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Sputnikmusic Staff’s Q2 Playlist 2024

Welcome to the second installment for our 2024 quarterly playlist! Having Canada D’eh and Independence Day during the same week had some of us partying hard. Feel free to jam while reading what participating staffers had to say about their picks. Tell us what your favorites are in the comments, any new artists you may have discovered here, or let us know what we missed!

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Tracklist:

Arooj Aftab – “Aey Nehin”
Night Reign

Perhaps the most heatproof antidote I’ve heard this year to everything sweaty and inconvenient about summer, Arooj Aftab’s stellar new record opens in a revelation of cleansing harp tones and dusky croons. Her hazy weave of textures effortlessly trots out everything palatable you could ask of a current-year chamber jazz, earning a rare for all music fans badge of approval from practically anyone whose opinion you should care to ask. Literally better than sunscreen. –JohnnyoftheWell

ARTMS – “Virtual Angel”
<DALL>

Charli XCX might be sitting on pop’s most obvious AOTY ticket, but this right here is the flyaway headrush single of (maybe) the year, affirming everything gauzy and effortless about pop, living and dying on the sheer gratification of breezy production and the featherweight delivery of knockout hooks. If that’s not enough (and your Korean is up to it), ARTMS’ lyrics offer a wholesome take on idol-fan relationships while subtly underscoring the parasocial boundaries within which they are best left. –JohnnyoftheWell

Billie Eilish – “CHIHIRO”
Hit Me Hard and Soft

“CHIHIRO” might not be the most immediate song of the album, but it commands attention from the very first listen by virtue of being such a clear-eyed evolution of her nocturnal-angst-driven sound. Apparently inspired by the otherworldly visuals of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, its deft songwriting bounces from one killer vocal melody to the next, colored by FINNEAS’s thick tech-house beat and measured instrumentation. Its climax might be the most transcendent moment of the record, with arpeggios coursing like a rising tide over Billie’s muffled but pained vocal performance. After this record, can we all agree to stfu about her ‘mumbling?’ –neekafat

Charli XCX – “Club Classics”
Brat

The cover art to Brat, the magnificent new album by British pop artist Charli XCX, is performative, in the classical J.L. Austin sense — the promise of an album cover to describe the music inside obfuscates the role a blindingly lime-green square with the word ‘brat’ on it has in creating or reinforcing that very behavioral idiom on the part of its artist. Because the album art does what it says, we know what we’re getting into.

“Club Classics”, the riveting second track on Brat, is also performative. Many will argue over definitions of sincerity and irony and whether “When I go to the club I want to hear those club classics” is smart-dumb or dumb-dumb when uttered over a four-on-the-floor digital boom, but as the synth wash lining that one repeated lyric builds and crests and contorts and inverts, an intellectual approach seems to short the song somewhat. Charli’s task as a musician seems most fundamentally to illustrate a moment in her life that was shaped experientially by life-changing club music AND to create that sense of wonder, to make, herself, a club classic, to shape experiences anew by doing what she says. Bizarre and funny and beautiful, “Club Classics” maps its form onto its function as tightly as a Galapagos finch and stomps way harder. –robertsona

Domestic Terminal – “Golden”
Sanctuary

Rising Sputcore luminaries Domestic Terminal have once more impressed, this time with their third full-length Sanctuary. While the album has plenty of gems to discuss, “Golden” sees the band really elevating their game, seeing the fusion of multiple distinct movements into a wonderfully cohesive whole. The last minute or so is total bliss, but, man, the entire thing is basically a perfect song. –Sunnyvale

DVNE – “Reaching for Telos”
Voidkind

2024’s second quarter (and the April 19th release week in particular) brought the riffs, but it’s Voidkind‘s drumming that has continuously resonated with me the past few weeks. Although “Reaching for Telos” might be less hypnotic and sludgy compared to the album’s more atmospheric tracks, “Telos”‘ bruising groove augments, rather than undermines, its remarkable dynamics. –Jom

Evergrey – “Falling From the Sun”
Theories of Emptiness

Resplendent vocal melodies, gorgeous keys, and a spectacular pair of guitar solos make this one of my favorite Evergrey album openers, and with 14 albums in their discography to date, there’s an appreciable number to pick from. While their 1999-2004 run of albums is undeniable, I don’t necessarily mourn the band’s deemphasis on their earlier power-progressive ethos — especially if they’re going to keep writing rippers like this without any overt signs of rust. –Jom

Fu Manchu – “Haze the Hides”
The Return of Tomorrow

Part of the slower and heavier side of The Return of Tomorrow, “Haze the Hides” kicks in full throttle with fuzz-drenched riffs as well as Scott Hill’s trademark vocal delivery. 30 years later, their classic formula still works wonders. Slow headbanging guaranteed. –insomniac15

Good Looks – “Vaughn”
Lived Here for a While

Texas indie/heartland rockers Good Looks probably deserve a “most improved” trophy, based on the dramatic leap they’ve taken between their 2022 debut record (hints of promise but quite uneven) and their truly excellent sophomore effort. A track like “Vaughn” gives ample credence to any laudatory assessments of their latest material, its jaunty blend of upbeat sentiments and good old-fashioned rawk energy hitting as summer music done right. –Sunnyvale

H1-KEY – “Let It Burn”
LOVE or HATE [EP]

Kpop goes Avril Lavigne as H1-KEY channel the 2000s pop rock vibes on their latest single “Let it Burn”. The guitars are audible and the whole ‘teenage rebels’ concept suits the girls really well. –insomniac15

Horse Caves – “In Every Dream”
In Every Dream [Single]

Sounding like an unholy union between The Walkmen and Springsteen, “In Every Dream” shoots for the stars with every ounce of earnestness that its inspirations once rallied around. –Odal

Mermaid Chunky – “Céilí”
Céilí [Single]

Mermaid Chunky were apparently discovered by James Murphy in a coffee shop, but it’s just as easy to envision that they were some sort of spirit guide on a vision quest. “Céilí” is built on endless layers of humming and synthesizers and flutes and recorders that make a fairly impenetrable smattering of noise that is far easier to dance to than parse. –Odal

Mura Masa feat. yeule – “We Are Making Out”
We Are Making Out [Single]

Mura Masa and yeule have both proven that they can get really weird and wacky with it on their own terms, but “We Are Making Out” finds them combining forces and eschewing any pretense for a fairly straightforward dance pop banger. –Odal

Southtowne Lanes – “Take Flight”
Take Care

The PNW emo quartet’s newest material in eight years, singer/guitarist Matt Kupka pays his respects to his late father, whose sudden passing in 2021 influenced Take Care‘s construction. Obvious thematic anchor points include Pianos Become the Teeth’s The Lack Long After or Touche Amore’s Stage Four. While the somber voicemail at the end of “Find Your God” accentuates the palpable grief heard throughout the 9-track effort, there are fleeting moments where hope and constructive healing sneak through: “Take Flight” and its catchy, cathartic chorus is one such example. –Jom

St. Vincent – “Big Time Nothing”
All Born Screaming

Somehow feeling ripped straight from the “Sledgehammer” 1980s while about 70 times more menacing, “Big Time Nothing” proves St. Vincent is truly a “step on me” act for the ages. A syrupy bass line weaves through the entire thing, contorting and warbling like a creature trapped in a cage. And — could you call that a solo? Jagged guitars and synth-horns(?) that sound ripped straight from a video game mash together in a section that’s somehow as danceable as the rest of this freaky banger. –neekafat

SUMAC – “Yellow Dawn”
The Healer

Man growls sludge improvises post-metal improves earth shakes rocks break band fucks listeners scream. –JohnnyoftheWell

tripleS – “White Soul Sneakers”
ASSEMBLE24

It’s hard to pick one favorite from TripleS’ excellent debut album, but from all the highlights, “White Soul Sneakers” might be the one that will fly under the radar. The electronic-pop-meets-smooth-acid-funk makes for a nice fusion sound, just the way Kpop should function. Extra points for letting member Sohyun participate in the songwriting sessions. –insomniac15

Vampire Weekend – “Hope”
Only God Was Above Us

The song title belying its funereal content, “Hope” closes out Vampire Weekend’s best album (by a comfortable margin, to these ears) with their finest tune (a claim less set-in-stone). It’s a stately track which feels both leisurely and authoritative, built upon an elegant arrangement which never loses its appeal while the elegiac lyrics pull no punches. Disagree with anything I just said? I hope you let it go. –Sunnyvale

WILLOW – “Run!”
empathogen

If WILLOW’s latest album empathogen is a fireworks show, “Run!” is the fake-out finale that convinces you they’ve used all their ammunition in the process. They haven’t, and WILLOW didn’t, but goddamn is it a blast. Willow Smith marries the genre antics of, say, Hiatus Kaiyote, with a high-flying vocal style all her own, skittering syllables along jazzy beats with staccato breaths taken in between. It’s warm and dense, effortlessly blending neo-soul, funk, rock, pop — whatever, it’s a fuckin’ vibe. –neekafat

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Participating staff writers:

insomniac15, JohnnyoftheWell, Jom, neekafat, Odal, robertsona, Sunnyvale

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