Weekly Music Roundup: M83, Tinariwen, and Dom La Nena
Week of March 20: This week, dark pop from Hozier, synth pop from M83, and desert blues from Tinariwen. Plus returns for cellist Dom La Nena and 100 gecs.
Ireland’s Hozier Makes a St. Patrick’s Day Appearance
Irish singer and songwriter Hozier (Andrew Hozier-Byrne) celebrated his birthday on Friday, which was also St. Patrick’s Day, and he gave his millions of fans a present: a 3-song EP called Eat Your Young. It’s a preview of sorts of Hozier’s next LP, inspired by Dante’s Inferno and calling out some of the ways we make a little hell on earth right now. The song “Eat Your Young” has Hozier mixing soul, rock, and R&B to great effect, and shows off the voice that made him a member and then a soloist for the excellent Irish choir Anuna, before his first single, “Take Me To Church,” made him a massive star. The sound is catchy, almost Motown-infectious; but the lyrics take a dark turn. “Skinning the children for a war-drum/putting food on the table selling bombs and guns” he sings with chilling falsetto ease.
M83 Returns With Arena-Sized Songs On Fantasy
M83, the work of French-born, LA-based Anthony Gonzalez, has been making grand, cinematic electronic dance rock for just over twenty years now. M83 hit the big time in 2011 with the song “Midnight City,” which had the greatest synth-pop hook this side of the 1980s. His latest, Fantasy, brings back all the synths but makes more room for the guitars as well, as you’ll hear on this track called “Amnesia.” While the lyrics tell of being in love with darkness and sadness, the music offers a euphoric chorus that suggests equal parts Arcade Fire and Depeche Mode.
M83 will be at New York’s Terminal 5 on April 25 and 26; the first show is sold out.
New Tuareg Blues From The Masters Of The Style, Tinariwen
The Grammy-winning band Tinariwen has been a kind of musical and cultural ambassador for the traditionally nomadic Tuareg people of the western Sahara for decades. They’re about to release their ninth studio album, Amatssou, in May, and have released their first single now. It’s called “Tenere Den,” and features the distinctive electric guitar sound that has come to be known as Tuareg blues. It has traditional handclaps and call-and-response vocals, but also touches of American country music, including fiddle on this track. Super producer Daniel Lanois worked on the album, remotely, and two Nashville musicians also contributed remotely, but it all fits together beautifully in this understated tribute to the desert and to the Tuareg revolution in the highlands of Mali.
Dom La Nena’s New Song Is A Love Song – To Her Cello
Dom La Nena’s New Song Is A Love Song – To Her Cello
Brazilian-born, France-based singer, cellist, pianist, and songwriter Dom La Nena (real name, Dominique Pinto) will release her fourth studio album on April 7. It’ll be called Leon – the name she’s given to her cello, which she’s had since she was 11. Past albums have centered on this instrument, but have included piano, vocals, and occasional other sounds; Leon, though, is all about the cello, and the many different instruments it can sound like. It’s been said (mostly by cellists) that the cello is the instrument closest to the human voice, and in her first single, “Universo,” there are moments where she’s adding a few layers of her own wordless vocals, but they blend almost imperceptibly with the cellos. The track also includes the sounds of percussion, and what sounds like the plaintive cry of the duduk, a type of Armenian oboe – but in each case, it’s just more layers of cello. The instrument may be associated with classical music, but Dom La Nena has a strong melodic and production sense that shows her love of pop, and the songs on Leon also use drones and repeating motifs that reveal the influence of Philip Glass and other Minimalist composers. Despite all the studio production stuff, though, Dom La Nena has also shown how “Universo” can be played onstage, by releasing a version with the Momentum Quartet in a live performance.
100 gecs Return, Now With Ten Times More… gecs?
The duo known as 100 gecs – Laura Les and Dylan Brady – made waves in 2019 with their debut album, 1000 gecs, which vaulted them to the front of the so-called hyperpop scene. Manic and fun, riffing on pop, TV sounds, avant-garde electronics, and hip hop production, 100 gecs made music that was the sonic equivalent of photos sent through multiple Snapchat filters. Now, they’ve released their followup album, called 10,000 gecs, so while you may not know what a gec is, at least you know you’re getting ten times as many. (Does this mean album #3 will be called 100,000 gecs? Because at that rate, later albums will be taking us into the realm of higher mathematics.) The new LP seems to be less interested in throwing everything into a blender and more interested in offering a musical smorgasbord. The track “Dumbest Girl Alive,” with a video that nods to the first Star Wars movie, has a bruising, 90s alternative rock-meets-trap feel. It’s less… well, hyper, than their earlier songs, but still well left of center.
