Every week Vulture highlights the best new music. If the song is worthy of your ears and attention, you will find it here. Read our picks below, share yours in the comments, and subscribe to the Vulture Playlist for a comprehensive guide to the year’s best music.
Migos, “Supastars”
For all their manifold vocal talents, the Migos, like most contemporary rappers, stand or fall on the strength of their production. So it’s no shock that the real star on “Supastars,” their latest single from the upcoming Culture II, is the beat. Produced by Buddah Bless and Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E., the instrumental on “Supastars” is a thing of beauty — slender, delicate, rapid, and forceful. It’s the sonic equivalent to the sports cars in the video for “MotorSport” (a song whose beat, incidentally, sounds like Christmas music from the future). All Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo have to do is ride along with it. A couple of lines about dedication and exploding heads from Takeoff aside, the lyrics are the usual diamond-encrusted wallpaper, but so what? Lean back into the interior and enjoy the trip. —Frank Guan (@frankophilia)
Hop Along, “How Simple”
Each new Hop Along song reveals more shades of Frances Quinlan’s complicated instrument. I already wrote many words about it, and yet the first time I heard “How Simple,” I felt like writing many more. The first thing everyone notices about Quinlan’s voice is the power, but on “How Simple,” she finds power in restraint, offering the most nuanced recording of her voice to date. And then there’s the band, always moving and shifting and shaking, acting as her perfect foil. Then you get to the end, and you’re singing along and looking up when their new album comes out: April 6. —Jesse David Fox (@JesseDavidFox)
Dashboard Confessional, “Heart Beat Here”
The one question on plenty of Dashboard Confessional fans’ minds concerning their new album is: Will it sound like new or old D.C.? So basically, how acoustic-y will it be? Having heard the album already (it’s their best in years, get excited), I can say that it is a perfect blend of both, but if all you really want are introspective ballads that sound like Chris Carrabba is speaking on behalf of a thousand broken hearts, well, then it doesn’t get better than “Heart Beat Here.” It’s a gorgeous plea for trust, a request to give enough of yourself to a partner with the reassurance that they won’t just take without reciprocating your generosity. That they’ll protect your heart with all they have. Which is to say, this song should not be listened to in public spaces if you’d like to avoid making a weepy scene. —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)
Car Seat Headrest, “Cute Thing”
At first, I thought this song sounded like the Strokes. But now, I think it sounds like if the Libertines were American, which sounds like I’m describing the Strokes, but apparently there’s a difference. –JDF
Troye Sivan, “The Good Side”
“The Good Side” unfurls so beautifully and graciously that it brings a few Elio-in-front-of-that-fireplace tears to my eyes. It’s the opposite of the first (also good) single from Troye Sivan’s next album — “My My My!” is like a firecracker, begging for a club or a dance floor. “The Good Side” is a sparse open letter to Sivan’s ex-boyfriend, mostly to guitar strumming and soft electronics. It’s an apology and a confession, and a moving rumination on healing after a breakup. “I happened to be on the good side of things [after a breakup] — I got to go on tour, I got to go and see the world,” Sivan told Zane Lowe. “It’s sort of a letter to [my ex] to express apologies and sympathy and if I could change this at all, I would’ve.” Cut to me getting in my feelings. —Hunter Harris (@hunteryharris)
Nipsey Hussle ft. YG, “Last Time That I Checc’d”
Nipsey Hussle and YG cross set lines on “Last Time That I Checc’d,” the latest release from Nipsey’s upcoming album, Victory Lap. Over a slapping West Coast beat (complete with a G-funk worthy bass line), YG and Nipsey rap about making money, black business ownership, and independence from record labels. (Nipsey Hussle has owned his own label since 2010, and YG launched 4Hunnid Records.) In the video, YG and Nipsey, who have both been vocal about their gang affiliations, swap colors and clothing in front of two brand-new Lamborghinis, and Nipsey glides through the streets of Los Angeles, braids and chains blowing in the wind. It may not be revolutionary, and there may not be many shirts, but they’re definitely doing something right. —Corinna Burford (@coriburford)
Camp Cope, “How to Socialise & Make Friends”
I think lyrics are weird. It’s one of the weirdest things we do as a species. Here are words that mean something more if I say them as a D-sharp? Very weird. And sometimes they’re true and you’re overwhelmed by the amount of emotion you’re asked to digest. As a result, it’ll take me like a year of liking a song before I listen for or think about what the singer is saying. Instead, I just base it on if it sounds like the singer really cares about whatever the song’s about. People seem to think Camp Cope’s lyrics are good, which isn’t a surprise to me, as they’re sung as if they are. —JDF
