NME Radio Roundup 14 November 2022: Loyle Carner, SIPHO., Yazmin Lacey and more
Last month London wordsmith Loyle Carner returned with his thought-provoking third LP, ‘hugo’. First teased with ‘Hate’ and the Madlib-produced ‘Georgetown’, the record is a poignant meditation on the artist’s complex identity, paired with a markedly heavier sound.
Awarding the album four stars, NME highlighted Carner’s emotive storytelling and its supporting production, stating: “In ‘Homerton’, the Croydon lyricist underlines this vision, rapping “I start to think about the legacy I leave”. One thing’s for sure — after ‘Hugo’, that legacy is richer.” Album highlight ‘Speed Of Plight’ leads this week’s additions to NME Radio, followed by other fresh tracks including the latest release from SIPHO., a new preview of Yazmin Lacey’s upcoming debut album, and more.
Check out the newest additions to NME Radio 1 and 2 below:
On the A List:
Loyle Carner
‘Speed Of Plight’
Loyle Carner races against the cruel hands of time on ‘Speed Of Plight’, from his stellar third album ‘hugo’. On it the Croydon rapper grapples with the unrelenting nature of injustice (“We just lost a lot of figures in the city that we love”), with Jordan Rakei and kwes’ production suppporting Carner’s rhymes, finding melancholy in a warbly guitar loop and subdued beats. – Eli Ordonez
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
SIPHO.
‘ARMS’
Birmingham singer-songwriter and NME 100 alumni SIPHO. grapples with a futile connection in his enigmatic new single, ‘ARMS’. Whether in its opening seconds backed by dramatic piano chords, or in its boisterous, climactic outro, the vocalist commands the listener’s attention with his passionate, raspy delivery. The track’s production eggs SIPHO. on by constantly building in intensity behind him, throwing in a string section, wailing guitars and a choir as it reaches its crashing close. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Yazmin Lacey
‘Bad Company’
Nottingham soul artist Yazmin Lacey returns with ‘Bad Company’, the latest preview of her upcoming, yet-to-be-titled debut album. Helmed by The Invisible’s Dave Okumu, the track’s sumptuous production feels simultaneously potent and featherweight, pitting a deep bassline and tight drums against cavernous ambience. Lacey’s smoky vocals are imbued with a dreamy quality, lightening the mood even if she sings about “flirting with bad company”. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the B List:
Samia & papa mbye
‘Mad At Me’
New York singer-songwriter Samia seeks to make amends on ‘Mad At Me’ off her upcoming second full-length, ‘Honey’. The confrontational track finds her wrestling with reconciliation when remaining emotionally distant is easy (“Hiding is easy, it’s like a daydream / You can be nowhere all of the time”) against deceptively ebullient production from Rostam. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Gorillaz
‘Baby Queen’
Genre-bending veterans Gorillaz return with ‘Baby Queen’ from their upcoming eighth studio album, ‘Cracker Island’. With no features, serial collaborator Damon Albarn allows his voice to stand front and centre as he paints a surreal picture of meeting the princess of Thailand as an adult. Arpeggiated synths and a reggae-inflected bassline sparkle about him as he croons, “You’ve grown up, baby queen / In my dreams where you’ve been” – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
SG Lewis
‘Lifetime’
Musical multi-hyphenate SG Lewis brings us ‘Lifetime’, the bubbly new single off his upcoming second album, ‘AudioLust & HigherLove’. The punchy track finds the singer making straightforward declarations of love (“I’ve waited for a lifetime / To tell you I love you”) against euphoric disco beats. Employing swooning strings, group vocals and an irresistible groove, the producer offers the world another feel-good dance floor anthem. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Sega Bodega
‘Kepko’
Irish electronic producer Sega Bodega glitches out with his first single of 2022, ‘Kepko’. Taking a left turn from the murky, midtempo sleaze of his 2021 project ‘Romeo’, the track assumes a breakneck tempo, prompting a rapid vocal performance achieved with digital treatment, transforming Salvador Navarrete’s voice into a texture unto its own. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Channel Tres
‘6am’
Rising alt-rap star Channel Tres is up to party all night in his thumping new track, ‘6am’. The glorious slice of hip-house sees the rapper delivering loose bars to let the groove shine, culminating in its indelible, declarative hook, “We ain’t leaving / ‘Til six in the morning”, backed by a cheeky synthesiser riff simulating an alarm clock. Its elastic bassline and buoyant rhythm are bound to keep the track on heavy rotation in clubs everywhere. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the C List:
Crawlers
‘Too Soon’
Liverpool alternative rock quartet Crawlers lash out with ‘Too Soon’, a fiery new cut off their debut mixtape, ‘Loud Without Noise’. The band utilise their classic combination of pummeling drums and bass-heavy slabs of distorted guitars, creating an appropriately heavy backing for Holly Minto as they venomously bite back against a promiscuous ex-lover. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Rose Gray
‘Promise Me’
London singer-producer Rose Gray mesmerises in her hypnotic new single, ‘Promise Me’. Continuing the creative streak that earned her a spot on the NME 100 in 2021, Gray combines poppy melodies with underground sensibilities, as her vocals sit atop a slinky bassline, day-glo synthesisers and drum fills reminiscent of ‘90s rave. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
SEB
‘Loving U Is Harder’
LA singer-songwriter SEB is back with his latest track, ‘Loving U Is Harder’. The emotionally-charged track finds him airing grievances with a bad lover in a disarmingly direct manner (“I’m the one who’s dropping them tears on the asphalt / I’m the one who drove all the way here, now you can’t talk”) against a muted beat and quivering guitars. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Heather Woods Broderick
‘Blood Run Through Me’
Heather Woods Broderick’s ‘Blood Run Through Me’ is a tribute to “connection and the ways in which we move through our experiences”. Supported by a nocturnal mix of nylon-stringed guitars, picked basslines and a mechanical beat, the track showcases Broderick’s delicate vocals, her voice later finding proverbial community in stacks of harmonies. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Wunderhorse
‘Girl Behind The Glass’
Wunderhorse wistfully reminisces about the past with ‘Girl Behind The Glass’ off his outstanding debut album, ‘Cub’. On it, Jacob Slater expresses concern about an old friend he remains fond of (“Sometimes I get / A broken kind of feeling / I worry and I wonder where you are”) the track gradually building to a grungy, ‘90s-indebted blowout in its conclusion. – EO
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
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