NME Radio Roundup 22 November 2021: Rosalía, The Weeknd, Fred again.., Mitski and more

Next year, Rosalía returns with ‘Motomami’, the highly anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed album ‘El Mal Querer’. The first taste from this record is ‘LA FAMA’, featuring The Weeknd – with whom Rosalía had previously collaborated on a sultry remix of his global megahit ‘Blinding Lights’. This single is “a bachata with a little story around ambition,” the singer has said in a statement, which was inspired by “the lyrics of Rubén Blades or Patti Smith and the songs of Aventura.” – Karen Gwee

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In April, Fred again.. dropped his debut album ‘Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020)’ , which served as his personal chronicle of the last eight months of the first cursed pandemic year. And last week, the producer followed up with another eight-month portrait, ‘Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021)’. Its transportive lead single, ‘Faisal (Envelope Me)’, is anchored by a sample of singer/poet FACESOUL, and joins the NME Radio A List this week. – KG

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Welcome to ‘Laurel Hell’. The second single from Mitski’s upcoming sixth studio album is the upbeat, ’80s-influenced anthem ‘The Only Heartbreaker’, full of luminous synths Springsteen would love and characteristically cutting lyrics from Mitski Miyawaki about a relationship that she’s single-handedly sinking. “I’ll be the water main that’s burst and flooding / You’ll be by the window only watching,” she sings forlornly. – KG

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Earlier this year, BERWYN made history as the only artist to ever have had a mixtape nominated for the Mercury Prize. Now, the Trinidadian-born, Romford-raised rapper is readying his second tape, ‘TAPE2/FOMALHAUT’, led by the haunting single ‘MIA’. This heartfelt song is a “dedication to all the missing pieces that aren’t here anymore”, BERWYN has said. “It’s a time to think and to honor the people that aren’t with us now…and to acknowledge the fact that there is still a lot of violence outside.” – KG

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Ibeyi are back. Four years after the singular, striking album ‘Ash’, the Diaz sisters have returned with ‘Made Of Gold’, a deeply spiritual song featuring rising star Pa Salieu. “‘Made of Gold’ is about connecting to our ancestors’ knowledge, to the truths of the past and the power of the ancient. The line is not broken, nor is it lost,” Lisa-Kaindé Diaz said in a statement. Ibeyi’s third album, due out 2022, “will see us conveying our reconnection to that power and channeling that magic into our new music.” – KG

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Annie Hamilton’s new single ‘Electric Night’ is a giddy rush. The Australian singer-songwriter marshals shoegaze textures, thrumming guitars and delirious lyrical repetition to great effect on this song, which should sound like a downright revelation live in concert. – KG

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Baby Queen’s single ‘Wannabe’ is a song about owning your personality, preferences and selfhood – even if wider society deems you a loser. “I guess I’ll always be a wannabe, baby / Making art, pop music about the drugs I’m using,” Baby Queen smirks on the chorus, before extending an inviting hand to the listener: “If you want to be a wannabe, baby / Then set yourself free and you can be a loser like me.” Throw your hands up for this Y2k underdog anthem. – KG

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English Teacher are a four-piece who play – as their Spotify bio puts it – “post-art-indie-definitely-not-punk”. The Leeds band certainly have a more playful appeal than the intense, po-faced post-punk outfits around these days – just listen to ‘Good Grief’, which “follows the love story of Track and Trace as they navigate their relationship through 2020. It’s about the virtual dates, the TikTok dances, the Karens in supermarkets and the obscene levels of potentially avoidable suffering, once again, orchestrated by those at the top.” – KG

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London-based Australian rockers Gang Of Youths are gearing up for a massive 2022 with the release of their new album ‘angel in realtime’. The record is in part about frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father, whom the vocalist has described as a “a gifted and passionate gardener”. This latest single ‘Tend The Garden’, filled with plinking keys, swooning saxophone and Le’aupepe’s signature heart-on-sleeve lyrics, is “the most poetic interpretation of his affinity for gardening that I could think of”. – KG

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West London band Babeheaven’s ‘The Hours’ is a song to get lost in as you contemplate the big things in life. Vocalist Nancy Andersen has said that the song is about being small in the face of the vast, vast world; loneliness but also a comfort in knowing you’re not the only person feeling that way. “On and on, the ordinary / The days go by but I stay right here / On and on, the ordinary / Days go by, we’re clearly not alone,” she sings. – KG

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