Friday Music Drops, 06/19/26
Introducing a new series of posts that I'll likely abandon after just this second entry: it's Friday Music Drops! The idea is that every Friday I will listen to the handful of new release songs my Spotify account recommends to me based on my previous listens and write my quick, off the cuff thoughts on each, without really doing any research, so that these posts are as pure as possible. Here we go!
Feiner & Rask -- "Midsummer Song"
At first sight, I had no idea what this was. As soon as Thomas Feiner's deep voice came through, I remembered an instance about four months ago, where I listened to this Swede's strange, 80s/90s dark indie rock music all day, the only day that I had ever listened to him before now. I only got into Feiner that day because of a Nick Cave cover, and for some reason could not get enough of his music for a few hours, but then never listened to it again...again, until now. I don't know who Johan Ludvig Rask is, I'm assuming some instrumentalist. "Midsummer Song" has a dark, vaguely pagan feel, an atmospheric song about being in nature at night in the summer, and I like its dark, vaguely menacing tone, Feiner's rich singing, and the song's interesting melodic choices quite a bit, though I wish there was a live percussionist adding to the song, instead of what just feels like a generic electronic bass drum.
Florence Road -- "Hanging Out to Dry"
Florence Road are an Irish rock band composed of girls fresh out of high school, who released a very good EP, Spring Forward, earlier this year. It's tough to totally throw off any Cranberries comparisons, given country of origin, but the singer has a more conventional (though not generic) voice than Delores O'Riordan (R.I.P.!). Spring Forward is a very dynamic E.P., showing off the band's burgeoning, yet talented songwriting, and "Hanging Out to Dry," an upbeat, yet brooding song that builds to a pretty stunning vocal climax, is its first track. Looks like the band have released the songs as a standalone single today, along with a vocal's only version, a live version, and an instrumental version. "Hanging Out to Dry" is a great song, and you should give the EP a shot, especially if you're hopeless about the state of modern music.
DeVotchKa -- "Til The End of Time - 20th Anniversary Edition"
I recently rewatched 2006's Little Miss Sunshine for its 20th anniversary, for the first time in almost that long, expecting to hate it this time and feel it a twee mess. I absolutely loved it and went on a bender with its soundtrack for almost a full week, which explains this song's presence. DeVotchKa (along with composer, Mychael Danna), composed the soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine, in which "Til the End of Time" appears. I don't know if this "20th Anniversary Edition" is anything different from the original other than a little remastering, but it is still a great song, with that great whistle melody, rolling drums and southwest flavor the band were known for in their heyday (featuring horns, strings, and maybe an accordion and upright bass too!).
Daedric -- "Sand Tiger (Acoustic)
Here's some irony: almost every song on the drop last week was metal in some way, and this week, the only thing metal-related is this acoustic version of a metal song. Daedric are a female-fronted metal band, where she sings and screams, and her bandmates wear masks. Daedric definitely have that modern metal thing going on where their sound is crammed full of electronics. I thought their album from last year, As the Light Left, was just okay, featuring some poor songs, and some really, really good ones, but that it's second track, "Sand Tiger," fell firmly in the middle of that "just okay" category. This acoustic version doesn't really do anything to improve upon it. It is a just okay song, regardless of the format.
Feiner & Rask -- "Midsummer Song"
At first sight, I had no idea what this was. As soon as Thomas Feiner's deep voice came through, I remembered an instance about four months ago, where I listened to this Swede's strange, 80s/90s dark indie rock music all day, the only day that I had ever listened to him before now. I only got into Feiner that day because of a Nick Cave cover, and for some reason could not get enough of his music for a few hours, but then never listened to it again...again, until now. I don't know who Johan Ludvig Rask is, I'm assuming some instrumentalist. "Midsummer Song" has a dark, vaguely pagan feel, an atmospheric song about being in nature at night in the summer, and I like its dark, vaguely menacing tone, Feiner's rich singing, and the song's interesting melodic choices quite a bit, though I wish there was a live percussionist adding to the song, instead of what just feels like a generic electronic bass drum.
Florence Road -- "Hanging Out to Dry"
Florence Road are an Irish rock band composed of girls fresh out of high school, who released a very good EP, Spring Forward, earlier this year. It's tough to totally throw off any Cranberries comparisons, given country of origin, but the singer has a more conventional (though not generic) voice than Delores O'Riordan (R.I.P.!). Spring Forward is a very dynamic E.P., showing off the band's burgeoning, yet talented songwriting, and "Hanging Out to Dry," an upbeat, yet brooding song that builds to a pretty stunning vocal climax, is its first track. Looks like the band have released the songs as a standalone single today, along with a vocal's only version, a live version, and an instrumental version. "Hanging Out to Dry" is a great song, and you should give the EP a shot, especially if you're hopeless about the state of modern music.
DeVotchKa -- "Til The End of Time - 20th Anniversary Edition"
I recently rewatched 2006's Little Miss Sunshine for its 20th anniversary, for the first time in almost that long, expecting to hate it this time and feel it a twee mess. I absolutely loved it and went on a bender with its soundtrack for almost a full week, which explains this song's presence. DeVotchKa (along with composer, Mychael Danna), composed the soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine, in which "Til the End of Time" appears. I don't know if this "20th Anniversary Edition" is anything different from the original other than a little remastering, but it is still a great song, with that great whistle melody, rolling drums and southwest flavor the band were known for in their heyday (featuring horns, strings, and maybe an accordion and upright bass too!).
Daedric -- "Sand Tiger (Acoustic)
Here's some irony: almost every song on the drop last week was metal in some way, and this week, the only thing metal-related is this acoustic version of a metal song. Daedric are a female-fronted metal band, where she sings and screams, and her bandmates wear masks. Daedric definitely have that modern metal thing going on where their sound is crammed full of electronics. I thought their album from last year, As the Light Left, was just okay, featuring some poor songs, and some really, really good ones, but that it's second track, "Sand Tiger," fell firmly in the middle of that "just okay" category. This acoustic version doesn't really do anything to improve upon it. It is a just okay song, regardless of the format.
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