Four Track Friday

Hey everyone,

Joe here for another guest episode. I hope you're all staying safe and sane out there.

True to form, I'm happy to bring you all four very different songs. Let's dive right in!

Indie Rock | Night Shift | Lucy Dacus

Lucy's sophomore album Historian had gotten lost in my backlog of "albums I should eventually listen to." However, after a friend of mine raved about "Night Shift" I finally listened and was floored. The opening track, "Night Shift," beautifully introduces the album both stylistically and conceptually. It's understated in its intro, starting with gentle strumming and Lucy's rich voice, before later exploding into distorted guitar while Lucy belts "You got a nine to five, so I'll take the night shift / And I'll never see you again if I can help it." The juxtaposition of intimate acoustic production with distorted riffing is used throughout the album to provide emotional reinforcement, but Lucy's vocal delivery consistently stands above it all and never lets the diverse styles feel disparate.

"Night Shift" is a personal and self-aware exploration into getting over a lover and digging into avoidance versus finding closure. The rest of Historian continues to build on themes of love, abuse, loss, death, and resolution; through it all Lucy remains vulnerable and honest, all while staying clear of being melodramatic.

Funk/Soul | Yeah You | More Fatter

Music Video

Okay, time to lighten up. Let's play it cool like an orangutan with sunglasses on. And a Giants hat.

Experimental Hip Hop | Blood of the Fang | clipping.

And now for something completely different. Clipping is an experimental hip hop group consisting of Daveed Digs (who played Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton) and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. Relying on industrial influences and heavy distortion to underpin very (like, super-duper) dark lyrical content, Clipping has released two amazing concept albums to date, among a larger body of work. Splendor and Misery follows a slave commandeering an interplanetary slave ship run by an AI, which falls in love with him. There Existed an Addiction to Blood draws inspiration from horror movie tropes while targeting systemic racism. The latter album brings us "Blood of the Fang," which takes dead aim at police brutality, the philosophy of the Black Panther Party, and 1970's vampire novels. 3:12 sees Daveed launching into impressively fast rapping, further driving up the intensity. Lyric enthusiasts among you will find this track to be pure gold.

Blues Rock | Don't Beat the Girl out of My Boy | Anna Calvi

Hailing from the UK, Anna Calvi is equal parts guitar virtuoso and bad ass. Calvi's signature driving guitar and pounding drums is reminiscent of the White Stripes, but Calvi is an artist all her own. Fusing blues rock and post-punk, "Don't Beat the Girl out of my Boy" has sparse lyrics, but its message is clear and unapologetic. The song builds to a crescendo of screaming guitar and soaring vocals which leave nothing unsaid.

Of course, don’t forget to reply with what you liked, didn’t like, and what you’ve been listening to.

And, as always, this week’s tracks are added to the collectors for all weeks' tracks on Spotify and Apple Music.

Cheers,
Joe