twenty one pilots – “Heathens”: Whelp, here it is. One of the songs that WILL define this summer. With the quick rise of twenty one pilots in the aftermath of Blurryface, are you really surprised? The single is dark, reflecting the soundtrack on which it appears – that of Suicide Squad. The song has kind of an old school club-ready R&B feel to it. The kind of thing I’d expect to hear while boarding a big carnival ride at the state fair. Picture the bass dropping to this song as the carnie gives you that look of “have fun and get ready to crap your pants in fear.”

Fjord – “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)”: Think you’ve heard every variation of indie electronica under the sun? Think again. Here’s an artist covering Neil Young. Normally I ditch remixes and covers in favor of originality on this blog and yet… this twist on the classic oozes it. It takes to take a Neil Young song in such a direction. My aunt likes to tell a story of being in front of a drunk middle aged woman at a Neil Young show who wouldn’t stop yelling “OH BABY!” at Neil at various points. I think that hearing Neil take this song this direction would probably result in the same reaction from the drunk lady.

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Leagues – “Lipstick Coffee”: In one of the least surprising moves in music (my opinion, don’t hate), Leagues drop a single in a decidedly electropop direction. Leagues lost their guitarist leaving them a duo. No soulful blues guitar influence – a pity, since “Spotlight” might be one of my favorite songs ever. I say this move isn’t surprising because everyone and their mom is headed this direction. But don’t fret! The unique voice of Thad Cockrell makes this song stand out from the crowd. I know to expect something basically the opposite of You Belong Here, the one thing that is consistent is the funk. I pray that this isn’t swallowed up in the bevy of genre counterparts, because this is still really good.

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Paper Route – “Chariots”: There’s something oddly cool about sitting on my balcony and see fireflies light up. A juxtaposition to the encompassing nature of the song, but its like my own private light show. You know what’s not so intimate? The fact that this song is the soundtrack to the new FIFA 2017 video game trailer. The song is unlike anything Paper Route has done before and is somehow the largest sounding song in their discography. Is it my favorite Paper Route song? I can’t rank it, but it’s definitely the loudest. In the midst of the din, I can still find solace in this music in a solitary state. That’s cool.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdwFGmEijKQ[/youtube]