Earlier this month Harry Styles made his long awaited return with ‘As It Was’. The track, which combines contemplative lyrics with indie-flecked instrumentals, got the five-star treatment here at NME, hailed as a tune that’ll: “cement the star’s position as one of the current pop landscapes’ greats”. We’ve added the first taste of Styles’ upcoming album ‘Harry’s House’ to the NME Radio A List this week.
Elsewhere, Wet Leg serve a sneering kiss-off to an ex and Liam Gallagher welcomes peace, joy and love; and we’ve got Dave Bayley of Glass Animals remixing Florence + the Machine, Vince Staples’ stellar storytelling and the statement-making new single from Maggie Rogers.
Here’s everything we’ve added to NME 1 and 2 this week.
On the A List:
Harry Styles
‘As It Was’
The luminous, reflective lead single of Harry Styles’ third solo album ‘As It Was’ is a journey. As NME’s Rhian Daly has noted: “It takes us from the depths of despair and self-medication (‘Harry, you’re no good alone / Why are you sitting at home on the floor? / What kind of pills are you on?’) to embark on new beginnings, even if they are ones still accompanied by the peaks and troughs of life.” – Karen Gwee
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the B List:
Wet Leg
‘Ur Mum’
Wet Leg’s self-titled debut album is, as we said in our five-star review: “an instant classic debut that justifies the hype”; and killer new single ‘Ur Mum’ is no exception. On the breakup anthem, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers dole out burn after burn: “When I think about what you’ve become / I feel sorry for your mum… You said that you tried your best / Why’s this such a fucking mess?” They’re not mad, just disappointed. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Liam Gallagher
‘C’mon You Know’
Liam Gallagher’s latest is primed for mighty stadium singalongs. Clap along to ‘C’mon You Know’, the title track of his new album out next month and a song that revels in love, freedom and joy. Liam’s called it “the sound of the summer” – and he might well be right. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Foals
‘Looking High’
Yannis Philippakis indulges nostalgia on new Foals single ‘Looking High’, which he’s said “is looking back to a more hedonistic time in my life, and a more innocent time in society in general, pre-pandemic and before the existential threat of climate change” – an era we all wish we could return to. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Florence + the Machine
‘My Love – Dave Glass Animals Remix’
Florence Welch has said that the single ‘My Love’, from the new Florence + the Machine album ‘Dance Fever’, started as a “sad little poem” in her kitchen, before she turned it into a floor-filler she compared to “Nick Cave at the club”. Dave Bayley of Glass Animals pushes it further into that territory with this banging remix. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the C List:
Red Hot Chili Peppers
‘These Are The Ways’
‘These Are The Ways’ is the second single from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album ‘Unlimited Love’, which marks the momentous return of John Frusciante to the Chili Peppers fold. This song surveys the state of America, issuing pleas to politicians (“Please step down from your bully machine”) and knowing statements of intent (“I just want to thrive and there’s gonna be hystеria”). – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Maggie Rogers
‘That’s Where I Am’
This July, Maggie Rogers returns with her second album ‘Surrender’. “This is the story of what happened when I finally gave in,” she’s said of the record in a new trailer. “When I finally let go, hoping it would break the numbness, shock me back in. I found peace in distortion. A chaos I could control.” Radiant single ‘That’s Where I Am’ finds Rogers exploring that distortion, marshalling it to her own will. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Vince Staples
‘Rose Street’
Less than a year after dropping his self-titled album, Vince Staples is back with ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’. On ‘Rose Street’, the rapper tells a fraught tale of romance, his talent for devastating bars still undeniable: “I’m married to the money, don’t be playing games / Only bringing flowers to the homie’s grave.” – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
‘My Echo’
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever work through lockdown loneliness on new single ‘My Echo’, processing isolation-fuelled social media deep dives in their characteristically oblique lyrical style: “I keep my hearing as I pass through / Community of silence / Community of sorrow.” It’s the latest single from the Melbourne rock band’s upcoming album ‘Endless Rooms’. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Runkus x Toddla T x Ky-Mani Marley
‘Goodlove’
Soak in the good energy of ‘Goodlove’, the new single from Runkus and Toddla T’s collaborative album ‘OUT:SIDE’. Ky-Mani Marley joins in the fun on this track, which Runkus says dwells in “a place of simplicity and hardcore dub and vibes”. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Wallice
‘90s American Superstar’
Dirty Hit artist Wallice’s upcoming EP ‘90s American Superstar’ is a concept record about a fictional celebrity idol experiencing a dizzying rise and fall. Its title track finds her at the height of her fame – but in a state of resentment towards her partner, and it’s excellent. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
The post NME Radio Roundup 11 April 2022: Harry Styles, Wet Leg, Liam Gallagher and more appeared first on NME.
