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11 Best New Songs of the Week

Every week, members of the Vulture staff will highlight their favorite new songs. They might be loud, quiet, long, short, dance-y, rawkin’, hip, square, rap, punk, jazz, some sort of jazz-punk-rap fusion — whatever works for the given person in that given week. Read our picks below and please tell us yours in the comments. (Also, read our music critic Lindsay Zoladz’s review of Thom Yorke’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes.) Enjoy! 

Elliphant featuring Mø, “One More”
By now it’s old hat to note that good music is coming from Scandinavia. But it is. And beyond Dr. Luke and his crew of pop-music hit-makers, there’s a whole other (Scandinavian) world out there. On “One More,” Elliphant (Sweden) and MØ (Denmark) pair up, layering their voices on top of an ambient hum and deep bass. This something to save for those deep winter months. —Lindsey Weber (@LindseyWeber)

Female featuring Calvin Harris, “Only You”
Here’s an interesting one courtesy of the Australian beat wizard Female. It has a slow, ethereal Calvin Harris feature that also includes singer Ayah Marar. Female refixed (switched out the vocals) the haunting track from his “Only You.” —Sean Fitz-Gerald (@srkfitzgerald)

Iceage, “How Many”
Shambolic is the word I looked up the spelling of when I first heard this song. It’s a well-made, raucous mess of post-punk drums, guitars, and piano. Intentional and chaotic, it’ll make you want to break something really nice. —Jesse David Fox (@JesseDavidFox)

Jack Ü featuring Kiesza, “Take Ü There”
With the production combo of Diplo and Skrillex, it’s a given that this is a banger. However, people do not give Kiesza enough credit for how great of a dance-music throwback she is. She is likely this decade’s Martha Wash, which is more of a compliment than it sounds. —Marcus Jones (@MJinMD)

Joey Bada$$, “Christ Concious”
Speaking of Kiesza and throwbacks, she will be making an appearance on Joey’s #B4DAMONEY album. Joey Bada$$’s crew PRO ERA too often stands in the shadow of Black Hippy, but he definitely has the lyrics and presence to change that. Also, points for a Dragon Ball Z reference.  —MJ

Lorde, “Yellow Flicker Beat”
Poised beyond her years and goth at heart, Lorde is basically the musical equivalent of Katniss Everdeen, which means that whoever asked her to curate the soundtrack to the upcoming Mockingjay: Part 1 is a genius. The full track list has yet to be announced, but yesterday she shared her contribution, the intensely moody, poetically titled “Yellow Flicker Beat.” It’s definitely her darkest single to date, which is fitting for a dystopian film about teens who are forced to kill each other for sport. May the odds be ever in Lorde’s favor. – Lindsay Zoladz (@LindsayZoladz

One Direction, “Steal My Girl”
Here’s the One Direction playbook: Take a classic-rock hit, change the riff just enough to evade plagiarism charges, then pop in Harry, Zayn, Niall, Liam, and Louis on top. “Steal My Girl” pulls this move on Journey’s “Faithfully” so shamelessly that you can’t even be mad. Better to think of it as the sound of a drunken pub karaoke session. No one knows the words, but that can’t stop you from singing along. — Nate Jones (@kn8)

Prince, “This Could Be Us”
Yes, Prince recorded a song inspired by an internet meme, which is the sort of gimmick that will make you want to either play it a million times or turn it off immediately. We recommend you do the former, as this nonsensically seductive sex jam is one of the highlights of Prince’s new Art Official Age, which came out today. — NJ

Stars, “No One Is Lost”
“Put your hands up because everybody dies,” is maybe my favorite lyric, period, full stop. It’s just a perfect sentiment for such a fun (possibly ironically so) pop song. It’s almost like at some point, every indie band realized their best bet would be to make songs that would sound great scoring a trailer for a new season of Girls. —JDF

TV on the Radio, “Happy Idiot”
The video stars Paul Reubens because TVOTR lead singer Tunde Adebimpe had the idea of Reubens playing a race-car driver and slowly going crazy and everyone agreed it was a wonderful idea. That is all besides the point, however, because this song is so fudging good. It sounds like such a TV on the Radio song, which is a great thing for a song to sound like. Especially, when the angular lead guitar comes at end, and you think, How lucky am I to get to live in the time of this song? —JDF

Yelle, “Complètement fou” 
“Complètement fou” is the title track off of the French pop band’s third album, which comes out today, and it’s a lot more focused and stripped down than, say, the unbridled joy of “A Cause des Garcons”. It signals a slightly more laid-back (mature?) vibe. By the way, “Complètement fou” means “Completely mad,” but if you don’t want to make up gobbledygook for the rest of the song, you can download their translation app. —E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung)

Best New Music of the Week