Chedventures

There are scarcely any joys left in this crushing life, but one thing that always delivers is some excellent groovy music. Here are my favourites of the past week (ish)!

Jamie xx, Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, Panda Bear – Dafodil

I’ve always been a fan of Jamie xx, and this tune reminded me why. Kelsey Lu’s vocals feel euphoric and seductive (shout out her tune Poor Fake) and sound perfect over the punchy but mysterious-sounding beat. Additional shout out to the way Kelsey Lu sings “Next thing I knew it, we’re on the dance floor”; this line delivery really scratches an itch in my brain that I didn’t know I had. How can one tune sound like the feeling of a drug-induced floaty body high in a sweaty club catching eyes with a mysterious, alluring stranger? I can’t get this one off my mind and it definitely deserves a spot in my ‘make you feel like you’re in a movie’ playlist.

Romy – She’s On My Mind

This song is another knock out of the park from The xx family. This song just sounds so cool and the chorus is so catchy, with Romy’s laidback but longing-sounding vocals pining after a love interest on the dance floor. Romy has always had a gorgeously smooth voice but it fits so well on this song over an upbeat synthy dance beat.

4am Kru – Deepest Darkest Jungle

I’d been eagerly awaiting 4am Kru’s album drop, and Incognito Rhythm is pretty good considering the expectations placed on it after the calibre of their previous singles and drops (perhaps expectations solely from myself). It’s a fun, cohesive album and Deepest Darkest Jungle is especially fun. While I wouldn’t say this is my favourite 4am Kru tune (that award will always go to Earshots, closely followed by 4AMK1), it’s still a groovy jungly banger that I keep coming back to recently.

LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends

When I think of nostalgic sounding songs, this is the song I think of. The sentiment is pretty poignant to everyone who’s growing up faster than they imagined, experiencing subtle and big life changes, or who reminisces about a simpler (but perhaps not totally identified) previous past. While it is a song about a party, being with friends, and an occasional sense of hope for the future, I tend to view it from a gloomier pessimistic view: that these are the unrecognised best times in life we all desperately long to return to, if only to fully appreciate the joy felt at the time. I especially love the line “I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision For another five years of life”. That pretty much summarises the song: reflecting on having fun while you’re young and stupid, realising that was the pinnacle of life, and being thankful for it while recognising it’s a time passed for good. There are so many other themes and storylines in this song, but I’ll leave it at my favourite and most resonating one.

Madonna – Like A Prayer

Madonna is a legend and a classic artist for a reason. Like a Prayer really needs no introduction or description, it’s just pure bliss listening to it and a great one to belt out. Coincidentally, since I’ve rediscovered my love for this song, I’ve noticed a lot of excitement around Ross From Friends’ mix of this with Joy Orbison’s flight fm. While I think his edit is pretty cool, and I’m a huge fan of classic pop songs receiving a fun, drums-based sped-up edit, I prefer Madonna’s original version and actually don’t know if the two go together amazingly well?… All I know is that Like A Prayer is an excellent, upbeat song, so is flight fm, and I personally will enjoy them separately.

Ethel Cain – American Teenager

I’m pretty late onto the Ethel Cain train, as she blew up on TikTok (as many new artists do nowadays) a couple of years ago. Being me, I thought it best to distance myself from the young Gen Z music as I didn’t think it was for me or that I’d get it; however, I heard this in full for the first time recently and it felt honestly transcendental. I’ve listened to it multiple times in a row every day since first hearing it, and there’s something so captivating about Cain’s haunting, melancholy-sounding vocals. Well done TikTok, you were right, and I should have listened sooner!

There are plenty of other songs I’ve been unable to get out of my head this week, but these are my current top picks. Hopefully many more to come!