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12 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. (Read our music critic Lindsay Zoladz’s review of Madonna’s Rebel Heart.)

Disasterpiece, “Detroit”
Disasterpeace’s eerie soundtrack for David Robert Mitchell’s screamer It Follows not only borrows from horror forefather John Carpenter, but (dare I say?) improves on the form. It’s pulp meets synth-pop. —Lindsey Weber (@LindseyWeber)

Empire Cast, “Conqueror (featuring Estelle and Jussie Smollett)”
I realize I’m in the minority here, but for me, “Conqueror” is the first truly good song that’s appeared on Fox’s Empire. (Don’t even get me started on “The Family Song.”) And it actually belongs to Estelle, who appeared as Delphine on the show, singing “Conqueror” (off her new album) with Jamal Lyon. Promo props to you, Estelle. —LW

Freddie Gibbs, “Pronto”
If it weren’t for Run the Jewels, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Piñata would’ve been the best rap album of 2014 (and, in some circles, that’s exactly where it stands). Now he’s blessed us all again with a surprise free three-track EP, Pronto, that has him channeling Tupac on the title track in more than just the lyrical references. —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)

Grimes, “REALiTi”
Confession: I was really starting to worry about the next Grimes album. With every new delay or report of scrapped material, it was starting to feel more and more like the follow-up to 2012’s phenomenal Visions (a) might never see the light of day or (b) could never live up to the ever-mounting hype. Which is to say that this gorgeous and prismatic new song, “REALiTi,” is basically a giant sonic PHEW. It’s as immediately lovable as anything on Visions, and if the reports are true that this track didn’t even make the next album, the ones that did must be amazing.—Lindsay Zoladz (@LindsayZoladz)

Heems featuring Dev Hynes, “Home”
I can’t think of a better album description than this: “Post-9/11 dystopian brown man rap.” It’s an accurate reflection of some of the politically eviscerating tracks on the superb debut solo album from Heems — formerly known as one third of Das Racist — but only tells half the story. If you take a deep-dive into Eat Pray Thug (which you absolutely should), you’ll find, beneath all that boiling-over anger, a beautiful breakup album, which is at its best on the introspective Dev Hynes–assisted rap-sung ballad “Home.” —DL

Hop Along, “Waitress”
I hate when people throw around this kind of praise lightly, so please know that I am not throwing this praise around lightly: I have never heard a voice quite like Frances Quinlan’s. She is the charismatic lead singer of the Philly band Hop Along. I just sat here for ten minutes trying to think of a voice even a little bit like hers and FAILED. Something about it is violently sweet, like a bite of cake so sugary that it actually causes you physical pain. Her delivery is ecstatically wide-eyed and her tone is gravelly, like a chain-smoking toddler who is about to punch you in the mouth. In case you couldn’t tell, every single one of those things was a compliment.LZ

Jay Electronica featuring Jay Z, “Road to Perdition”
Is Jay Electronica rap’s greatest troll? I’d say so. Here he is appearing out of the blue with a not-so-new song that doesn’t really feature his boss, Jay Z (what you’re hearing are previously used ad-libs). And, yet, like everything else Jay Elec’s ever done, it’s a lyrical master class that might make you hate him even more for being such a unicorn. Best line: “My swag is on 1.21 gigawatts, 10 trillion kilowatts.” —DL

Kero Kero Bonito, “Picture This”
What does it really feel like to take a selfie? Kero Kero Bonito knows. “Pics are all I need to show everyone what I’ve done / who I want to be,” lead singer Sarah Bonito sings, celebrating (or perhaps mocking, if you see it that way) our obsession with capturing a moment on film. #nofilter —LW

Jamie Lidell, “Believe in Me”
Lidell came back with a vengeance last week with his Big Data collab “Clean.” This new solo effort is more stripped-down than that, but just as emotionally raw. —Marcus Jones (@MarcusJonesNY)

Laura Marling, “I Feel Your Love”
I always seem to forget about folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling until she reemerges like a brick through a window. “I Feel Your Love,” the latest from her upcoming fifth album, isn’t what you think. Its title suggests some kind of romantic ballad, but that’s hardly what she’s gunning for. It’s more like Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” — a kiss on the cheek before she slits her lover’s throat in their sleep. —DL

Maroon 5 “Sugar” Remix featuring Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj has actually done the impossible: She’s made a post–Songs About Jane Maroon 5 song … bearable. All this track needs is to be mixed with Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) to reach peak saccharine Top 40 (you can totally hear that too, right?). —Brooke Marine (@brkmrn)

Shura, “2Shy”
It will be a travesty if this song is not blasting in the next scene where the shy introvert triumphantly dances with the popular kid at a high-school formal. —MJ

Maroon 5, “Sugar” Remix feat. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj has actually done the impossible: she’s made a post-Songs About Jane Maroon 5 song … bearable. All this track needs is to be mixed with Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” to reach peak saccharine top 40 (you can totally hear that too, right?). —Brooke Marine (@brkmrn)

Freddie Gibbs, “Pronto”
If it weren’t for Run the Jewels, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Piñata would’ve been the best rap album of 2014 (and, in some circles, that’s exactly where it stands). Now he’s blessed us all again with a surprise free three-track EP, Pronto, that has him channeling Tupac on the title track in more than just the lyrical references. —DL

Best New Music of the Week