Welcome to our weekly roundup of SPIN’s favorite new songs. Below, sample the best from a buzzworthy indie-pop darling, a reunited trip-hop duo, Texan post-punks, and more.
Frankie Cosmos, “Sinister” (Bayonet)
Captivating DIY communities with a vast crop of Bandcamp releases, rising indie-pop melodist Frankie Cosmos (a.k.a. Greta Kline) planted herself in the limelight via her official debut, 2013’s Zentropy, and no doubt will again with her forthcoming Next Thing (out April 1). Now a four-piece with Eskimeaux’s Gabby Smith and Aaron Maine (a.k.a. Porches), Frankie Cosmos have released the winsome “Sinister,” where, with crystal-clear production, Kline is as honest and uncovered as ever with the opening line, “My soul is is not like a water park… it’s big and surprisingly dark.” Even so, Kline shines among music’s stars. — JEFFREY SILVERSTEIN
Jessy Lanza, “It Means I Love You” (Hyperdub)
Nighttime has been Jessy Lanza’s time — until now. On her dusky 2013 debut, Pull My Hair Back, the Toronto singer and affiliate of local, velvet-touched peer Jeremy Greenspan (of Junior Boys) pumped out rounded bass and whispered synths appropriate for the private after-after party. But she abruptly kicks you out of bed on her amped-up “It Means I Love You,” its BPM ratcheting up to speeds closer to tribal than the heartbeats of immediately pre- or post-wakefulness. Her ephemeral falsetto still falls calmly over all, but when she solicits the object of her affection to walk away, what she’s really saying is: Run (or rather, dance) as fast as you can. — HARLEY BROWN
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LUH., “I&I” (Mute)
In the five years since his old band, WU LYF, put out their small masterpiece, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, we’ve heard precious little from Ellery James Roberts. That is until recently, when his long-teased project LUH. finally began commanding some attention. Featuring Roberts, vocalist Ebony Hoorn, and producer the Haxan Cloak, LUH. pick up where WU LYF left off; their latest single, “I&I,” is a powerful anthem built on a repeating piano phrase over which Roberts and Hoorn trade off lyrics about waking up and seizing the day. It’s the kind of pap that Roberts knocked out of the park on every WU LYF track, so if “I&I” is a sign of what LUH. has in stock, they should be a more than worthy successor to WU LYF’s charming, all-caps idealism. — ADAM DOWNER
Massive Attack, “Dead Editors (feat. Roots Manuva)” (Melankolic)
Massive Attack have returned with the Ritual Spirit EP, their first recorded material in a half-decade, and they’re enlisting some 21st-century acolytes — as well as their old friend, Tricky, making his first appearance with the collective since ’94 — to help them make up for lost time. Best of all might be British MC Roots Manuva on the Earth-rumbling opener “Dead Editors,” waxing about “Those infinite resources, we just don’t need to force it,” as the beat skitters uncomfortably underneath, ultimately exploding into a ping-ponging frenzy that thrills as much as it forebodes. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Mirror Travel, “Yesca” (Modern Outsider)
If you’re from Mirror Travel’s town, a.k.a. Nowheresville, Texas, there’s not much else to do other than, as they told FADER, go looking for “swimming holes and [yourself]” — but end up settling for “booze and weed.” That’s the gist of “Yesca,” the lead single from their forthcoming sophomore album, Cruise Deals, due March 11. Over a swirling windstorm of post-punk/shoegaze haze, lead singer Lauren Green urges, “Stay, go / Stay, go / Stay, go,” as if to say that it doesn’t matter which option you choose — it’ll all end up the same anyway. — RACHEL BRODSKY
NJOMZA, “Move To Your Beat” (REMember Music)
NJOMZA already piqued the interest of Pop Internet this week when the Mac Miller signee was snapped making music with Tinashe, Miguel, Big Sean, Diplo, and Skrillex in a Malibu mansion. Though fans initially thought she was Kesha, NJOMZA’s sound couldn’t be further from Euro-gum; songs like her new “Move to You,” which is produced by Atlanta big-league duo 1st, blend R&B, house, and instrumental pop, with the piano refracting as a double-sided thump in the post-chorus. Vocally, she’s got a less-disaffected Banks thing going on, though it’s clear there’s more depth here. With all those cosigns, you’d do well to get on board with NJOMZA, too. — BRENNAN CARLEY
Rihanna, “Desperado” (Roc Nation)
ANTI is a lot to process, but one of its most obvious and instantaneous highlights is this swaying bit of blues sequenced right after the single — swaying like a lighthouse in a monsoon, that is. “Desperado” is a get-out-of-town anthem where the town is love and the getaway car is the Pussy Wagon of Kill Bill/“Telephone” fame. “There ain’t nothin’ there for me anymore,” sings the fugitive, as she jumps over the dam. — DAN WEISS
Listen to “Desperado” via Tidal.
