NME Radio Roundup 2 November 2020: Gorillaz, Hot Chip, The Avalanches and more

Awash with quirky new wave synths and Auto-Tune, ‘Chalk Tablet Towers’ is a fun, if sometimes melancholy, tune about wanting to get high. It’s co-written by and features vocal from St. Vincent, who is just one of many guest artists on Gorillaz’s new album, ‘Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez’.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

While it’s currently not possible to dance the night away at a club, listening to Hot Chip’s euphoric new single ‘Straight To The Morning’ is a good substitute. The disco anthem, which was originally written with Dua Lipa in mind, features vocals from none other than Jarvis Cocker, as well as Hot Chip’s own Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

The title track from boy pablo’s debut album, ‘wachito rico’, is also the most immediate of the collection, with its slick beats and groovy disco hook. The energetic tune, sung in both English and Spanish, is a musical side-step from the recent NME cover star’s viral hit ‘Everytime’, but thankfully it’s just as catchy.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

When they’re not being punk musicians, Australian group These New South Whales make comedy on TV – but new single ‘Broken System’ is no laughing matter. The track (which previews their third studio album, out next year) hits out at those silent in the face of dehumanising societal structures, from white supremacy to capitalism.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Here’s a taste of SG Lewis’ long-awaited debut album, ‘Times’, which is due out early next year. ‘Feed The Fire’, featuring R&B singer Lucky Daye, is another euphoric floor-filler from the future disco producer – bring on the rest of the album!

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar flip The Jackson 5’s ‘I’ll Be There’ on ‘Look Over Your Shoulder’, a cut from Busta’s first studio album in eight years, ‘Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God’. The duo spit fierce verses over an old-school beat, accompanied by slowed-down samples of Michael Jackson’s vocals.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

The Avalanches have added Leon Bridges to the ever-growing line-up of collaborators for their upcoming album, ‘We Will Always Love You’. Their atmospheric new song ‘Interstellar Love’, which also features a sample of Alan Parsons Project’s ‘Eye In The Sky’, follows tracks such as ‘Reflecting Light’ (with Jamie xx), ‘Wherever You Go’ (Neneh Cherry), ‘Running Red Lights’ (Rivers Cuomo and Pink Siifu) and the title track with Blood Orange.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

It’s been a few years since Liss’ breakthrough single ‘Try’, and now the Danish band are back, and this time they’ve brought their dancing shoes. ‘Leave Me on The Floor’ leans into 2020’s nu-disco revival, with vocalist Søren Holm explaining: “I was thinking about how you can have your first meeting on a dancefloor but also your last goodbye.”

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

On ‘B***K’, Pa Salieu delivers a powerful anthem about pride and identity. The British-Gambian artist takes aim at institutional racism – “I am fed up, they treat me like I’m nobody / Tomorrow, if I’m dead up, they say I’m in a gang” – and stands proud in his heritage.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

In our August review, NME singled out ‘Vanilla’ by Holly Humberstone, from her debut EP ‘Falling Asleep At the Wheel’, as an encapsulation of her “honesty and refreshing candour”. The songwriter is hugely relatable – singing about checking symptoms on WebMD (we’ve all been there) – and pithy in a timeless manner: “We’re perfectly comfortable in the worst way” is the most Swiftian lyric not written by someone named Taylor this year.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Even with the overexposure of social media, some musicians manage to keep their mystery. Hot on the heels of Slingbaum and SAULT, Stranded is 2020’s latest enigmatic artist who’d much rather keep their identity to themselves. All we know is that the producer hails from Atlanta, and takes inspiration from post-punk, new wave, Detroit techno, New York disco, house music and much more. And when you make music as alluring as ‘Post Meridian’, the title track of their upcoming EP, biography isn’t all that important after all.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music