Hey everyone!
It’s a brand new day and you deserve a lil back stretch where the corners of your vision go dark and blurry, and your chair tips back just far enough to feel alive again. Welcome to 2021.
My name's Ash. I'm excited to take the reins of Four Track Friday every so often. A hearty shout out to Tanner and Joe for their trust in me, and to the friends of 4TF for giving me a chance. Thank you for bringing in the new year with all of us.
Here’s the thesis for this week's music selection:
Goodbye, 2020. No one needs reminders about what went down this year and in a way I'm not sure I want to make any promises for what the new year will mean. We all approach sudden and dramatic changes in our lives with different vices. The selection of music this week is a reminder to sometimes say “Fuck it” and deal with those changes however feels right in the moment.
Dreamy | Electric Dream | Bien
A simple and airy descant draws the listener into this cloudy dream of a song. It’s like a modern take on children running off into the secret garden and then the movie makes everything look shiny and bright because we’re somewhere ~different~. It’s an escape.
When I listen to this Electric Dream it makes me want to close my eyes and spin around my kitchen with a “blind confidence that manages to hit every beat” (as my dancing has been described in the past).
This Nashville-based indie pop band has a keen ability to melt the sound of a dreamy synth beat and a fucking electric guitar rocking out capture the essence of their goal: Create a colorful spectrum of emotion. This song totally nails it.
Candid Folk | too high | Joy Oladokun
“Please be patient with me, I am still learning. How to be honest, [and] how to be brave.”
The amount of times where I’ve been flustered in a situation and I wish I had this exact set of words in my vocabulary cannot be counted on both hands.
The song utilizes an acoustic guitar and and a light vocal backdrop to showcase Joy Oladokun’s vulnerability in these lyrics. The vocals are center stage. It’s a feeling that reminds me of finally coming to terms and saying out loud all the things you’ve wanted to say for so long.
Oladokun is a stunning singer-songwriter based out of Atlanta. Her repertoire ranges from triumphant to candid. She started her career performing for intimate audiences like family and friends and eventually left her first job out of college to pursue music. Her upbringing as a gay teenager growing up in a Nigerian and Christian household formed her approach to folk music. To quote Joy herself, “I had a moment where I was like, ‘I'm going to be the most spiritual gay you've ever met in your entire life.’”
Rap | Don't Want It | Yung Baby Tate
Yung Baby Tate is another artist based out of Atlanta, GA. Performing under the Issa Rae’s label, Raedio, allows her to own her masters and have creative freedom as a young artist. Tate’s ethos is fiercely empowering of women and she expresses this in other songs like “Do Me Like That” and “New Girl.”
This song is extremely sarcastic and strong. I don’t have any words for it other than to enjoy the kick and jam out.
SF Rock | Bummer Summerrr | Talkie
What a jammy song. There’s seeds, there’s preservatives, it’s all sticky. And it’s a little bit everywhere.
Bummer Summer is about a fucked up sleep schedule, a light understanding of the problematic aspects of our never-ending war, and getting drunk during the day even after summer has ended. To you and yours, good friends.
This 4-piece band based out of San Francisco is honestly hilarious. I love their Spotify description, and found their twitter while researching for this article and it was a riot. There isn’t a lot about the band online but check out a few of their other songs like “look at me” and “Fuzzy Disco.” Bops all around.
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.
Peace,
Ash