In everything from the delicate simplicity of Charlotte Gainsbourg to the swaggering indie-punk of Dream Wife and Dream Wife, plus Somali disco and stunning techno, Here are fifty of this top month’s tracks
In March, we launched the first of a new series on the Guardian in which we review the top 50 tracks from every genre and give you more about the most thrilling tracks below. You can sign up for the playlists using various streaming services using this widget. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments. Google Play Music users can access the playlist by clicking here.
Post Malone – rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)
After a week of virtually no radio airplay from mainstream stations, The track shattered Apple Music’s single-week streaming record and is currently in the top three spots in the UK and the US, which is a rare thing for a simple, bleak song by a rapper. It’s clear why the lyric, as in the case of many of the rap hooks that 2017 has produced, is repeated until it’s absorbed in your frontal cortex. Your short-term memory then smashes it up.
Lorenzo Senni – The Shape of Trance to Come
Further evidence shows that the Italian producer is, in his own life, creating work that utilizes the most enjoyable aspects of dancing music – booming electronic trance as well as looping melodies and sad chords and then ties their laces so that they sway about. This is done with great affection instead of irony. Senni is among Warp Records’ exciting additions to its roster, along with Yves Tumor and Gaika, which will keep the long-running British digital label fresh.
Bjork – The Gate
It’s the debut single of Bjork’s self-described “Tinder album” is about re-discovering the love of one’s life: “My healed chest-wound / transformed into a gate / where I receive love from / where I give love from.” The three-note melody accompanying her is breathtakingly beautiful. It’s A sluggish, half-arpeggio that is deeply sad and blissfully happy. The Gate is produced with Arca and Arca, who appear in this month’s mix with a similar emotional remix by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Cherryade – Blah Blah
Mixing a slick tropical sound with a touch of indie-rap, Cherryade channel singers who are in-your-face, like Charli XCX and Girli, on their amusingly exaggerated track Blah Blah. In keeping the fire of innocent adolescent rage alive, The London duo talks about the insanity of luxury lifestyles and general stupidity. “I’ve been thinking that you’re so dumb,” sings the singer Ella on a background of ever-increasing EDM, making it an ideal soundtrack for teens’ tantrums and the dancefloor.
Hibo Nuura – Haddii Hoobalkii Gabay
Although Nigeria and Ethiopia were extensively searched for lost music to make racks of compilations, Somalia can’t say the same- until now. Sweet as Broken Dates The Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa showcases the country’s unique musical history, in which Ethio-pop is a mix of reggae and swaying grooves. Hibo Nuura’s Hadidii Hoobalkii Gabay (translated into If You’re Artist Allows You to Fall) has been beautifully degraded from the tapes that the song was recorded from. Yet, its pulsing disco beat is still ablaze.
Mavis Staples – If All I Was Was Black
The track is taken from Staples’s forthcoming 16th studio album, the latest in a string of collaborations featuring Jeff Tweedy from Wilco. The Way If All I Was Was Black will see the veteran R&B singer showcasing the harrowing impacts of racism with sparkling drums and a bouncy bass guitar. She sings with a full, rich vocal supported by her backing vocalists with their honeyed tones. “I got love,” the singer sings Staples, and she ends by making a subtle reference to the fractious, dark political landscape in this part of the US, “and it’s time for more love.”
Dream Wife – Fire
When the Dream Wife’s new single is a love song, it’s an especially troubling one. It features singer Rakel Mjoll creating an astonishing depiction of a relationship that appears to be at the same time burning and exploding. A mix of two elements, British to one Icelandic, The band blends an angular, indie sound with sultry vocals and heady, cryptic lyrics. The track is an exhilarating song that evokes scattered thoughts and the sensory overload accompanying extreme sexual chemical chemistry.
Beatrice Dillon and Call Super – Fluo
Since the report, its release announcement combining two of Britain’s top lucid yet joyful producers has left hipster dance enthusiasts savoring their kombuchas. Since each of them is a master of balance and space, it’s similar to Alexander Calder hanging sculptures in John Pawson’s home before an event at home sends everyone spinning, especially when the beautiful scream of improvised clarinet roars into.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest
On rest, a song written by Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo from Daft Punk, the gossamer voice of Gainsbourg flits through French and English over the gentle hum of a lullaby that is essentially a robot-lullaby. The track, from the actor and musician’s debut album in 2011, sees Gainsbourg slip into a trance-like state while rapping the lyrics of The Snowman theme Walking in the Air in an English-accented sign. The effect is relaxingly soft, a soothing blanket of the most chic variety.
Sam Smith – Too Good at Goodbyes
Being a part of Smith performing his return show in a small Church in London in experience, His vocal control is almost surreal in its precision, and his soft lisp lends his voice an even greater depth. The lyrics of his songs don’t seem to have changed from being happy at times. However, he is sad primarily in the realm of heart issues. However, when the tunes are as solid and ethereal as Too Good for Goodbyes – an undeserved top-three spot for three weeks, it doesn’t matter.