The Best Five Songs Released This Past Week Pt. 41

It’s the last Sunday of February….who’s ready for March?

Noteworthy album & EP releases:

Goodnight Dreamer, Dreamer Isioma
angel in realtime., Gang of Youths
Sweet Tooth, Mom Jeans
Squeeze, Sasami

“King” Florence + The Machine
Release date – February 23

Early last week, Florence Welch was back on social media teasing new music seemingly out of the blue, and less than 24 hours later, her newest single “King,” co-written and co-produced by Jack Antonoff, was out on all streaming platforms. The song was inspired by Welch’s newly discovered relationship with her gender as a female musician, something that Welch states in a press release as something she didn’t think about often until recently.

“As an artist, I never actually thought about my gender that much. I just got on with it. I was as good as the men and I just went out there and matched them every time. But now, thinking about being a woman in my thirties and the future, I suddenly feel this tearing of my identity and my desires. That to be a performer, but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts.”

Florence hasn’t released an album since 2018.

“reckless driving” – Lizzie McAlpine, Ben Kessler
Release date – February 23

Will Lizzie McAlpine ever release a bad song? I think the answer is no. “reckless driving” is McAlpine’s latest single released ahead of her next album titled five seconds flat, that’s set to drop in early April. This time around she has recruited the help of fellow singer-songwriter Ben Kessler, whose vocals appear on the second verse of “reckless driving.” McAlpine beautifully compares the act of driving recklessly (as you could infer from the title of the track) to falling for someone without being careful: two activities that are pretty dangerous and scary.

“FCKN IN LOVE” – Fefe Dobson
Release date – February 25

Were we transported to the early 2000s overnight?! Cause Fefe Dobson is back. If you’re confused on who this is and why I am mentioning the 2000s, it’s because Dobson released her first album in 2003 (I was nine-years-old). Dobson’s return with “FCKN IN LOVE” is her first release since 2018 (excluding a song she worked on in 2020 for a movie), and I’m super curious to see where she’s haeded next. If you’re into the sound that The Naked and Famous cultivated in the 2010s, you’ll absolutely love this song.

“Dark Bird” – Jake Wesley Rogers
Release date – February 25

If you’re looking for your next pump up jam, THIS IS IT. Larger-than-life musician Jake Wesley Rogers is back with his newest single, “Dark Bird,” an anthem of rebirth and starting over. Stated in an Instagram post, Wesley wrote that “Dark Bird” because “life is fucking hard, and sometimes I wanna throw the tea towel in, but LIKE THE DARK BIRD, I’ve learned that darkness is my friend. I’ve learned I can do anything.”

“Tried To Understand” – Sasami
Release date – February 25

Named as one of our artists to watch for 2022, 31-year-old Sasami Ashworth is back with her sophomore album, Squeeze. I know it’s early into the year, but it’s easy to say that Squeeze is without a doubt my album of the year so far. Sasami describes her sound on this project as nu-metal, which she explains as “more of a blend of pop and metal, more clown-y and bizarre and experimental” compared to more traditional metal music.

Squeeze manages to marry pop, metal, folk, and even electronic from start to finish: and to me, it sounds like inspiration was taken from artists like Grimes, HAIM, and Mitski. If you’re a fan of all three, I think you’ve hit the jackpot with this album.