NME Radio Roundup 11 October 2021: Sam Fender, Inhaler, Tame Impala & Lil Yachty and more

‘Spit Of You’ is one soul-baring song of many on Sam Fender’s new album ‘Seventeen Going Under’. It’s about the North Shields singer-songwriter’s grandmother’s death and his complex relationship with his father – as he explained in a statement: “we both struggle as blokes to communicate the way we feel to each other without it becoming a stand-off.” Over poignant guitar strums and an atmospheric saxophone solo, Fender struggles to find a breakthrough in their relationship, but to no avail: “I can talk to anyone / I can’t talk to you”. – Qistina Bumidin

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Inhaler originally released ‘My Honest Face’ in 2019, and it’s become a distinct fan favourite since then. Reworked and added to the Irish band’s top-charting debut album ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’, the song offers memorable indie-rock grooves and anthemic lyrics primed for arena singalongs. – QB

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Lil Yachty and Tame Impala’s new collaboration is the crossover no one knew we needed. Yachty jumps on the funky, synth-driven ‘Breathe Deeper’, originally from Tame Impala’s fourth studio album ‘The Slow Rush’. His mellow voice is a perfect fit for the original’s hypnotic groove, gliding keys and upbeat percussion. – QB

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NME cover star Remi Wolf releases a new single, ‘Anthony Kiedis’, taken from her upcoming debut album ‘Juno’. She peppers a psychedelic, funky groove with idiosyncratic yet personal lyrics full of double entendres: “I fit my family dynamics / Like a Red Hot Chili Pepper / I love my family intrinsically / Like Anthony Kiedis”. Along with outlandish theatrics and outfits in the accompanying music video, it is a fitting tribute to the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman. – QB

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SZA sings in Spanish for the first time alongside Kali Uchis in a new version of ‘fue mejor’, the sultry track from the latter’s 2020 album ‘Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)’. SZA’s dreamy falsettos weave perfectly with Uchis’s angelic vocals in this melancholic R&B cut which sees the pair sing about trying to walk away from someone they still love. – QB

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Dance the pain of your heartbreak away with Mahalia’s sizzling new track ‘Roadside’. The singer-songwriter combines her enchanting vocals with painful yet punchy lyrics written “fresh out of a break-up”, with fellow British rapper AJ Tracey offering a male perspective in his signature flow. – QB

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Headie One proves he’s mastered more than drill in the bouncy track ‘Cry’. Sampling Busta Rhymes’s 1997 classic ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See’, the North Londoner adds melodic vocals in hooky choruses. Taken from his experimental feature-length mixtape, ‘Too Loyal For My Own Good’, ‘Cry’ demonstrates a versatility that keeps Headie One constantly at the top of UK rap. – QB

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Christine and The Queens delivers a slowed-down, wistful version of George Michael’s fist-pumping classic. ‘Freedom’ is part of her surprise cover EP, ‘Joseph’, following her performance of the track at Global Citizen Live in Paris last month. Héloïse Letissier’s brooding vocals are laid atop heavenly synths and a gospel choir, making for a refreshing sound that still maintains the catharsis of the original. – QB

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British musician Bonobo previews his upcoming seventh album, ‘Fragments’, with new lead single ‘Rosewood’, which offers a hypnotic vocal sample promising companionship and freedom, pulsing synths and mellow percussion. Though it’s a solo Bonobo track, there are plenty of guests to be expected from ‘Fragments’, including Joji, Jordan Rakei and Jamila Woods. – QB

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Katy B teams up with British soul singer Jaz Karis on up-tempo, neo-soul track ‘Open Wound’. The track follows Katy’s newly released single, ‘Under My Skin’, both of which will be part of her upcoming EP, ‘Peace and Offerings’. On ‘Open Wound’, the two singers achieve effervescent harmony as they sing about the struggles of moving on from a former lover: “’Cause life it flows so far from who I have chose / My heart stays frozen / At the time when you were mine / So this open wound is still unclosed”. – QB

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Enter Years & Years’ fantastical, unapologetically sensual world with new single, ‘Crave’. It’s taken from the upcoming album, ‘Night Call’, which marks Years & Years’ first as the solo project of Olly Alexander, since the departure of founding members Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen in March this year. Offering pulsating synths and Alexander’s signature haunting falsettos, this club-ready banger is a daring and exciting preview into his futuristic new era. – QB

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