Leading the additions to NME Radio this week is ‘Too Late Now’, the new single from Wet Leg. The shit-hot duo from the Isle of Wight will be having a massive 2022 as they launch their debut album in April and thrill audiences in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. It’s a packed schedule, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll be having tons of fun along the way.
“We agreed on the premise of our band there and then: as long as you’re having fun, then everything will be alright,” singer Rhian Teasdale told NME in September. “And we’ve told ourselves that we’ll stick to that, always.”
Besides Wet Leg, we’ve also added fresh tracks from Kali Uchis, Bloc Party, Denise Chaila, Courtney Barnett and more. Check out what’s new on NME 1 & 2 below.
On the A List
Wet Leg
‘Too Late Now’
‘Too Late Now’ – one of two new singles from Wet Leg – starts out uncharacteristically slow and dreamy for the duo who shot into the upper echelons of indie with a wry, repetitive earworm about a sofa. But the distorted guitar textures of ‘Too Late Now’ only show there’s more to Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers than first meets the ear. Expect more surprises from Wet Leg on their self-titled album out on Domino in April. – Karen Gwee
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the B List
Nia Archives
‘18 & Over’
Nia Archives’ new single ‘18 & Over’ develops in a tantalising way: looping drum breaks usher in crystalline keys and vocal samples of one of her favourite reggae songs, ‘Young Lover’ by Cocoa Tea. Then a different voice joins, this one calling for “a motherfucking breakbeat”, and Nia Archives gleefully complies.. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Courtney Barnett
‘If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight’
Here’s something that’s difficult to unhear: the hook of ‘If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight’. On it Courtney Barnett – NME Australia’s latest cover star – sounds a lot like The White Stripes on ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’. Both songs circle the subject of an innocent bond; a slow-blooming love. Barnett’s, taken from her third album ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ is a love song from one introvert to another. “If loving you is a crime / Then gimme those front page headlines / Across the country and worldwide / Singing, I won’t give up this time,” she declares. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Kali Uchis & Ozuna
‘Another Day In America’
West Side Story lovers will hear it instantly: the chorus of ‘America’ from the original musical gets a twist in this new song by Kali Uchis and Ozuna. It’s not a coincidence: this collab was inspired by the upcoming Steven Spielberg film adaptation, and is yet another beautiful way in which the dearly departed Stephen Sondheim’s words live on. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Band Of Horses
‘In Need Of Repair’
In January, Band Of Horses return with ‘Things Are Great’, their first album in six years – and their first since guitarist Tyler Ramsey and bassist Bill Reynolds left the band. Its second single ‘In Need Of Repair’ sounds full of quarantine melancholia: “I’m sitting in my usual chair feeling the walls around me close in / I’m in a state of disrepair and trying to make til the morning,” Ben Bridwell confesses over dreamy intertwining guitar lines. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
On the C List
Black Country, New Road
‘Concorde’
2021 was Black Country, New Road’s year, but they’re not ready to cede the spotlight just yet. Next February – nearly a year to the day they dropped their acclaimed debut ‘For The First Time’ – the art rock band will unleash their second album, ‘Ants From Up There’. Its latest single, ‘Concorde’, is one of their more toned-down songs – at least in the first half. The band find beauty in restraint only to launch head first into a gloriously anthemic conclusion. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Bloc Party
‘Traps’
Bloc Party come barrelling out of the gate on ‘Traps’, the first single from their new album ‘Alpha Games’. An electrifying guitar riff and a steady beat by Louise Bartle – the band’s drummer since 2015, who’s making her recorded debut on this album – underpin ‘Traps’, which signals Bloc Party’s return to raucous post-punk. The ‘Alpha Games’ begin in April 2022. – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Denise Chaila
‘Return Of The King’
Denise Chaila is ready for world domination. The Limerick rapper closes her latest project ‘It’s A Mixtape’ with ‘Return Of The King’, a stellar cut that sees her lop the heads off doubters: “Man I think I’m Kanye, sometimes / Might rub you the wrong way, sometimes / Not afraid of crossing some lines / Just huh, sometimes.” – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Kim Gordon
‘Grass Jeans’
Last week, Kim Gordon released the song ‘Grass Jeans’, her first new music since her 2019 album ‘No Home Record’. All proceeds of this propulsive new track go to abortion access in Texas, in light of the alarming signs that the US Supreme Court is ready to overturn Roe v Wade, the decision that has protected US women’s rights to an abortion for nearly 50 years. “I often get asked, ‘Can music change things for people in a political landscape?’” Gordon wrote on Instagram. “Hell yes it can… but it takes a listener, an audience to make it anything.” – KG
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
The post NME Radio Roundup 6 December 2021: Wet Leg, Bloc Party, Courtney Barnett and more appeared first on NME.
