YACHT, by Ricky Tompkins.
We’re celebrating a couple excellent new releases out this week — BenZel’s Men and YACHT’s Where Does This Disco? — by highlighting their standout songs. Plus, Screaming Females return, Kanye makes Lorde tolerable, and Tinashé makes Nick Jonas even better.
BenZel feat. Ryn Weaver — “Touch”
BenZel is a production duo consisting of Benny Blanco and Two Inch Punch (Ben Ash), best known for their individual projects exploring the electronic side of pop, and for their frequent work with Jessie Ware. The duo’s first EP, Men, is out this week with a guest list those who follow pop’s promising young things will surely appreciate: Ryn Weaver, Cashmere Cat, and Stevie Neale (also, Juicy J, who is neither pop nor young, but is still having quite a moment in pop). “Touch,” featuring “OctaHate” singer Ryn Weaver, is a perfect snapshot of the EP’s addictive sonic textures that are often at odds: luxury meets chintziness, abrasion meets silkiness, pop and EDM familiarity meets foreign oddities.
—
YACHT — “Terminal Beach”
L.A. duo YACHT also have an ace new EP out this week, titled Where Does This Disco? “Terminal Beach” is billed as an “homage to science fiction writer J.G. Ballard’s ruined visions of a posthuman world.” The song sounds like the future in the same sort of way that The Cars did in their prime, but where Ric Ocasek and co. would have leaned more power pop than true New Wave, “Terminal Beach” takes a left turn full punk.
—
Screaming Females — “Ripe”
Jersey’s finest rockers (sorry, Jon Bon Jovi) offer up the first single from their forthcoming sixth album, Rose Mountain (out Feb. 24), and it’s even more punishing than their past work.
—
Lorde — “Flicker (Kanye West Rework)”
Whatever Kanye did to make Lorde’s big Hunger Games: Mockingjay single sound memorable at all is a big improvement from the original.
—
Nick Jonas feat. Tinashé — “Jealous” (Remix)
Whatever Tinashé did to make Nick Jonas’ grown-and-sexy stepping-out single sound even more fire is a gift from the weekend gods.