The industry has shifted back to a singles market from its LP-ruling heyday. Even more so now that Covid-19 has ground the world to a standstill. Artists are left with whatever they had recorded before lockdown, often short of a full album. They also have an audience that is more captive than usual, clamouring for new media to fill the void of day after day sheltering-in-place. This means a lot of new one-offs. So, let's see who's releasing new music with depth in our SINGLES ROUNDUP.
For three years we've missed the sabre-toothed tiger growl of former Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato. The snarling singer was the mouthpiece for the band who for the better part of two decades were the gold standard of blistering metalcore. Witnessing a Dillinger show is unlike anything else. It's a front-row seat to a jet engine. The assault of machine-gun riffs, persistent strobe lights, and Puciato's skin-splitting scream leaves you with the impression that the whole world has been "turned down" when you stagger out of the sweltering venue.
With the help of a rotating cast of drummers, Puciato has forged a fiery followup to his beloved retired project. Without the incomprehensible genius of mastermind guitarist Ben Weinman at the helm, the new music might not have the mind-pretzel insanity of complex polyrhythms and bizarre time signatures that were a hallmark of the Escape Plan. Nevertheless, 'Fire For Water' captures the earth-shattering power of a good old Dillinger Escape Plan breakdown. There are a litany of screaming voices in the pantheon of heavy music but there are few that can embody the fury and rage at injustice like Puciato can.
Brutus waste no time, cutting right to the firework display. Guitars fire off with cascading pull-offs, sending the rockets off. Mulders hits the melodic accents while Mannaerts sets an intractable beat with her obstinate snare. Her voice treads that line between faery and fury, an impassioned plea for equity and justice in a relationship.
In a way, Damon Alburn's side-turned-main project Gorillaz has defined the new millennium. Countless acts have sought to bridge the gap between rap and rock but you could argue that none have done it as smoothly and successfully. The first waves of this attempted fusion had the genres meeting at their most hyped and brazen point. Instead, Gorillaz found a low-key, subversive way to dig into our psyche.
O'Brien has put out several singles ahead of today's album release, the last of which was 'Cloak of the Night'. The track will serve as a delicate, understated conclusion to the Earth album which features folk singer Laura Marling duetting with O'Brien. The ambling fingerpicked guitar can trace its roots directly to the White Album, conjuring up the memory of 'Dear Prudence', 'Julia', and 'Mother Nature's Son'. Marling and O'Brien glide like two birds caught on the same updraft. At a brief two and a half minutes, the track is a slice of a moment in time rather than a full statement. Gone with the wind.