This week saw releases gave us glimpses of some highly anticipated 2020 albums from the likes of Liz Phair and Green Day, some seasonal tracks like Lucy Dacus’s Halloween-inspired Phil Collins cover, and some truly unexpected songs (Pusha T rapping over the Succession theme, anyone?). As always, we’ve got it all in one handy playlist for you. Here’s everything you can’t miss from the week of 10/7. Check it out below.
Liz Phair, “Good Side”
Liz Phair’s new memoir Horror Stories just came out, and to celebrate its release this week, the singer shared her first new material since 2010’s Funstyle (save for a Christmas song she released in 2014). “Good Side” is our first taste of the new album she has in the works for 2020, and it’s classic Phair: “There’s so many ways to fuck up a life,” she sings. “I’ve tried to be original.”
Caribou, “Home”
“Home,” which features a prominent sample of the Gloria Barnes song of the same name, is Dan Snaith’s first track under his Caribou moniker in five years. “I’m always listening to lots of music and sometimes a loop just jumps out at me — it’s too perfect,” he said in a statement. “That’s how it was with Gloria Barnes’ ‘Home’ — I kept returning to it, meaning to do something with it but not knowing what. Sometimes making music feels like a process I’m in charge of… but there are other times when things just present themselves and my job is to follow their lead.”
Green Day, “Fire, Ready, Aim”
Our latest taste of Green Day’s Father of All… album (due out Feb. 2020) also happens to be the NHL’s new Wednesday Night Hockey theme song for the 2019-2020 season. The punchy track isn’t explicitly about hockey (although there is a line about knocking your teeth out to the ground), and the band says, “This song is about our daily outrage. Attack without thought..hyperbole. Anyway stick a hammer in your mouth. Shut up and dance!”
Kim Gordon, “Hungry Baby”
Kim Gordon’s new album, No Home Record — her first solo album since Sonic Youth’s split — is out today, and earlier this week she unveiled “Hungry Baby,” an infectious track that sees her sneering, “I’ll take you in/I’ll put you out/I’ll tell you stories of what you’ve got.”
Pusha T, “Puppets (Succesion Remix)“
It was only a matter of time before someone rapped over the theme song to HBO’s Succession, and we’re just glad it was Pusha T. If Kendall Roy’s cringy-yet-instantly-iconic “L to the OG” rap from episode eight has you in need of a palate cleanser, “Puppets” is just what the doctor ordered. Pusha T references much of the Waystar Royco drama we’ve come to know and love, just in time for this weekend’s season finale.
Phantogram, “In a Spiral”
The darkness of Phantogram’s new standalone single makes it perfect for this time of year. “‘In a Spiral’ started from a beat that Josh had in his back pocket for quite some time, which I had gravitated to immediately and written some vocal ideas for,” singer Sarah Barthel said in a statement. “But the song was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself to us. We threw it on at the last minute while we were preparing to go record in Joshua Tree at the magical Rancho de la Luna with our friend Boots, and once we got out there everything started to fall into place.”
Panda Bear, “playing the long game”
Panda Bear’s latest comes in the form of a music video directed by Fernanda Pereira. “The song is about a brief series of thoughts I had one morning about who I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m going,” Panda Bear said in a statement. “Hope you enjoy it and hope all’s well.”
Harry Styles, “Lights Up”
This former One Directioner has moved past his boy-band days with an extremely interesting solo career, and last night he shared his latest direction (pun intended) by unleashing “Lights Up,” his first new single in over two years. “Do you know who you are?” he asks on our first glimpse of his forthcoming sophomore album.
Allah-Las, “Keeping Dry”
If you’re already familiar with the surf and garage-rock of Allah-Las, you’ll find plenty to love on their just-released LAHS (out today), and that’s perhaps most apparent on the impossibly cool “Keeping Dry.” The album’s best consumed in its entirety, but “Keeping Dry” is an easy entry point.
Lucy Dacus, “In the Air Tonight”
Lucy Dacus has already given us singles this year inspired by holidays like Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July and Bruce Springsteen’s birthday, and just in time for Halloween, we have her excellent, haunting take on Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” Dacus delivers the perfect sense of dread on the track, warning us that something spooky is definitely afoot.
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