Top 10 Cover Songs of 2013

If any prospect in music comes closest to a no-win situation, it's the impossibly tricky cover song. Lean too heavily on the source material and people are likely to wonder what was the point of even pressing record? An attempt to head in the opposite direction can alienate fans of the original work and leave countless others scratching their heads. More than anything, the "covers game" comes to down to finding a happy medium. Jimi Hendrix's vaunted cover of "All Along the Watchtower" stayed in this lane. For all the added fiery solos and howling vocals, the song remained a spiritual companion by preserving the raw urgency and apocalyptic imagery of the original. You're allowed to tinker, just make sure you have a plan before you dive in. From the 10 songs you'll find below, it's clear everyone know what they were doing before undertaking such a risky endeavor.



10. "Strong Enough"- HAIM (Sheryl Crow)

I'll admit Sheryl Crow's mid-90s hit isn't a song that's on my radar. Thanks to this effort from the three sisters that compromise 2013's biggest breakout rock band, HAIM, it'll stick. Here we have multiple decades gorgeously clashing with one another. Danielle's yearning vocal take recalls mid-to-late 70s Stevie Nicks (an acknowledged inspiration for the sister trio), while Alana's measured synth playing hearkens back to an 80s high-school dance. And Este's drumming, where every beat seems to induce a new feeling, owes at least a little back-rent to 60s girl-pop. Those guitar solos Danielle dips into though? They're timeless. No matter the decade, they'll lift you up when you're "broken and can't stand."

9. "All You Need is Love"- The Flaming Lips (The Beatles)

If any cover possibility has the least upside, it's one of a Beatles track. Covering an obscure song and bringing it to new prominence is admirable, taking on a song by the most popular rock-band of all-time? That amounts to artistic suicide. However, if any band is up to the task, it's the Flaming Lips. Having previously covered all of Pink Floyd's monolithic Dark Side of the Moon in 2009, a single song is mere child's play for the sonic pranksters. And something is almost comical about hearing guest Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros sing "nothing you can sing that can't be sung" in the midst of a cover. The effort isn't too far removed from the source material, though the synthesizer warbles and chugging bass chords provide an eerie air not found in the bright original. It works though, because if any band currently operating proves the power of love, it's these guys. To some, covering a defining song for the Love Generation is an impossible task, to the Flaming Lips "it's easy."

 

8. "Hold On, We're Going Home"- Arctic Monkeys (Drake)

  

Back in September, I wrote Drake's disco-strutting single "Hold On, We're Going Home" musically belied the rapper's lyrics more than any track on junior release Nothing Was the Same. Hiding behind the muscular bassline was the Toronto MC at his most fragile. "I can't get over you, you left your mark on me, I want your hot love and emotion endlessly," he painfully shares. Amidst a crowded party, he's dying to head home with the girl of his affection. He's looking for a permanent companion in an incredibly temporal setting.

Something about Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner's self-assured vocal take for the cover suggests more of a permanence . Backed by Jamie Cook's xx guitar runs, Turner struts across the stage in the video, like he's figured all of this out already and has moved onto the celebration. The self-doubt has nothing to do with whether he'll be leaving with this "good girl," but what they'll be doing once they get back. Falling right asleep or staying up all night, Turner makes either sound possible. It takes a supreme confidence to record a cover, and despite being surrounded by so much uncertainty, Turner's got it.

7. "Hungry Heart"- Divine Fits (Bruce Springsteen)

 

 

There's a great irony that after almost a decade of trying to break into the big leagues, Bruce Springsteen's first big hit in the Billboard Hot 100 was a secretly bitter song focused on trying to reclaim what's long since passed you by. It's in plain sight in the anthemic chorus "everybody's got a hungry heart." Whether or not we'd like to admit it, we all burn with this desire. Indie supergroup the Divine Fits, featuring: Britt Daniel of Spoon, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade, and Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks, make no pretense of having this ravenous desire during their "Like a Version" session. Britt Daniel's throaty vocals and Dan Boeckner's ragged guitar figure strip down the Springsteen track to its essentials. Even drummer Sam Brown's playing is defanged, reduced to tapping a drumstick and maraca atop a book. The hunger can't hide.  

     

6. "Novacane"- Shearwater (Frank Ocean)

   

 


















A continual theme of the covers that made the list is many of the bands took a less-than-prominent angle of the original and fully embraced it. Arguably no group did this better in 2013 than Texas psych-folk outfit Shearwater. Ocean's 2011 break-out "Novacane" arrived bearing an unmistakable pain; slipping further into a "relationship" with someone you don't really know. The harrowing details you learn don't send you packing, they draw you in closer. Despite claiming he couldn't "feel the pain" Ocean captured it perfectly in his tender croon. Still this was a song that revolved around losing yourself in a person to the point where you become an addict, both figurative and literal, and that true horror didn't always register. 

Shearwater fully covey that horror in their decidedly non-R&B attempt. Coated in a narcotic haze, Jonathan Meiburg's voice is a million miles away. From how he begins, he's not arriving at the start of the story, he's buried in the middle of it. Where Ocean was looking for a first taste when he sang "I want you," Meiburg's whispered delivery of the line conveys he's already hooked. Often we want what we can't have. That's Meiburg's lot in life, he'll be chasing that first high forever and never get it back.

5. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"- Lorde (Tears for Fears)

         


















Here again we have a cover version taking a conceit of the original and magnifying it to intense proportions. You may have found yourself singing along to Tears for Fears bright, synth-laden classic, but did you ever stop to consider how glum the concept is? To Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, thirsts for power aren't isolated incidents they're a pandemic. Being infected with this "illness" ensures the course you plot can't be halted, and at no point will you be satisfied. Even if you succeed, all the walls of your kingdom will eventually come crashing down.

17-year-old New Zealand pop-singer Lorde arrived at a similar conclusion based on this despondent offering. Tears for Fears open-aired world is now a claustrophobic nightmare, ruled by the teen's graveyard murmur. The dread and remorse are permanent fixtures of this quest for power. Our only respite as listeners comes via heart-stopping jabs of percussion. And then as suddenly as it arrived, it cuts off as the clattering reaches a crescendo. "Nothing lasts forever." 

         

4. "Ready to Start"- Tears for Fears (Arcade Fire)

All of this seems too perfect to happen accidentally. Around the time Arcade Fire is gearing up for their "invasive" Reflektor promo campaign, Tears for Fears come out of nowhere to drop a sterling cover of 2010's "Ready to Start". Less than 2 months later and Lorde's releasing her cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Adding to this cosmic connection, the vocal presentation in the Tears for Fears track bears more than a passing resemblance to Win Butler's lonely echo. 

Where the two part is the music. Strangely, the band whose heyday came in the 80s sounds like the more forward-thinking of the two. They add 1's and 0's to the original organ and string parts. The opening could convert into Vampire Weekend's "M79" and no one would bat an eye. Rather than keep the jingle-jangle guitar feel intact, Tears for Fears guitars come slicing in at an odd angle. And if all that weren't enough to prove the fifty-somethings' modernity, a drum 'n' bass solo quietly erupts a minute and 10 seconds in. Since then the British-duo has gone on to cover Animal Collective and recorded with Matthew Dear, suggesting they're far from finished. They've lay dormant long enough, consider this their reawakening. 

3. "I Miss You"- The xx (Beyoncé)

The belief you have to have in yourself to hear Beyoncé's stark 4-cut "I Miss You", and decide it could be stripped down further is something I can't imagine. How do you make silence more profound? How can you take something so intimate and draw it closer? Is it possible to channel a love that isn't your own?

The xx don't answer these questions, so much as a quietly obliterate them. A metronomic drum tick and slow-rolling waves of synthesizer were all that kept Bey company. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim don't even have that luxury; clean swathes of guitar and barely breathing bass are all they have. A band known for their minimalist tendencies renders past works overdone with this effort. In a concert review of the band, I wrote: “their music plays out like a series of private conversation,” that we as listeners feel almost voyeuristic in hearing what they have to say. And that voyeurism is skin-crawling as the song plays out. They are seated directly across from one another in the video, but the desperation in their voices suggests they're light years apart. When Madley Croft angelically voices, "it is everything" you know she's not lying. High-stakes can't begin to describe the relationship on display. The only false-truth is the utterance "it is so simple." Capturing such love, long-distance angst, and loss in a song you didn’t put to paper is anything but simple.

2. "Climax"- Dirty Projectors (Usher)

The original "Climax" released off of Usher's wildly inconsistent (but ultimately enjoyable) 2012 record Looking 4 Myself was one of the greatest thrills in pop last year. Usher and producer Diplo gave us a masterclass in restraint. Usher could've howled his way through the thing, racing for those high notes like a rocket blasting off into space, but he didn't. He stayed grounded in hushed falsettos and dubstep burbles, until the relationship plateaued, and then Usher's voice was right there at the summit, howling in pained agony. 

 

On their "Like a Version" cover, the Dirty Projectors forgo any plateauing altogether. Leader Dave Longstreth immediately goes for the gut, if Usher sounded like he could survive another round of love in limbo, Longstreth's already called it quits. He clings to every note like there was nothing else left in this world. For her part, Amber Coffman (eyes closed) floats through the notes, feet firmly "off the ground." When Longstreth steps back up, his questions of "why do I care at all?" are as vital as Usher's original interrogations. The grand finale where Usher threw all caution to the wind is more reckless now, Longstreth and Coffman splitting the difference to pull the relationship apart. Any recklessness is solely reserved for the song, when they step into a studio the band's meticulousness takes over. 

1. "Pure Imagination"- Fiona Apple (Gene Wilder)

  

When I was first crafting this list, The Dirty Projector's cover of "Climax" was the no-brainer to me. A sure-fire number one that no one would bat an eye at, especially once they heard it. The longer I saw this "languishing" at number two, the more I realized how much of a mistake it would be to place anything above it. Sure other songs on this list hold a special place in people's hearts, but none of them except this one represent a cornerstone of childhood. "Pure Imagination" transcends musical tastes and generations. The odds you of walking up to someone and saying "come with me and you'll be..." and having them finish the line are incredibly high. Iconic is a word that's way overused when we discuss anything with a certain staying power; Gene Wilder's "Pure Imagination" in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is iconic.

And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Fiona Apple's version reaches that lofty status one day. A crucial point of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory too often lost in all the bright colors and indelible characters is just how sad a person Wonka really is. Akin to the God of Genesis pre-humanity, he has this vast paradise and no one to share it with. I suspect that's a small reason the film is a Christmas staple. Getting gifts is a truly joyous experience, but to give them and see that joy light up another person's face is unparalleled. That's what Wonka longs for, a person to share with. When he's scolding Charlie for not following the rules, his fears of being alone forever are coming out. 

Apple captures that longing wonderfully in this collaboration with Mexican fast food chain Chipotle in a campaign against factory farming. Gone are the schmaltzy strings of the original you could easily mistake as the coda to an over-sentimental romance movie of the 50s. In their stead is a tempered piano, unobtrusive xylophone, and industrial chatter with the occasional squall of brass. Wilder's childlike wonderment is swapped out for Apple's grounded, smoky tone. She continues to conjure a "world of pure imagination" she just doesn't have her head permanently stuck in the clouds. Still visions of changing the world flutter in her mind. Whenever that day arrives, she won't be alone.

I hope everyone enjoined the list. If you think something is too high or too low or some grand omission was made, feel free to say so in the comment section.

     

Top 20 Songs of 2013 (So Far) Part II

Back with the final batch of the top songs of 2013 (so far), counting down from 10-1. Like the first crop of songs, the ones you'll find below are all over the map from somber-dance tracks to posse-rap cuts and even a cover making an appearance.   before we press play on the countdown, a quick rewind is in order.

20. "Young & Beautiful"- Lana Del Rey (The Great Gatsby OST)
19. "Living Room"- Grouper (The Man Who Died in His Boat)
18. "Domo 23"- Tyler, the Creator (Wolf)
17. "Power Trip"- J. Cole (Born Sinner)
16. "Where Are We Now?"- David Bowie (The Next Day)
15. "Blood on the Leaves"- Kanye West (Yeezus)
14. "Perfect Form"- Cyril Hahn (Single)
13. "Good Ass Intro"- Chance the Rapper (Acid Rap)
12. "The King"- Tree (Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out)
11. "I Miss You"- the xx (Live Cover)

#10. "Whoa"- Earl Sweatshirt (Doris)

Rare is the moment that Tyler, the Creator's guttural yells offer any semblance of shelter, but Earl's all-out verbal onslaught on "Whoa" makes Tyler's protestations of "nah nah f**k" strangely comforting. To refer to Earl's rapping here as "spitting" is a gross disservice, implying some sort of general spray as opposed to the targeted barbs tossed off, "grab mittens who have to spit blizzardous, actually flick cigarette ash at b***h n***as." If Earl's spitting anything here, its poison dart's like some sort of rap assassin, "spraying then hide away in the shade of his maimed innocence." The B-grade synths that back Earl up only manage to make his calm demeanor on the track more menacing. He goes the whole track without raising his voice once and yet every turn feels like he could snap and start swinging at everything in his sight. He's raiding rubbish bins "at your local loony clinic," and tossing back bars like a "vodka fifth." File it away as another chapter in the "misadventures of a s**t-talker."

#9. "#Beautiful" ft. Miguel- Mariah Carey (The Art of Letting Go)

Excepting Frank Ocean, Miguel had the best year of any R&B singer in 2012. His bold, successful Kaleidoscope Dream was a dense, taut blend of classic R&B tropes and more modern indie trends. Few songs towed this line as well as "Adorn" an infectious bubbling number that's impossible not to crack a smile at. Every yelp and hiccup carries the message of Miguel's love as far as his words, and his sliding wordless vocals seal the deal. Mariah Carey's "#Beautiful" provides a similar lesson in restraint. A guitar riff straight out of the 60s Stax catalog sets the stage for a feathery Miguel. His voice here is as soft as the "kiss of moonlight on your skin." For Carey's part she still slips in a trademark vocal burst or two, though she's plays it cool for the most part. She's feeling giddy here and professes a feeling of invincibility. No nervousness or confusion here, just two people turning in an effortless performance. 

#8. "1Train" ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T.- A$AP Rocky (Long.Live.A$AP)

"Don't be scared n***a is you ready?" A$AP Rocky cryptically asks over the haunted strings and boom-bap drums of 1Train, already a serious contender for the all-time great posse-cuts list. How could you be ready? Rap features have always been about one-upsmanship and a competitive spirit, but everyone here though sounds absolutely possessed. Rocky's clinging to "bags made of Goyard, cheffin' like I'm Boyar-Dee," and taking us back to the days of riding the titular train. Kendrick continues his lyrical gymnastics here, riding up on a skateboard, and gunning down everyone in sight, while still finding time to eat them all like "cooked beef." Joey Bada$$ can be caught "barely even conscious, talking to my conscious," and meeting with Jigga. For his part, Alabama-bred rapper Yelawolf is huddling with "Nubians," and assuring us there's never been "a rapper this cold, since 2Pac was froze, and thawed out for a spot-date at a Coachella show." To the surprise of no one, Danny Brown is thoroughly unhinged, spinning through his verse like the Tasmanian Devil hopped up on "molly." Brown supplies one of the most nauseating, gut-busting lines of the year rapping, "b***h p***y smell like the Penguin, wouldn't hit that s*** with my worst enemy's penis." Action Bronson (he who shall forever be compared to Ghostface Killah) drives by swiftly, "shifting the Bimmer 860," "confetti torching," and somehow finding the time to fix a game between Georgia Southern & Grambling. Then there's Mississippi-native Big K.R.I.T. bearing his "Muddy Water flow, Dixie rebel past." Rocky and Bada$$ both swear by K.R.I.T.'s verse, and it understandable. K.R.I.T.'s verse is filled with flash, packaged inside a classic frame, much like the candy-painted Caddies he can be found in. When the song ends, it's hard to imagine what could conceivably be better than that "1Train."

#7. "Retrograde"- James Blake (Overgrown)  

Few people can make loneliness sound as lovely as James Blake. On his "post-dubstep" debut LP, 2011's James Blake, he made abject isolation a commodity, the solitary life the only sort worth living. On the frigid summits of closer "Measurements," he was wandering through "forests cold," and putting all his doubts on trial in a courtroom of the elements. "Retrograde" maintains the spirit of that lone traveler mentality, but this time out a companion's come along. The isolation has shifted from the first to third person in the course of one winter; "we're alone now." The small ember of the track that Blake's voice clings to in the cold becomes a burning fire in the pit of his stomach by the time his loverman chorus hits. Blake begs, "show me why you're strong, ignore everybody else, we're alone now," wallowing the first time he runs through the line. The clattering drums and keyboards only fan the flames in the dark of night, as Blake is hit by the "starkness of the dawn." If it truly is "darkest before the dawn," Blake's found someone to peer out into the darkness with.

        

#6. "Started from the Bottom"- Drake (Nothing Was The Same) 

Wherever you think Drake came up or started from is irrelevant right around the time that minor-key piano figure is pushed out of frame by the sturm und drang trap-rap drums stitched up by producer Mike Zombie. Any possible chuckle or headshake at the notion of Drake "keeping it real from the start" disappears. Drizzy doesn't sound assured here, but authoritative. Through his sharp eyes we see arguments at his "momma's house" and late-night joyrides unwittingly sponsored by his uncle asking "where you at." The familiar themes of friends and family are in abundance here. Drake's proven more skilled than most artists at delineating the lines between the friends that'll die for you and those that would prefer to just sit in the car. Here Drake celebrates the success with the "whole team" drafted from the get-go and throws up deuces to any bandwagoneers, "f**k a fake friend." On "Over" he let us know "I'm doing me." "Started from the Bottom" is the ultimate reminder that in spite of everything, the story's stayed the same.  

#5. "Climax"- The Dirty Projectors (Cover)

The original "Climax" released off of Usher's wildly inconsistent (but ultimately enjoyable) 2012 record Looking 4 Myself was one of the greatest thrills in pop last year. Usher and producer Diplo gave us a masterclass in restraint. Usher could've howled his way through the thing, racing for those high notes like a rocket blasting off into space, but he didn't. He stayed grounded in hushed falsettos and dubstep burbles, until the relationship plateaued, and then Usher's voice was right there at the summit, howling in pained agony. On their "Like a Version" cover, the Dirty Projectors forgo any plateauing altogether. Leader Dave Longstreth immediately goes for the gut, if Usher sounded like he could survive another round of love in limbo, Longstreth's already called it quits. Longstreth clings to every note like there was nothing else left in this world. For her part, Amber Coffman (eyes closed) ethereally floats through the notes, feet firmly "off the ground." When Longstreth steps back up his questions of "why do I care at all?" are just as vital as Usher's original interrogations. The grand finale where Usher threw all caution to the wind is more reckless now, Longstreth and Coffman splitting the difference to pull the relationship apart.  Transcending source material and making it your own is never easy, even if the Dirty Projectors make it seem that way.

#4. "Ya Hey"- Vampire Weekend (Modern Vampires of the City)

On the highest of the highest, Vampire Weekend's rousing "Ya Hey" amounts to finger-wagging at the highest on high, the big man himself, the imperturbable Yahweh. "The faithless they don't love you, the zealous hearts don't love you," Ezra Koenig sings, his warm tone hardly masking the frantic finger-wagging he's committed too. Koenig nurtures all his guilt and inner turmoil for a time, but "lets it go," shedding his own crown of thorns and moving on with his life. "Ya Hey" is one of several tracks on the album to question religion's role in our lives when the trouble finds us, against frenetic guitar strumming on "Worship You" the group asks "who will guide us through the end," and "Unbelievers" resigns to the warmth that awaits all its titular characters. But the true beauty of "Ya Hey" is its ability to descend from the clouds and operate on a less celestial level. Trade an all-seeing God for an overly invested lover searching for the last ounce of love in a deflated relationship, and the metaphor comes into focus. Koenig cops to his mistakes in the cathartic chorus and swelters in the heat of the fire and flames. His lover meanwhile just sits in silence, out of sight and out of reach. Lacking faith in a higher power, Koenig is still burdened by an overwhelming faith in humanity.

#3. "Cherry"- Chromatics (After Dark 2)

Yes, in the most narrow-minded and myopic view of list-making this one breaks the rules. It originally made its appearance back in November 2012, but merits inclusion because a. it didn't see official release until After Dark 2, a compilation of moody dance acts from label Italians Do It Better dropped, and b. it's one of the best songs of this (and frankly) any year from the still young decade. I've easily heard the song some 60 plus times now and the crying synths and chugging bass find new ways to surprise me. There are still nights where I press repeat and let the spirit of the song haunt my room as I nod off into the ether. I originally wrote that "Cherry" is a marvelous encapsulation of what Rodney Dangerfield once referred to as the "heaviness" where the weight of the world casts a shadow over every kiss, every relationship, and every regret. Months later, singer Ruth Radelet wearisome "I can't keep crying all of the time," hasn't gotten any easier to lift. "Cherry" isn't an incredible song just for the hypnotic backbeat soundtracking the most sullen dancefloor in the world, but for the tragically pointed and relatable lyrics. Cherry's true nature is revealed in the final verse when Radelet discovers "Cherry can be very sweet when she needs a friend, but it's only a mask she wears so she can pretend." I feel perfectly comfortable admitting I've had the same paranoia creep over me; concerned that all my rushing to someone's side will be for naught when the roles are reversed. Some do it out of selfishness, but others are merely shortsighted, unable to see anything worth sharing with another human being. Hearing the song now, I'm reminded of a quote from a Kafka short-story about a man and woman engaging in a high-stakes game of "judgment." Near the finale, the man remarks "yet you smile-- inviting mortal danger-- from time to time." We've all been put in that danger before and like Radelet we can grow to hate the power it has over us. A way out from underneath the heaviness is possible; if you can summon the strength.

#2. "Mirrors"- Justin Timberlake (20/20 Experience)         

The last time unmitigated devotion and unyielding fidelity sounded this good on record, Rihanna was taking an oath to "stick it out to the end" on "Umbrella." For whatever reason, even in the world of Top 40 radio, martial stability annoys us. Rumours, one of the most successful albums of all time painfully traces the dissolution of relationships. The runaway success of Adele's 21 was fueled by a similar source. Justin Timberlake himself began his solo career with the bitter pill of "Cry Me A River." Despite our best intentions, bliss bores us. Which makes "Mirrors" dominance of the Billboard charts all the more impressive. Holding steady in the top 10, the arena ready track shows everyone how commitment can be done right. Sporting Timbaland's trademark handclap beats and smothered in synths, Timberlake is looking at his other half with emotional honesty, "I don't wanna lose you know," he sings in a buttery falsetto on the hook. The imagery here of two becoming one is simplistic, but powerful aided by Timbaland's hefty bass and soaring synths. Soon Timberlake loses all control, the music's grand scale is re-sized, and JT's devolved into a chorus of "you are the love of my life." There's no mystery in tomorrow, Timberlake's figured it out.

#1. "Get Lucky" ft. Pharrell- Daft Punk (Random Access Memories)

Unless some Earth-shattering, world-conquering song comes along in the next 5 months, "Get Lucky"'s disco-strut won't be stopped. What is already an earworm, has its DNA drastically mutated by Pharrell's silky croon, Niles Rogers' (of Chic fame) choppy guitar playing, and Daft Punk's funky vocoder breakdown. The song's an aural plague; reeking "havoc" on your whole body 'til your up on feet, head bouncing to-and-fro to Pharrell's hook, and voice joining the fight to "get lucky." Seeing Pharrell play this song back-to-back-to-back live makes perfect sense, who isn't pressing repeat as soon as the song heads off into the sunset? As I write this I'm struggling to finish, the smallest ripples in the song distracting me. Another keystroke is halted by the tiny piano figure or the muted bass thud. I can't imagine getting anything do listening to this, let alone a complicated task that commands your full concentration. Daft Punk demand that here, luring you into their all-night funhouse, and never letting you leave. The band's prior pop savvy with highlights "Da Funk," "One More Time," "Harder Better Faster Stronger," and "Make Love" can't hold a candle to what Daft Punk crafted here. "Get Lucky" doesn't just raise the bar, so much as it obliterates it.

  

Got a problem with any of the selections here or on part 1? Then let your voice be heard! Drop a comment, hit up the twitter account @allfreshsounds, give a stern talking to on Facebook, whatever you've gotta do. And look for a list of the top 10 albums so far this year to drop next week.

"Gun Has No Trigger"

The intensely unclassifiable Dirty Projectors are gearing up for their new album Swing Lo Magellan, which drops July 10 in the U.S. The album is the follow-up to 2009's genre-defying Bitte Orca and the recently released "Gun Has No Trigger" is our first taste of what Dave Longstreth and company are cooking up. The track is buoyed by a lock-step drumbeat and cooing that has come to identify the Dirty Projectors. Longstreth as gets all accusatory, with a hint of weakness in his voice. He levitates between these two poles by stretching his voice like putty, going from somber singing to snarl at a moment's notice. The tracks smacks of simplicity, but in the Dirty Projectors' dictionary that page has been yanked out.