September has had two listening modes. It’s been either high-octane, who-needs-sleep-with-this-beat? or I’m-ready-to-be-serenaded-by-a-choir-of-baby-whales-and-analogue-synths. The first speed has had me revisiting Cosey Mueller along with the new release from HAAi to keep me moving, perhaps Fashion Month still subconsciously influences my music programming (meaning September always has pavement pounding soundtracks). However, with RUSSH Retreat I’ve been delving into new Max Richter and curating soundtracks with space to breathe.
Elsewhere, Ryder The Eagle has supplied the month’s most appealingly unhealthy metaphor, and Liars have returned with a song whose title sounds like either a threat or an extremely specific travel mishap. There is tenderness here, too, though seldom without a little distortion around the edges. This September’s music wrap oscillates between getting somewhere quickly, then allowing yourself to stay there for as long as possible.
Trotzstadt by Cosey Mueller
Mueller makes forward motion feel like an attitude. I adore their guitar sound. Although released last year, it has become a fast favourite for driving.
I Wanna Feel Like Someone (feat. James Massiah) by HAAi
Don’t we all? Especially on the dance floor, where we will most likely be when HAAi comes back to Australia to tour with The Avalanches.
I Owe You by Claud
There is a particular intimacy in admitting you owe someone something, especially when you are not quite sure how to repay it. Claud gives that small, complicated feeling room to breathe.
Now We Can Sing by Max Richter
Richter makes stillness feel expansive rather than empty. This was our route into retreat mode: a reminder that you can let a thought finish before replacing it with another one.
The Fountain by DIIV
Time to throw in a penny and make a wish for the new DIIV record to be out…from the forthcoming record ZIRP!
Hello Kitty by Clutter
A flash of absurdity without needing to explain its place in the wider cultural landscape, Clutter deliver some cutsie-grunge just ahead of their album release, Sugar Rush.
Innocence Lost by Purple Pilgrims
Some songs understand that nostalgia is rarely as soft as we imagine it to be, this one belongs to that hour when a memory turns up unexpectedly and makes the present feel briefly unfamiliar.
Get Out of My Life by June McDoom
Solid advice we have often given to our friends and ignored ourselves, made manifest in the latest McDoom release.
Heartbeats The Flaw by Daniel Pickard
Sexy, French, spring-time pop, proving that the accent is always inviting.
My Madness by David Byrne
Few artists make oddness feel as companionable as Byrne does, consistently embracing his madness and idiosyncrasy to create music we still are intrigued by, after many years in the game.
Natural High by Perfume Genius
A song for surrendering to a feeling before you have found a suitably measured way to describe it, sometimes the measured version can wait, this song is a compelling slow burn into intoxication.
POP MUSIC by Dedekind Cut and Ryuichi Sakamoto
An amazing collaboration with faultless piano, naturally.
I Feel Like A Cigarette by Ryder The Eagle
“I Feel Like A Cigarette” is such a good, terrible way to describe yourself: wanted for a moment, possibly bad for someone, liable to disappear in a cloud of smoke. RUSSH favourite Ryder The Eagle leans into the romance of being a bit burnt out.
Ice Pick, Kalamazoo by Liars
Liars return with a title that sounds like the opening line of a story you should probably leave before it ends. Angus Andrew has always been good at making unease compelling; this is a fitting way to close a month that began at full tilt and never became entirely well behaved.
Listen to the full playlist with new releases from Imogen Heap, Blood Orange and Daphni.
