After my first job at MTV working as a music programmer, I can't stop trying to matchmake people with music they might like. So, I wrote a book called Record Collecting for Girls and started interviewing musicians. The Music Concierge is a column where I share music I'm listening to that you might enjoy, with a little context. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or leave me a comment below and tell me what you're listening to this week.
Robyn "Honey"
Could this be Robyn's sexiest song thus far? All that dripping honey in the lyric video is certainly ladden with meaning, as are the subversive double entendres that make up the song. It's most certainly going on my cuffing season makeout playlist and driving up my anticipation for Robyn's October 26 album — she's been gone far too long. Glad to have her back with a driving beat and a little honey.
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Pistol Annies "Got My Name Changed Back"
Oh my damnnnnnnnnnnn. If you were searching Miranda Lambert's last solo album for hints about how she's feeling after her divorce from Blake Shelton, you may have been looking in the wrong spot. It may have happened in 2015, but this track from her girl group with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley sounds like she's not done with getting out of that relationship just yet — or maybe she's totally done with it, because she took her name back. The shadeeeeeeeeeeee.
Yaeji "One More"
Confused. Angry. Betrayed. Those emotions inspired Yaeji, who is a triple threat as a vocalist, producer, and visual artist to write "One More." The dreamy, dark track is a meditation on feeling lost in your own life after an unexpected event. In it, Yaeji marries synth elements from KPop with European indie rock and emo sentiments to create something entirely her own.
Phantoms feat. Vanessa Hudgens "Lay With Me"
The Queen of Coachella got together with an L.A.-based electronic duo to create a song that will sound absolutely amazing at Coachella next year. But Vanessa Hudgens' legendary reputation when it comes to the West Coast's tastemaker music festival isn't how this track came about. Weirdly, the guys in Phantoms knew Hudgens when they were all young, and hadn't hung out since they were all around 16. A chance encounter at LAX changed all of that and birthed a pretty sweet electro-pop gem.
Aida Victoria "Dope Queen Blues"
Aida Victoria describes the time in her life when she wrote "Dope Queen Blues" as "a hazy, wild, debaucherous time," and wow are those the exact words I'd use to describe the vibe of this track. It has a little magic spread on it courtesy of The National's Aaron Dessner, who produces (and whose mind has to be responsible for that signature heavy, deep piano part). I've never heard someone sing "we are lost in vain" and sound so gleeful. Thankful to hear those Morphine-influenced horns on this track too, someone needed to bring that sound back.