Lana Del Rey, Nightmares on Wax + more, our favourite records of the week
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

29.10.2021

Lana Del Rey, Nightmares on Wax + more, our favourite records of the week

WORDS BY SAM MCNIECE

From dream-pop to hip-hop, we got you covered.

This week Lana Del Rey continues to make classics with Blue Bannisters, Curren$y collaborates with Harry Fraud again on Regatta, and Nightmares On Wax returns with a stellar cover to cover record on Shout Out! To Freedom…

This week’s top picks:

  • Lana Del Rey – Blue Bannisters
  • Curren$y & Harry Fraud – Regatta
  • Nightmares On Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom…

Read all the latest music news here.

Lana Del Rey – Blue Bannisters

The queen of alt-pop is back with her second record of 2021, Blue Bannisters. Stepping away from working with Jack Antonoff who has produced her last two records, Lana reconnects with Rick Nowels who produces the majority of the new effort. Her sensationalised pseudo-autobiographical musing is still in fine form on Blue Bannisters, regardless of who’s behind the mixing console.

One of the lead singles ‘Arcadia’ sees Del Rey relate her body to the map of L.A. and effortlessly name parts of her body as parts of the city asking a would be lover to “run your hands over me like a Land Rover”—which is an interesting analogy that somehow works. The first track off Blue Bannisters, ‘Text Book’, is another highlight that features a vocal line you could swear was plagiarised from another track in her discography but maybe it’s just the fact she has such a defined style now that she continues to sound like herself consistently.

Check out the video to ‘Arcadia’ below.

Curren$y & Harry Fraud – Regatta

Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Curren$y and Harry Fraud connect again for the eight track Regatta. Curren$y shines over the hazy sample based beats of ‘La Musica De Harry Fraud’ with flows for days. Curren$y literally just released a studio album 3 weeks prior to releasing this one, which is a testament to his work ethic, as most artists will release music once every few years.

‘Car Lot’ is one of the best examples of this hazy sample based beats, which samples Marvin Gaye and results in a gorgeous listen. ‘Sellin Cereal’ features 2 Chainz delivering 16 bars over a trap beat with smooth Rhodes and a band-passed sax line after Curren$y lays down some rhymes for a highlight of the record.

Check out ‘Car Lot’ below.

Nightmares On Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom…

Nightmares on Wax, the project of George Evelyn returns today with another beautiful introspective hip-hop, electronica, jazzy pastiche that blurs the line between genres and distinctions. The record marks 30 years being signed to the legendary Warp records and was was a result of slowing down after the pandemic hit. Shout Out! To Freedom… sees Nightmares on Wax collaborate with a range of artists that help showcase his productions and also shine a light on the featured artists as well.

The record is breezy and very personal with highlights including ‘Wonder’ which might entice you to take a second and do exactly what the track tile says and ‘Miami 80’ which is based around a 4-bar loop that is run through effects and modulated heavily through the two minute track.

Have a listen to the single ‘Breathe Out’ below featuring OSHUN.