[SONG OF THE DAY] Galantis - "Emoji"

photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine

Last week Swedish sweethearts Galantis released a shimmery new single, “Emoji” complete with an adorable music video that brings the “💗”emoji to life. At least I’m pretty sure that’s the correct emoji featured here as I just learned that 💗 is the “growing heart” emoji and 💓 is the “beating heart” emoji. Who gets tasked with naming emojis anyway? I personally would have gone with my far superior go-to 💖but that’s just me.

If you happen to be in San Francisco next Friday you can catch the dazzling duo at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, unless you’d prefer to catch them for NYE related festivities in Chicago.

GALANTIS LIVE

Fri Nov 16 - San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium [TICKETS]

Sun Dec 30 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom [TICKETS]

Mon Dec 31 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom [TICKETS]

[SONG OF THE DAY] Crush Club - "Trust"

The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! Of course I’m talking about the dopest disco dudes to roam the New York City streets in a minute, Crush Club. The delightful duo are back home from their tour with SOFI TUKKER and LP GIOBBI, but of course when you’re as high energy as they are there’s no slowing down. Yesterday my new favorite humans dropped another single, “Trust”, a song about the complexities of feeling like you can’t be 💯 with a partner due to lack of trust. As vocalist TC Milan explained, “‘Trust' is about how sometimes the hardest thing to do is say what you need. Love can blind and confuse you, and when I was recently in this emotional state the thing I needed the most was trust. I didn’t get it. So we wrote this song.”

Been there, TC bb. It sucks.

NY fam I wasn’t exaggerating about the fellas slowing down at all. They’ve got a set tonight at Brooklyn Bowl + a couple more this week so make sure you go dance and hug it out with them.

CRUSH CLUB LIVE IN NYC

1/3 @ Brooklyn Bowl w/ Escort

11/8 @ Ted Talk Salon (Private)

11/9 @ Club Cumming (DJ Set)

side note: do we think I could sneak into a private Ted Talk event? I feel like that would be the most *me* thing I could ever do in my life (Ted Talks + electro pop). 😂

[SONG OF THE DAY] DAVID44 - "Truth"

photo credit: Samy Khabthani

IT

IS

FRI-YAYYYYYYY!

We know how much I love leaving you with some feel good dance vibes to start your weekend off on the right foot and today is no exception. In fact, this very much so leans into the feel good aesthetic on multiple levels.

Today sees the release of Denmark-based electro-pop artist DAVID44 (born David Olafsson)’s latest single, “Truth”, a song about the universal struggles we all have with self-image. It can be incredibly frustrating to see someone not love themselves as much as we love them and Olafsson perfectly articulates the perspective of desperately trying to get someone to see their self-worth. “It’s about speaking the truth but also how reality and words can be twisted by the one hearing it,” Olafsson explains, “It’s about having a misunderstood self-image, not believing in yourself or accepting your true self. These can be very dangerous thoughts and I wrote ‘Truth’ to boost the missing self-esteem.”

“Truth” is the first single from his forthcoming debut full-length album which is due in 2019.

Here’s to dancing your way to loving yourself this Friday, fam. I hope y’all know that you’re some kind of awesome. 💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Michl - "Pulse"

When Riverside, California artist Michl hit the scene in 2016 I was borderline obsessed with his self-titled EP. Since then he’s trickled out a handful of singles including his latest, “Pulse”, which dropped last week. The reflective song about love and loss was over a year in the making. According to Michl,

"John Calvert and I started this song in London and I worked on lyrics for over a year...I can't even count how many times I rewrote it. After a session with Justin Tranter and Kennedi, I knew the direction the song should go. I almost let this song die a few times, but glad it finally came together."

Thankfully he didn’t give up on the song, which is full of staticy ebbs and flows paired with emotive lyricism. It follows prior 2018 releases, “Fight It Rough04”, “Borrowed Time”, “Tell Her”, “I’d Do It All Again”, and “Better With You”, so be sure to have a listen to those as well if you’re getting caught up on his latest movements like I admittedly had to.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Sakima - "Apps"

Yooooo London’s Sakima is out here raging against the hookup culture machine and I am HERE THE FUCK FOR IT, Y’ALL. His latest single, “Apps”, from his forthcoming debut full length, Project Peach, speaks to the overall disillusionment from the current state of modern dating. Although he’s speaking to Grindr related careless hookup culture, yer girl knows first hand what it’s like to come back from a bathroom break on a date and see a dude swiping away on Tinder to kill time. App dating is garrrbbbbaaaaaggggeee fam please for the love of everything in your being just go meet people at shows ffs.

As Sakima told Highsnobiety about the inspiration behind “Apps”,

“I was dating someone in particular and it was going really well but by the end of it, it transpired that even though this guy really liked me he just wasn’t ready to give one person his attention. Not because he wanted to sleep around or anything like that, but because there’s just so many endless opportunities to meet someone new 24/7, how can I compete with that? I’m the kind of person where if I like someone I get rid of all the hook up and dating apps on my phone and give whoever it may be my full attention to see where things go, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the same in return. So through the frustration and psychological stress that comes with feeling like you’re not good enough to compete with an entire world of new possibilities through an app, I sort of found this inner voice in me that was much stronger and self-knowing than before all this dating apps shit that’s ruining potentially meaningful relationships.”

“Apps” is a departure for Sakima, who typically relies on his angelic voice to be the central focus for his songs. Instead, he enlisted the production stylings of Robokid, who also contributed a verse on the song about dudes being “glued to [their] phone looking to get [their] dick sucked.”I especially appreciated Sakima’s jab at the end of the song about people being too disillusioned to vote. Impeccable timing considering we’re a week out from Election Day here in the US.

Suffice it to say if I didn’t already hardcore stan for Sakima I sure as shit do now.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Smoota - "That Body Of Yours"

Okay we need to have a discussion about musicians being held accountable releasing crazy sexy jams during Scorpio season. It’s like with every passing day I’m trying to not be all hot and bothered in a coffee shop writing up most of the songs in the past week. Is there some coitus-coaxing conspiracy amongst musicians right now that I don’t know about? jfc.

Today I’m trying to not make eye contact with anyone because New York based sex panther Smoota’s latest single “That Body Of Yours” is making me want to sneak off to the bathroom with the next cappuccino-sipping cutie that walks through the door. The sensual single comes from his forthcoming sophomore album, Pheromones, which drops this Friday (November 2nd). “That Body Of Yours” follows previously released singles, “Ballbuster”, a love song using S&M imagery and the double entendre of the word ballbuster, and title track, “Pheromones”, a playful fantasy about using our biological pheromones to attract a partner inspired by a friend who sells human sex pheromones online.

If you weren’t already sold on Smoota’s sensual 70s groove aesthetic, the video for “That Body Of Yours” should throw you over the edge. Always the clever one, Smoota re-edited a very obscure Japanese film from the 50s into a new story with new subtitles about himself in post-war Tokyo and his relationship with one of the performers at a Casablanca-style exotic nightclub. As he noted about the video, “The imagery from the film is gorgeous and features an ultra-sensual dance routine to my trombone solo on the song. The new story is funny and over-the-top and even features my appearance in the old footage through some studio trickery.” Of course he played the trombone solo. Of fucking course. 💦

If Smoota’s face looks familiar, it’s because he’s a super in-demand musician in New York. You may have seen him on tour with TV On The Radio, who he performed with for several years. He’s also recorded and performed with a slew of other acts such as: Run The Jewels, Steven Tyler, Pretty Lights, Sufjan Stevens, Aaron Neville, and the late Sharon Jones. Currently, Smoota is in the house band on ABC’s The Gong Show, hosted by Mike Myers.

If you happen to be in NYC you can catch Smoota with me at Union Pool in Brooklyn along with William Butler, Superhuman Happiness, and Hearing Things. I normally end up making out with someone at Union Pool, so it only seems appropriate that my first time seeing Smoota will be there. If you’re not in NYC, don’t fret! You’ve still got a chance for Smoota to get you wet on his North American tour that kicks off on Friday. Full dates after over on his website.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Humans - "Going Late"

Good news, everyone! We’ve finally got a release date for the new Humans record!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻Oh my good Lorde do I need this batch of vibes like yesterday but I suppose I can wait until November 16th. The Vancouver duo chose to unveil the details alongside dropping the title track, “Going Late” complete with a video that’s basically a walking advertisement for the dope ass bomber jackets they sell as part of their merch offerings (the “Girls” edition of the Boys & Girls bomber is like legit at the top of my Mixmas List).

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to see about selling one of my kidneys so I can look cooler than all of you every fall for the rest of my life.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Saro - "Please"

photo credit: Josh Nixon

Proceed with caution as LA based queer musician Saro (pronounced “sorrow”) has a voice that can completely wreck you if you’re not prepared for it. Ever since my first taste of his 2017 EP Boy Afraid, his songs have firmly cemented themselves in my heart and I’ve been eager to hear what he would share with us next.

Yesterday he unveiled his latest single, “Please”, which upon first listen can be interpreted as a song about a lover, but as he explained in an interview with PAPER,

"'Please' is a reflection of my search for something lasting in this increasingly disposable world.The past few years, I've kept a distance between myself and any sort of permanence, caught in a revolving door of temporary homes and temporary people. Temporary has become my constant— the only stability in my life has been music. Now, I find myself reckoning with my growing desire for stability and my willingness to exchange volatility for something more concrete. I wrote this song about longing for something lasting, all the while knowing that nothing is forever."

If you happen to be fortunate enough to be in Los Angeles, you can catch him live next month on November 19th at School Night.