Dry Cleaning, Lil Yachty, Weyes Blood: Here are 6 songs you need to hear this week

Star Tracks compiles the most interesting new music from a broad range of established and emerging artists. This week’s playlist features tracks from Dry Cleaning, Lil Yachty, Weyes Blood, Johnny Drille, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, RealestK and more.

Click here to listen along to the Spotify playlist.

Dry Cleaning: No Decent Shoes For Rain

The latest single from the English post-punk band Dry Cleaning sounds a bit like an impromptu jam session at the tail end of a booze-drenched house party. “Let’s smoke and drink and get f–ked I don’t know/ Let’s eat pancake,” vocalist Florence Shaw deadpans over crunchy waves of guitar and a meandering bass line, the track lurching forward unevenly like a truck with a faulty transmission.

But on the second half of “No Decent Shoes For Rain” guitarist Tom Dowse and bassist Lewis Maynard settle into a nice groove, setting the table for more of Shaw’s intriguing non-sequiturs. “I’ve seen your arse but not your mouth/ That’s normal now,” she declares, somehow managing to capture the blurry confusion of the “post-pandemic” era.

Dry Cleaning’s sophomore album “New Long Leg” drops on Oct. 21. They play the Phoenix in Toronto in January. — Richie Assaly

Lil Yachty: Poland

Sometimes all it takes is a catchy hook. The massage-chair delivery of “I took the wock to Poland” was enough to propel a snippet of Lil Yachty’s “Poland” to internet virality, which was enough to push it to official release, which has proven enough to generate an invite from the Polish prime minister. There are a few bars to fill out verse, but the hook is the song. It’s fun, fleeting and simple, something that used to be a Lil Yachty trademark early in his career until his music took a serious turn. But fun and fleeting is where Yachty is at his best — “Oprah’s Bank Account,” “Coffin” and “Minnesota” are all filled with the wide-eyed whimsy that “Poland” also embodies. The track’s synths are dark and droning, but Yachty’s airy vocals provide playfulness only he can achieve. Couple that with the elegant simplicity of the hook and “Poland” is a track that you’ll be singing ad infinitum. — Demar Grant

Weyes Blood: Grapevine

Melancholy, lush strums introduce the voice of indie-folk singer Natalie Laura Mering — better known as Weyes Blood — on her latest single, but as she reminisces on a love that once was, listeners slowly float back to her signature synth-filled sound. Play it while you’re driving in the car late at night, she recommends. It might deliver the full effect of mourning a relationship that has dwindled to just “two cars passing by.” Three years after the California musician released “Titanic Rising,” Weyes Blood’s ethereal voice continues delivering dreamscapes.

Her album “And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow” will be released on Nov. 18. Fans can bask in her glory at the Danforth Music Hall on March 8 and March 9. — Manuela Vega

Johnny Drille: How Are You (My Friend)

John Ighodaro, better known as Johnny Drille, is sure to capture your heart with the release of his latest single “How Are You (My Friend).” Riddled across my TikTok feed and embroidered within conversations among my friends are the desires for community and consistent efforts to check in on one another, and though Mental Health Day has passed, the message of “How Are You My Friend” carries these sentiments for those who listen.

Drille, 32, comes from Edo, Nigeria, and has found the magic in blending Afrobeat with alternative rock, folk and pop. “How Are You My Friend” is light and melts away worries of those who listen as they are reminded that someone, if just Drille himself, is calling to say “I see you and I’m with you” — words many need in our present embattled times. “I know that I don’t call enough, but you are always on my mind. I dey for you my friend,” the song beautifully concludes. — Annette Ejiofor

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Blacktop

Did we need a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album in 2022? I’ll be honest — I didn’t think so. It’d been nearly a decade since the New York City indie-rock titans released their last album, and it was kind of hard to imagine where they would fit into the current pop landscape. Fortunately, I was wrong — led by the undeniable charisma of vocalist Karen O, “Cool It Down” manages to adapt the punchy flair of aughts-era indie to these more apocalyptic times. Clocking in at a very reasonable 32 minutes, the album is digestible but also dramatic.

“Thunder lights the road/ Blacktop rolling under God/ Now we’re dancing close/ One to one as our bodies lock,” O sings on the slow-burning standout “Blacktop,” her voice mighty even as it barely rises above a whisper. Then comes the guitar, alien and razorlike, channelling the spirit of Fripp & Eno as it drifts across the track like a distant constellation.

(Perhaps aughts-era indie is having a resurgence? Animal Collective, Phoenix, and the YYYs have all released new music this year — that’s about 60 per cent of the #GAPDY family. Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors — ball’s in your court.) — RA

RealestK: Bruce Wayne

With an mixtape around the corner and a stable of heart-baring ballads, “Bruce Wayne” is just a palate cleanser from RealestK. It’s a nice combination of a bouncy bass line and dramatic strings to make a street-prowling anthem. Packed with Batman references, “Bruce Wayne” is short and sweet with a simple hook that reveals his identity: “I’m the man like Bruce Wayne.” Bruce Wayne means so many things to so many people, and it’s hard to be someone’s everything. When RealestK sings “And anytime that she looks me in my eyes/ All she really sees is black and white/ And she knows who it is, anytime that the man really steps outside” he breaks it down with breezy vocals. “Bruce Wayne” is RealestK’s first effort at creating a vibe rather than a soul renderer. The track’s sugary hook, superhero-laden lyrics, light production and eye-popping song art offer a vibe in surplus. — DG

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