Dirty Little Heaters, until a stroke caused by a faulty heart stopped her in 2008. But eventually, the combination of surgery and a pacemaker allowed her to slowly regain her strength, and she’s making music again. On April 12 she will release a solo album called No Dados, full of barn-burning rockers and torchy blues songs. The first single is “Detroit,” an amps-to-11 tribute to the city that gave us classic garage rockers like MC5. Give it a minute – she’s just getting warmed up at the start, but when the full band kicks in, the jams are duly being kicked out.
Little Simz’ New LP Delivers UK Grime With A Sneer
London’s Little Simz (born Simbi Ajikawo) is not exactly a secret: her fans include Gorillaz (with whom she’s toured), Kendrick Lamar, and Lauryn Hill. But like many artists in the UK style known as grime – a kind of hip-hop informed by electronic music – she is not nearly as well known Stateside as she might be. On Friday she released her third album, called GREY Area, and the songs on it live up to the album title by inhabiting a grey area between grime and something more pop- or soul-inflected. Take leadoff track “Offence,” for example. It’s full of clever, often exaggerated lyrics (“I’m Jay-Z on a bad day, Shakespeare on my worst days”) and buzzing, minimal electronics, but it also has unexpected touches like jazz flute, piano samples, and a sort-of-girl-group chorus. It’s all delivered with flair and swagger and possibly a smirk.
Little Simz plays at Rough Trade in Brooklyn on June 23. Can’t wait? Catch her at either weekend of Coachella, April 13 and 20.
A Poignant Lament For The Environment From She Keeps Bees
She Keeps Bees is still the same two people – Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant; but they are not the same band they once were. Formerly a grungy guitar-based band out of Brooklyn, they’ve moved upstate and are about to release a new album called Kinship which trades in the effects pedals for strings and keyboards. The duo has just released a single called “Coyote,” which they’ve dedicated to the folk singer and environmental activist Katie Lee, who died in 2017. It begins with an arresting chordal figure which will then, almost obsessively, provide the song’s forward thrust. But the determined guitar is overlaid with plaintive strings, and that combination of perseverance and lament is echoed in the lyrics, which begins with the line “I’d rather be a coyote/Katie Lee says,” and which uses the destruction of Katie Lee’s beloved Glen Canyon (it was dammed and flooded in 1963) as a cautionary tale for our stewardship of the Earth. “No other spaceship like her,” Larrabee reminds us. The video consists of archival footage shot by Katie Lee in the canyon in the late 50s/early 60s, adding a layer of poignance to a song that already packs a strong emotional punch.
Roosevelt’s New Track Supports Mediterranean Rescue Efforts
Roosevelt is the nom de disque of German producer/singer Marius Lauber, whose two LPs and relentless touring schedule have made him a popular figure on the electronic dance scene. He’s also become an in-demand remixer. His new single, “Falling Back,” is actually a song that he’s played live before, under the name “Cape Cod,” but which he has finally recorded. The track was produced in the studio of the W Hotel chain, which has started a record label as well. It’s a catchy piece of dance-pop, but that’s not all: it supports SOS Mediterranee, a European organization that rescues migrants making the life-threatening journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
