Killer Mike returns with a brash solo album, plus new music from Peggy Gou, Christine and the Queens and more

Thanks for reading the Toronto Star’s Weekend Music Digest, a roundup of new music, concert listings and more.

This week: new music from Killer Mike, Peggy Gou, Christine and the Queens, Helena Deland and Knocked Loose.

Click here to listen along to the Spotify playlist.

Killer Mike: Michael

Over the last decade, Killer Mike rose to international prominence as one half of Run The Jewels, the boisterous, highly political hip hop duo with producer/rapper El-P. But the frequently controversial rapper has been in the game for close to a quarter century, as a solo artist, as an early Outkast collaborator and a member of the Dungeon Family, an influential Southern hip hop collective.

On “Michael,” his first solo record in 10 years, the artist born Michael Render explores his roots and formative experiences as a child growing up in Atlanta. “I wanted people to know that the character in Run the Jewels is a whole human being,” he told critic Craig Jenkins in a (wild) new interview. “I think I told the best story of a young man in Atlanta.”

Flanked by a Rolodex of top-tier talent— Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz, Young Thug and of course El-P — Killer Mike sounds both fired up and unflappable across the project, which he’s already dubbed the “album of the year.”

“My tutors taught me a terrible miracle / You can lie, cheat and still kill in America / Be celebrated like Captain America,” he raps with righteousness during a monster verse on “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS,” a Dungeon Family reunion with André 3000 and Future. But much of “Michael” is concerned with family — on “Motherless,” which features airy vocals from Detroit R&B singer Eryn Allen Kane, Mike addresses his late mother and late grandmother (“You won’t believe it, mama / I achieved it, mama”), while on “Something For Junkies,” he raps about his aunt’s addiction (“She said ‘Michael, you say you love me, I know you mean it / Cause you still treat your junkie auntie like a human being’”).

Like Killer Mike himself, the sprawling record is combative, brash and messy, but it’s an impressive statement from an artist who at the age of 48, still sounds at the top of his game.

Star Tracks: Best new (and newish) music

Peggy Gou: (It Goes Like) Nanana

We’re 23 years removed from the ’90s, but the sound of that decade’s dance music seems to be everywhere. Often, it works brilliantly (Beyoncé and Charli XCX), and other times it feels like a clunky nostalgia trap (that God-awful Bebe Rexha and David Guetta song that remixes Eiffel 65). The new single from South Korean producer and DJ Peggy Gou slots easily into the first category — built around a pulsing bass groove and fat piano chords, “(It Goes Like) Nanana” feels less like nostalgia than a revelation. “I can’t explain / I got a feeling that I just / I can’t erase,” Gou sings, grasping for words to describe the immersive euphoria of the dance floor: “I guess it goes like nanana.” Bonus points for the awesome, karaoke-themed music video.

Helena Deland: Spring Bug

With the first day of summer swiftly approaching, Canadian singer-songwriter Helena Deland’s new track celebrates the precious remnants of spring, and the bittersweet passage of time. Wistful, plucky guitar sets the perfect scene for introspection. On top of sweet harmonies, Deland sings about nostalgic encounters with past selves, who buzz by like “noisy flying creatures.” While her first instinct is to run, Deland explains in a release that she was inspired by Joan Didion’s essay, “On Keeping a Notebook.” As the tune meanders along, Deland realizes “we’re well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.” After all, as she sings, “This spring’s already a memory.” — Dhriti Gupta

Christine and the Queens: Tears can be so soft

There’s a lot to sort through on “PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE,” the sprawling, 96-minute album from French singer-songwriter and avant-pop auteur known as Christine and the Queens. There’s “Angels crying in my bed,” a downtempo song that features an extended spoken-word outro by Madonna, “Full of life,” which is performed over a rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon, and “Track 10,” a bizarre, meandering track that unfolds over 11 minutes — and these are all on “Disc 1.”

It’s an intimidating and slightly unfocused project, but it contains several moments of brilliance, chief among them the slow-burning “Tears can be so soft.” Produced by behind-the-scenes music guru Mike Dean, the track is built around a throbbing bass line and understated drums that channel the spirit of Portishead, providing a moody trip hop soundscape across which Chris slinks and slithers like a serpent lurking in shallow waters. “Tears can be so good / Let them roll on your face, girl /Oh, diamonds on your face forever,” he sings in the song’s outro, as a luxurious swirl of strings descend into the mix.

Knocked Loose: Deep in the Willow

“Knocked loose, mother f—er.” That’s what vocalist Bryan Garris yells in the final moments of “Deep in the Willow” before you’re hit with a machine-gun barrage of a breakdown that’s so heavy you may need to catch your breath. The Kentucky hardcore outfit, hot off their spectacular — and to some, unexpected — performances at Coachella, have released a pair of punishing new tracks with new producer Drew Fulk (also known as WZRD BLD), and they are, without a doubt, heavy as hell.

Keeping in line with the darker themes of their 2021 EP “A Tear in the Fabric of Life,” the new tracks check all the boxes for fans of Knocked Loose — filthy tones, dirty riffs and nasty breakdowns — and it’s amazing to see a band like them skyrocket to the forefront of heavy music. While hardcore/metalcore/beat down may not be everyone’s cup of tea from the get-go, may I suggest “Deep in the Willow” the next time you’re thinking you need some pure musical anger to get through a difficult workday.

Just make sure you don’t accidentally punch a hole through your desk. — Justin Smirlies

More new releases

Miscellanea from around the music world

Mitchell has been adapting all her life: as a child who survived polio; as a songwriter, creating her own open-tuned “chords of inquiry” to voice her in-betweens; later, collaborating with agile jazz musicians and becoming one. Her new command of her deeper voice, eight years after a brain aneurysm, is the latest iteration. She curved and glided around her low register, occasionally pitching her voice down to a baritone rumble or reaching higher, and there was poetry in the reach. Sitting at her throne, she bounced and swung her cane, which was adorned with an emblem of a wolf, along to the music. She smiled after singing, “I’d still be on my feet.” In the ’70s, Joni said her fans “should know who they were worshipping,” leading her to put more and more personal revelation into her music. Today, she seems just as committed to presenting her reality.

“If TikTok is too young, Facebook is too geriatric and Twitter is a cesspit, where are digital natives — who practically invented the ways we use the modern internet — expected to go?”

Newly announced concerts

Toronto Concert Calendar: A selection of upcoming shows across the city

Friday, June 16

The St. Catherines post-hardcore legends will headline a massive show at Bud Stage with support from fellow local bands PUP and METZ.

The veteran indie rock band will play Phoenix on Friday in support of their latest album “This Stupid World.” If you’re on the fence, let me push you into go — this band is awesome live.

Saturday, June 17

This section of the music digest is a “no judgment” zone. If you want to go see Ed strum that guitar, you should. This is actually one of three shows in Toronto — he plays History on Friday, June 16, and Rogers Centre again on Sunday, June 18. Support from Khalid and Rosa Linn.

Tuesday, June 20

The 75-year-old singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac, swings by Toronto on Tuesday.

Wednesday, June 21

The indie-rock supergroup — made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker — will play Bud Stage with support from Toronto’s own Broken Social Scene.

Thursday, June 22

The in-demand singer/rapper will perform on the beach with support from hip hop producer Pi’erre Bourne.

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