Guess who’s back? No, this isn’t about the snow crippling the campus or the syllabus you’re probably not reading. Push Play Monday has returned to grace your ears with all the music they’ve been missing. Over winter break, loads of new artists made very shadowed debuts, and announcements for future work by some of the industry’s favorites made their way to the Internet. So far, 2016 is looking to be a great year. While we wait on that, enjoy this recap of tunes you might have missed while out on winter break, wishing snow weren’t a thing.
1) “Reaper” by Sia
Sia originally wrote this song, like many of her others, for another artist — in this case, Rihanna, whom she also gave the hit “Diamonds.” When Rihanna passed on it, Sia teamed up with her friend Kanye West to co-write and co-produce the track as her own. The pair has worked before on “Wolves,” to be released on WAVES, Kanye’s forthcoming album. This single dropped to build some hype for Sia’s next album This Is Acting, which will (finally) come out Friday.
2) “Ocean Eyes (Blackbear Remix)” by Billie Eilish
Listen to this song. Then come back to me. Now, I want you to consider this: This girl is 13 years old. Yes, 13. This actual child wrote these chilling lyrics: “Burning cities/ and napalm skies/ Fifteen flares/ inside those ocean eyes.” What’s crazier? Her 18-year-old brother Finneas O’Connell (a singer-guitarist and Alistair on Glee) produced the song for her. Talk about talented youth. And now the song has two very popular remixes — a great one by Astronomyy, as well as this even better number with Blackbear.
3) “Love Somebody” by St. Lucia
South African synthpop musician Jean-Philip Grobler is releasing his much-anticipated sophomore studio album, Matter, on Friday. Once a member of a boys’ choir, he now has collaborative remixes with the likes of Passion Pit, Charli XCX and Foster The People under his belt. Keep an eye out for his next album.
4) “All The Ways” by Wet
Wet is a trio comprising Kelly Zutrau, Joe Valle and Marty Sulkow, who met back in 2007 while attending college in New York. In 2012, they began recording music together, releasing tracks such as “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl” to a growing audience on Bandcamp and SoundCloud. This track comes as a precursor to their first studio album, set to release Friday, with which Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly helped them out.
5) “Not About Dying” by Prom
Ella Zoller and Gabriel Stanley met at a Miniature Tigers gig a few years ago, when Prom was just Zoller’s solo act. The two exchanged info and later sent back and forth a few tracks on which Zoller sang and Stanley played the electronic pop instrumentals. They became a band essentially overnight and now have a rapidly growing and attention-worthy online presence.
6) “The Buzz (Sweater Beats Remix)” by Hermitude feat. Mataya and Young Tapz
The original version of this Hermitude track came out in early 2015. Then the duo released four remixed versions in the first weeks of 2016, including this incredibly intricate creation by Sweater Beats. Having toured with the likes of Chet Faker and Flume, he knows exactly how to make a crowd-pleasing track like this one.
7) “The Dreamer” by Anderson .Paak feat. Talib Kweli and Timan Family Choir
Anderson .Paak has been on every music blog’s “Ones to Watch” list since he dropped Venice back in 2014. He was then featured on about half of the tracks on Dr. Dre’s Compton the following year, pushing him straight onto everyone’s playlists. His sophomore album, Malibu, features artists such as ScHoolBoy Q, The Game and BJ The Chicago Kid, with production features by Kaytranada, Hi-Tek and The Free Nationals, Paak’s band. His sound is like no one else’s, so do yourself a favor and give his album a listen.
8) “Hallucinations” by dvsn
Who is dvsn? The entire industry is wondering the same thing. Many believe him to be the same person as OVO producer Nineteen85, who has been credited on some of Drake’s biggest hits, including “Hold On, We’re Going Home” and “Hotline Bling,” after he played dvsn’s track “The Line” on OVO Sound Radio.
However, the vocal range seems too high for Nineteen85, leading others to believe he is either a duo with dvsn or simply helping him with his music. With a completely blank online profile (including no photos, names or even featured artists on his work), dvsn’s identity remains completely up in the air in true OVO style. Keep a lookout for his rumored debut album later this year.
9) “Run” by Tiggs Da Author feat. Lady Leshurr
This track features the lively vocals of Tanzaniansinger Tiggs Da Author and Lady Leshurr, a British rapper who became famous for her series of Queen’s Speech freestyles, which she released in five installments to incredible acclaim. The song was produced by Show N Prove, a Scottish producer who helped create Leshurr’s fifth and most popular freestyle.
10) “Get You Alone” by Kyle Dion
Kyle Dion was thrown pretty quickly into the limelight when he was featured on Kehlani’s Cloud 19 mixtape, which now has millions of plays on SoundCloud. He followed that up with his own debut Sixes And Sevens more than a year ago. Now he’s back with his Painting Sounds EP, a short and sweet collection of eight wonderfully produced tracks sure to bring him the recognition he deserves in 2016.
11) “I’m In Control” by AlunaGeorge feat. Popcaan
Aluna Francis and George Reid have finally scheduled their long-awaited sophomore album after signing with Interscope Records last summer. This track’s featured artist, Popcaan, made waves on Jamie xx’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times),” which landed on many year-end lists in 2015. The duo’s next album is said to feature production by Zhu and Flume. If this song is any indication of how the new album is meant to sound, it’s going to a beauty of a collection.
This is just a small taste of what went down in the music industry while we were all (hopefully) asleep. I’ll be back next week to with a new set of tracks to get you pumped for this year in music.