The 11 Best Tunes of the Week | 2023 Week 5
February kicks off with a bang with new singles from Caroline Polachek, Skrillex, Cable Ties, Orbital, Thomas Bangalter, Westerman, Your Old Droog and more
Image - Left: Caroline Polachek, Middle: Cable Ties, Right: DEBBY FRIDAY
Over at Pilerats, we listen to a stack of new music each and everyday... Here are our favourites from the week that was (in alphabetical, not favourite order!).
Checkout some of our other picks of the week in our 10 Best Music Videos of the Week, including new heat from Alex Lahey, Death Valley Girls, Jen Cloher, Yves Tumor and more!
Brad Strut - Trust
When it comes to Aussie hip hop, it doesn't get much more OG than Brad Strut. After nearly 3 decades of spitting bars, the don still shows us how it's done with a string of recent singles uploaded to his bandcamp. Trust is our pick of the bunch that sees Strut dropping bars based on the titular subject over a dope beat by I AM D featuring tight, fat drums that hit hard and an addictive piano and vocal sample.
Cable Ties - Perfect Client
Releasing their first new music since 2020 this week were Melbourne punks Cable Ties in the form of blistering new single Perfect Client, featuring huge guitar hooks and a relentless rhythm section as well as guitarist & singer Jenny McKechnie's distinct vocals.
Caroline Polachek - Blood and Butter
A few weeks out from her second full-length Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Polachek announced the album's tracklist alongside romantic new single Blood and Butter, an ethereal slice of pop that channels 90s electronica and features guitar work from the one and only Kirin J Callinan.
Debby Friday - I Got It feat. Unas
The official unofficial banger of the week has to be DEBBY FRIDAY'S wild new single of punk and hip hop influenced electronic mayhem. With a driving 4/4 kick drum and snarling bass line, I GOT IT sees DEBBY trading bars with Unas on this party starting ode to wild late nights.
Gel - Attainable
Coming in hot outta New Jersey are Gel, a hardcore band on the rise, impressing all comers in the scene with their unique blend of raw-yet-produced crossover flavours, sounding like what we'd imagine a young D.R.I. on steroids in the twenty first century kind of sounding like.
Orbital - Are You Alive? feat. Penelope Isles
Legendary, influential electronic duo Orbital may have dropped their career-spanning 30 Something compilation last year, but that by no means indicated a victory lap from the pair, as this week we got a new single of atmospheric, signature electronica, teaming up with emerging English indie rock band, Penelope Isles. Are You Alive? comes ahead of new album Optical Delusion, out February 17.
Pugilist - Daggers
One of Australia's most interesting and exploratory producers, this week Pugilist gave us the latest taste of his forthcoming Negative Space EP. Daggers is a deep and dubby cut of bass heavy goodness, proper eyes down business on this one.
Skrillex with Nai Bardhouti - Xena
After recently dropping cuts teaming up with the likes of Fred again.., Flowdan, PinkPantheress and Trippie Redd, Bobby Raps and Bladee, Skrillex continues his run of collaborative singles this time on the Xena-sampling Xena, featuring Palestinian singer, flutist and composer Nai Barghouti and a tonne of tabla drums.
Thomas Bangalter - L'Accouchement
It's one half of Daft Punk making orchestral music for a ballet - what more do you need to know!?
Westerman - CSI: Petralona
3 years after his incredibly impressive debut album, the London-born, Athens-based singer-songwriter Westerman has announced his new album An Inbuilt Fault with the soaring, experimental indie-folk of CSI: Petralona, produced by Westerman alongside Big Thief's James Krivchenia.
Your Old Droog - The Groundhog
After a massive 2022 that saw the release of four mixtapes, New York City's YOD drops a mellow melodic cut of smooth hip hop in ode of the titular day.
Check all out of these tunes and more in our playlist!