You know what 2020 is missing? No, not stability and comfort. It’s music by Lil Nas X! Not to worry, the queer rodeo prince is back and he’s kindly fast-forwarded through the rest of this nightmare year to bring us the holiday season we deserve. Cosplaying as a series of silver-haired elves, androids and Santas, the music video for “HOLIDAY” involves dancing, robot reindeer and the admission that Nas “might bottom on the low/ but I top shit”. Not your typical festive tune but exactly what we wanted for this week’s playlist opener.
If you didn’t spend last night watching Billie Eilish running around the Glendale Galleria mall eating junk food then honestly, you missed out. Rectify it by taking in the full, chaotic, iPhone-shot splendour of “Therefore I Am” here. But not before you listen to “Informa (ft. M1llionz)” from Pa Salieu’s debut mixtape Send Them to Coventry, with features from Mahalia, Boy Boy, BackRoad Gee and more. Despite the current state of affairs, the 22-year-old has succeeded in establishing himself as the UK’s most exciting new rapper. “I want all kinds of people to vibes with it,” he told us in a recent interview. “I want families and aunties to vibes with it!” And that they shall.
Um, Phoebe Bridgers just covered some of the best songs from Punisher, stripping them right back and blessing them with soaring strings. You know what that means? These “Copycat Killer” versions are even more emotional than they were before. Perfect for your scheduled Friday afternoon cry session. We picked “Kyoto” for our playlist, but you really should listen to them all and release those pent-up feelings.
Also out this week is “Angel Numbers” by another celestial emo being, Australia’s daine; “In My Car” by Scandi boy emo Jimi Somewhere; and a whole album by someone else we reckon probably identifies as emo too, BENEE. Elsewhere, Lava La Rue has collaborated with Deb Never, Goya Gumbani put an EP out, Marika Hackman released a compilation of covers and Bree Runway dropped 2000AND4EVA. All that and more in this week’s BEST NEW MUSIC playlist.