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SPIN Singles Mix: Carly Rae Jepsen Really Likes You, Deerhoof Ask ‘What Have You Done For Me’

SPIN Singles Mix

Welcome to SPIN’s Singles Mix! The SPIN staff has rounded up their favorite, must-hear tracks for your personal playlists. From a bubblegum hitmaker to a Queens-based rapper to tweaked-out PC Music remixers, these are the songs you need to know right now.

action bronson

Action Bronson, “Baby Blue (feat. Chance the Rapper)” (Vice/Atlantic)
One of hip-hop’s biggest characters (both literally and figuratively), Queens rapper Action Bronson teams up again with Chance the Rapper on “Baby Blue,” the latest from Bronson’s upcoming LP, Mr. Wonderful. The piano-driven production sounds a little more Blackstreet than Bruno Mars, and it culminates with Chance’s string of mundanely horrible hopes for the one that got away: “I hope you never get off on Fridays, and you work at a Friday’s / That’s always busy on Fridays.” Harsh. — CONNOR O’BRIEN

ava luna

Ava Luna, “Coat of Shellac” (Western Vinyl)
If you mashed Spoon’s penchant for drum’n’bass together with the sly vocals of early Liz Phair, you’d get this groovy cut by Brooklyn art-funk collective Ava Luna. The second single from their forthcoming record, Infinite House (out April 14 on Western Vinyl), “Coat of Shellac” places singer/keyboardist Felicia Douglass front and center as her slinky voice dictates the track’s seductive tone. Considering the cut’s title, “Coat of Shellac” would make a fine accompaniment for re-enacting your very own pottery-molding Ghost scene. — RACHEL BRODSKY

carly rae jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen, “I Really Like You” (Interscope)
Jepsen bucked expectations and returned from a lengthy hiatus — during which time she’s been not-so-secretly tinkering on her Kiss follow-up with collaborators that include Tegan & Sara, Ariel Rechtshaid, Max Martin, and more — with this mishmash of sounds from pretty much every good song ever. It’s upbeat and frothy, carefree and conventionally memorable. How many reallys does it take to get to the center of pop? — BRENNAN CARLEY

courtney barnett

Courtney Barnett, “Depreston” (Milk! Records)
The wryly observant Barnett has growing pains in this poetic mid-tempo track from the forthcoming Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (out on March 24). Tossing in cliche real estate speak as she looks for a place to live in Preston (“It’s got a lovely garden / A garage for two cars to park in”), the Australian singer-songwriter considers an elderly woman who once lived in a “deseased estate” for sale. “If you’ve got a spare half a million, you should knock it down and start rebuilding,” encourages the agent, but Barnett understandably “can’t think of floorboards anymore” as this journey gets her thinking of life, death, and impending adulthood. — R.B.

deerhoof

Deerhoof, “What Have You Done for Me Lately (Janet Jackson cover)” (Polyvinyl)
Deerhoof have provided some of indie-rock’s biggest rhythmic challenges during their prolific career, so why not cover Janet Jackson, one of pop’s funkiest rhythmalists? Drummer Greg Saunier takes a rare vocal turn while demonstrating his clattery percussion chops; who knew Deerhoof could actually sound a little like early How to Dress Well? — DAN WEISS

major lazer

Major Lazer & DJ Snake, “Lean On (feat. MØ)” (Mad Decent)
Major Lazer’s latest, with assists from DJ Snake and Danish singer MØ’s soulful electro-pop vocals, lets its opening beats linger and fade in a cool, enticing way. But “Lean On” really locks in when the wave-like synths give way to the chorus — an energetic chant of an unearthly, warped sound. Every noise is inscrutably weird in the best way, and it beckons you to try to figure out just what you’re listening to on the dance floor. — JAMES GREBEY

Lucy Rose

Lucy Rose, “Our Eyes” (Columbia Records)
Following a three-year break after the release of her 2012 debut, Like I Used To, U.K. singer-songwriter Lucy Rose is back with the bubbly “Our Eyes.” Caribbean melodies diverge from her typically stripped-down fare (“Middle of The Bed,” “Shiver”), while the playfully revamped production and battering percussion draws the attention that Rose so deserves. — MARGARET FARRELL

maya jane coles

Maya Jane Coles, “Take Me There” (I/AM/ME)
Whether or not you realize it, you’re probably already familiar with British-Japanese producer Maya Jane Coles, via Nicki Minaj’s nicking of her moaning, two-stepping “What They Say” on the radio-conquering “Truffle Butter.” New song “Take Me There” is the lead single off of Maya’s soon-to-be-self-released Nocturnal Sunshine album, and is an even bigger, with yowling synths, insistent double-time drums, and chipmunk-pitched, classic rave-era vocals intoning the title. It’ll be ripe for sampling when Nicki releases her dubsteppy “Butter” sequel, “Extra Virgin Olive Oil.” — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

skepta

Skepta, “Shutdown” (Boy Better Know)
If you’re from the United States, you know Skepta this week as one of the hooded dancers behind Kanye West during the rapper’s “All Day” performance at last week’s BRIT Awards. If you’re someone with ears and access to the Internet, now you’ll know the British grime rapper as the guy who sampled a Drake vine on his stomping, undulating new single “Shutdown.” Skepta joined Ye onstage in London again last night at the Yeezus star’s sold-out show. Don’t count him out. — B.C. 

yelle

Yelle, “Moteur Action (SOPHIE & A.  G. Cook Remix)” (Kemosabe)
There should be a disclaimer attached to anything the PC Music crew — in this case, SOPHIE and A.G. Cook — touches. Not only have they turned Yelle’s otherwise harmless electropop banger inside-out with whooping synths and whirlagig beats, but they’ve stripped the entire thing bare and built an entirely new (albeit asthma-inducing) song with just Julie Budet’s breathy “ah-kay” as a starting point. — R.B.