The 5 Best New Songs We Heard This Week: Shura, Theophilus London

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It’s Friday and Valentine’s Day, and the world outside looks a bit like The Day After Tomorrow. Since stepping out of your home or office means stepping waist-deep into snow, and also a world where people are #SOULmate-ing photos with their boo thangs, it seems like the perfect time to catch up on noteworthy new music. This week, Shura and Little Daylight released great debut singles and Theophilus London created a perfect smooth jam with the help of Blood Orange and the Force MDs. Plus, Frankie Rose dropped a ’90s-esque indie-pop track under a new name, and Midwestern trash-punk band Tweens brought on the angst (in a good way).

Shura — “Touch”

There’s not much information about Shura online, other than her lineage — her parents are a British filmmaker and Russian actress — but add the London-based artist to your list of singers to watch. Her debut track puts her hazy pop vocals on full display against a soft, nostalgic melody, and it works. So while “Touch” may seem reminiscent of Blood Orange and HAIM (yes, at the same time), I’m not complaining. Plus, the lyric, “I want to touch you, but there’s too much history,” is so achingly simple, and perfect.

Theophilus London (feat. Blood Orange and the Force MDs) — “Figure It Out”

Theophilus London released a sequel to 2011’s Lovers Holiday yesterday, Lovers Holiday II, and it’s composed of six songs, but half are previews and covers. The real highlight is “Figure It Out,” a track that features Blood Orange and the 1980s R&B group Force MDs cooing in the background. It’s a chill, slow jam that feels like it’s from another era. Bonus: you can download the entire EP for free on London’s website here.

Beverly — “Honey Do”

Frankie Rose is a former member of the Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, and the Dum Dum Girls, so you might already have a sense of how her new song is going to turn out. For her new band Beverly, Rose harmonizes against bandmate Drew Citron’s vocals. It’s fuzzy indie-pop, and totally delightful at that.

Tweens – “Forever”

Cincinnati punk band Tweens aren’t tweens (surprise, surprise), but their raucous lo-fi sound has enough preteen angst that you might not know otherwise. Frontwoman Bridget Battle whines and growls in a voice that sounds like the second coming of Jemina Pearl, who’s been sadly absent since her 2009 solo album, post-Be Your Own Pet.

Little Daylight – “Siren Call”

Synthpop outfit Little Daylight are releasing their debut album Hello Memory this summer, with “Siren Call” as its lead track. Of course, it’s endlessly catchy, in a jump-up-and-down sort of way, which is a perfect way to welcome the weekend.