1) Goyte – Easy Way Out
Easy Way Out is the new single off Australian musical talent, Gotye’s third studio album. The oddball artist, celebrated for his idiosyncratic musical output, is a household name down under. He is part of Melbourne-based indie rocker trio The Basics, but has achieved notable success on his own. The success of his third album was spurred in part, by the online storm created by the first single, Somebody That I Used to Know, whose innovative, stop motion video has already registered over 12 million hits so far on YouTube.
Easy Way Out is a raucous, thumping anthem whose battle cry is a devilishly simple, but insistent riff that pairs up with the drums, to great effect. His howling vocals add to the adrenaline in the song, which barely reaches past the 2 minute mark. It’s punk rock brevity is refreshing, leaving no space for self indulgent solos or superfluous repetition. Instead the song simply steamrolls its way through your ear holes and into you brain, giving it a thorough seeing to. Gotye- real name Wouter De Backer, has finally started gaining some recognition outside his native land, and has earned a nomination for this year’s 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards.
He is set to play at King’s College in London on the 1st of November.
Written by Ermanno Rivetti
2) Rihanna – We Found Love
Ordinarily in our Top 5 of the Week, we focus on our top tracks rather than the videos that accompany them. However, when it comes to Rihanna’s video for number one hit We Found Love, we felt we had to brag a little! Her blonde-haired leading man, boxer-turned-model, Dudley O'Shaughnessy, has worked closely with IDOL, appearing in out very first issue, as well in the feature Pastelle on our website. Rihanna clearly has good taste!
Directed by Melina Matsoukas (Hard, S&M, Rude Boy and Rockstar 101), the video is a haunting montage of highs and lows; of toxic love mixed with drug addiction. Parallels have been drawn between the video and her notorious relationship with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Supermodel Agness Deyn reads the opening monologue. The first single off her new album Talk that Talk, We Found Love, produced by Calvin Harris, evokes a very different sound and attitude from the Rihanna of recent months. This is hardly surprising, given that Rihanna’s reinventions come as often as Lady Gaga and Madonna, and we love her all the more for it.
Written by Holly Rubenstein
3) The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
I know this is probably being overplayed at the moment, but I've been waiting for the new single, from the upcoming album El Camino for a while. The music video is typically obtuse, but nonetheless enjoyable, but the song doesn't quite match-up with The Black Keys back catalogue. The single seems to lean more toward the stadium-focussed anthems of KOL, rather than the grimy lo-fi for which I have always enjoyed The Black Keys. This may be the wrong thing to say, bearing in mind how stripped-down music, never comes across as overly complex, but this strikes me as too simple; too formulaic. I will reserve judgement on the album and suggest you have a look at the video
Written by Michael-Giles Coyle
4) Summer Camp - Down
The GIF. Such a humble piece of technology but Summer Camp have seized it with both hands and made it the basis for their new video. But don’t let the slightly creepy cinemagraphs distract you from the quality of this, the duo’s second single which sees them keeping up their kitsch, twinkling nostalgic sound. If you want to hear more from Summer Camp you can listen to a stream of their debut LP, Welcome To Condale, ahead of its release on Monday, on The Guardian website.
Written by Kate Allen
5) Emmy The Great - Paper Forest
Emmy The Great sings in a clear and confident voice as she tells the listeners "you're not unlucky, you're just not very smart," with the first lines of the song. Paper Forest is the second single off of Emmy's latest album, Virtues, a cathartic second effort. The song tells the story of a woman coming to terms with being lost in a paper forest. Overall the tone is fairly optimistic as Emma repeatedly sings that she is blessed "to be standing in the afterglow of rapture."
Virtues was recorded quickly after her break up and subsequent canceled wedding. It was released on 13th June of this year. Originally the album was intended to be a third person project, but due to the events taking place in her life at the time, it became a vehicle for emotional release.
Written by Rosa Barney