Years & Years – Shine (Danny L Harle Remix)

Synth-pop trio Years & Years were a highlight for many at this year’s Trinity Ball, and now come July they are set to release new single Shine in advance of their debut full-length Communion. The song itself premiered over a month ago, and more recently it was given the remix treatment from Danny L Harle (one half of Dux Content, who featured in our singles roundup last week). While the song in its original form was a pleasant if somewhat placid affair, Harle extracts the real highlight of the song – frontman Olly Alexander’s vocal – and pitches it to bittersweet perfection. He pushes the song to such a point that it will be instantly nostalgic to anyone reared through their early teens on a diet of mid-noughties pop-garage, when names like T2 and 3 Of A Kind ruled the “bluetooth-sphere”. Harle’s version of Shine is loud and laden with emotion, and most definitely deserves to be the definitive mix. – Finnán Tobin

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Let’s Set Sail – Five of Trumps

Dublin newcomers Let’s Set Sail’s new track, Five of Trumps, is a pop epic of grand proportions. Beginning with only ambient strings that soon become accompaniment for a vocal melody, an intimate atmosphere is evoked through the notable lack of drums and the array of questions sung. When a drumbeat finally sets in after the second minute mimicking a heartbeat, it signals the beginning of a transition towards a new life. Slowly, layer after layer of drumbeats and techno keys are added underneath the now familiar vocal melody. The song reaches its climax in the fifth minute when harmonies accompany a new melody that causes all sense of intimacy to be exchanged for a communal anthem-like atmosphere. The sound at this moment is euphoric, and you can’t help looking back and seeing what came before as being a pleasant journey, with this moment as its eventual destination. – Conall Monaghan

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Jabu (feat. chester giles) – Slow Hours

On Slow Hours, Bristol duo Jabu keep doing what they have been doing for a few years now – deconstructing hip-hop and soul to the point of unrecognizability and coupling it with introspective lyricism. This time they have enlisted the help of poet chester giles, who delivers a tale of lost love and longing in a manner unsettlingly calm for the subject matter. A melancholic rhodes melody, subtle bass line and sparse drum beat accompany gile’s musings, further contributing to the building tension which eventually culminates in a chorus by Jabu vocalist Alex Rendall. A brooding and atmospheric track, expertly crafted with an eye for detail, Slow Hours is late-night soul music for the lovesick. Jabu and their collective Young Echo are definitely ones to keep an eye on in the future. – Dan Lidholm

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D∆WN (Dawn Richard) – Running From Sane

Dawn Richard (who it appears we’re calling D∆WN now) dropped her latest track to kick off this year’s Adult Swim singles series. It’s a brooding, hissy piece, full of repetitive electronic percussion sounds and buzzing drones and echoes. Richard’s vocals only arrive at the halfway mark. They begin in a low, heavily distorted pitch before suddenly sharpening up to a more natural frequency. We get a brief respite from the prior drone as she belts out “Running from Sane!” It’s one of the few really engaging moments in the brief track, which feels like it’s finally about to get started proper just when it begins to wrap up. As a whole, the track is enjoyable enough, but maybe not compelling enough to make you hit replay. – Eoin Moore

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CFCF – The Ruined Map

Now on his third album cycle, the Canadian electronic producer and vocalist has refined his art such that The Ruined Map is both stark and rich at the same time. A minimal arrangement – plucked guitar over synth chords with few vocals and no percussion – is thickened by copious effects dubbing. While this enhances the texture, the use of reverb on guitar as well as synth is an unimpressive double-up. The synth shimmers, creating a dreamlike ambient soundscape that falls nicely into an instrumental outro that could have lasted longer. The clipped running time might make more sense in the context of the Radiance and Submission LP, set for a July 31 release. – Jack O’Donoghue

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Cadenza ft. Stylo G and Busy Signal – Foundation

After Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and the man who discovered Bob Marley, the second most respected white guy in the world of reggae music must be David ‘Ram Jam’ Rodigan. Now his son, Cadenza aka Oliver Rodigan is continuing the family legacy with some serious track production to his name. The story of reggae is one of evolution and robustness despite periods of displacement and hardship. As such its musicians often nod to great artists of the past for reasons of posterity; lest we forget that the lamb’s bread was first found on Solomon’s grave. Foundation is a charming example of this – by cutting up and adding weight to the popular Real Rock Riddim of the 70s and enlisting the fresh new lyrical talent of both Stylo G and Busy Signal, we experience a track looking both to the past and future of reggae-centric genres. With its irresistible groove and uplifting message, Foundation will surely be a feel-good skanker for the summer months. – Sam Marriott

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