This week sees the summer jam come front and center in all its forms: Lianne La Havas’ unabashed love song, Heather Woods Broderick’s shade-seeking melancholy, and HEALTH’s chilled out, vomit-inducing noise bliss. (Seriously, viewer beware when it comes to that video.)
Lianne La Havas — “Unstoppable”
This is what falling madly, blissfully in love by accident sounds like. I want to BATHE in this new Lianne La Havas single, off her forthcoming second album Blood (out July 31). — Jillian Mapes
Sweet Spirit and Britt Daniel — “Have Mercy”
Austin duo Sweet Spirit have backed Britt Daniel, Spoon frontman, at a handful of solo gigs, but now the two parties pair up properly. On “Have Mercy,” off the group’s forthcoming debut, Daniels harmonizes with singer Sabrina Ellis to uneasy effect, while Andrew Cashen reimagines a Wall of Sound vibe — strings and all — as a dark, desperate drum machine banger. — JM
Heather Woods Broderick — “A Call For Distance”
Portland musician Heather Woods Broderick is possessed by wanderlust, and it shows. The past few years of her life have been spent touring the country, and her new song “A Call For Distance” speaks to the forced intimacy and unavoidable loneliness of a life of constant movement. It’s seven minutes of blissful static that her voice rides comfortably, trotting alongside some easy, jazzy bass. — Shane Barnes
Sheer Mag — “Button Up”
Philadelphia punks Sheer Mag may have a hard-on for late ’70s classic rock à la Thin Lizzy, but their politics are forward-thinking, not to mention necessary. On “Button Up,” the highlight of Sheer Mag’s just-released second EP, singer Christina Halladay sneers, “You don’t know who you’re tanglin’ with/ I’m a bad bitch if I please/ I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again/ I brought many a man to his knees/ I’ll look you in the eyes/ And tell you what I gotta say.” It’s a fearsome warning, but one that makes you want to boogie all the while. Listen if you like Ex Hex. — JM
PINS — “Young Girls”
Only a group of young girls can make a song called “Young Girls” and have it not suck, and that’s exactly what Manchester quartet PINS has done. “What will we do/ what will we do/ what will we do/ when our dreams come true?” singer Faith Holgate sings over the band’s sunny, raucous beat. It’s a track tailor-made for the summertime, especially for people who don’t give a particular shit about whether or not their dreams come true any time soon. — SB
HEALTH — “New Coke”
I keep accidentally pausing the new video from L.A. electronic noise experimenters HEALTH at the very moment that a dude pukes in slow motion. Besides that, “New Coke” is enthralling: punishing bad-guy beats straight out of an action flick soundtrack, Jake Duzsik’s unsettlingly calm vocals (more intelligible and anthemic now more than ever), and a gauzy comedown. HEALTH’s third alum, Death Magic, is out August 7 on Loma Vista. — JM