Surprise! Our old pal AJ Tracey just released Secure The Bag! 2, a nine-track follow up to his 2017 mixtape of the same name. “I’m going back to the music I enjoyed making the most,” the west Londoner told followers on Instagram. “Not for anyone but me & the real aj fans, the ones who never complain about me trying new shit and would ride wit me all the way to mars.”
A mix of older unreleased tracks and some that are brand new, it’s a return to the artist’s early sound and boasts a feature from his newly Grammy-nominated pal Slowthai on “Graveyard Shift”, which opens this week’s playlist. The project’s anime artwork is a reference to EP track “Hikikomori”, on which AJ compares himself to the phenomenon whereby generations of young Japanese people have withdrawn from society. Who can relate?
Flohio’s new mixtape, No Panic No Pain, is out today too. With production from Take A DayTrip and Cadenza, it’s a brilliantly hectic 10-tracks of ups and downs and relentless energy. Then, of course, there’s “Bad Karma” from Miley’s Plastic Hearts album, which features Joan Jett and — aside from the Dua collab — is probably the highlight of the new record. Read all about how Gen Z predicted her pivot to rockstar here.
Also out this week is “3SEX” for which Christine and the Queens lends legendary French rock band Indochine her vocals; Rina Sawayama’s “LUCID”; “As You Are” from cktrl’s new EP Robyn; King Princess’s “PAIN”; and that Phoebe Bridgers Christmas cover we told you about the other day. All that and so much more in our ever-reliable playlist.