London-based 20-year old songwriter, Sarah Meth, released her debut EP, Dead End World, last week. Consisting of just four songs, the EP was written over three years ago. “Dead End World is an EP I wrote during my teenage years, so naturally the lyrics are more centered around trying to make sense of the near-adult world around me, as well as who I was at that age,” the artist said of the project. Dead End World is a showcase of Sarah Meth’s confounding songwriting abilities accompanied by exquisitely assembled instrumentals.
Similar to the illusory experience of waking several hours before the sun on an early Sunday morning, the EP’s intro, “If Only You Knew,” leaves you in a fog, feeling somewhat isolated yet hopeful for the day’s potential. The song’s hazy layers of brass and strings interwoven with Meth’s lush vocals will find you wandering through daydreams without haste or any desire for grounding.
The EP’s title track comes next, guiding us through our continued delirium. “Dead End World” is the disembodied hand poking through the fog, and because we’ve just been left in a daze, we blindly reach out to follow suit. Despite being written 3 years prior to the EP’s release, the song eerily and aptly portrays today’s societal climate: “I see hospitals surrender to people sickly thin / but those first in line don’t seem to bat an eye / because they have the money rolling in / and our friends, our friends are dying / because of the color of their skin / so we cry because the system just ain’t right / but the sirens aren’t sleeping tonight.”
“Tangled,” the artist’s latest single follows the title track. The song is a stripped, raw reminder that as easy as it is to give all of ourselves to another, self-love should always hold precedence. In a press release, Meth said the song is “really a ‘note to self’ about how easy it is to get knotted up in the way you feel. It’s meaning to me continues to change over time, but it’s a song that always seems to make sense when I come back to it.” Watch the artist’s intimate live performance of the song:
“What Does It Mean” is our reflective and groggy end to the lucid dream that is Dead End World. Written when Meth was just 15, the song examines community standards of womanhood. Throughout the brief, 3-verse song, we hear Meth navigating the familiar– sadly, often sordid– path from adolescence to adulthood in the position of a young woman: “What does it mean if everything I stand for / is betrayed by my greed to give myself away? / and so, I lose all of my dignity / have I failed to be / everything a woman should be?”
Yet another month down in the boiling cauldron that is 2020! How did we get here? I honestly haven’t the slightest clue, and I don’t know about you, but August really tested my patience and well-being. Now, that’s enough negativity for today– let’s get to the goods. As per the norm here at The Greater Good, I’ll be guiding your tour today through Bop City, rounding up this month’s picks. Please keep your extremities to yourself at all times. Follow the roundup playlist and save your favorites!
What Could Possibly Go Wrong – Dominic Fike
Dominic Fike’s debut album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong, was on regular rotation for me this month. Fike put himself on many people’s radars (including producer Kenny Beats) with 2017’s Don’t Forget About Me, Demos, which the artist recorded during house arrest and originally released while serving jail time. What Could Possibly Go Wrong is a body of work that mirrors Fike as an artist himself– unpredictable. As one of my good friends so accurately described the project: “He went from MGMT to Frank Ocean.” Favorite tracks: “What’s For Dinner?,” “Cancel Me,” “Good Game” and “Superstar Sh*t”
SuperGood – Duckwrth
“It’s classic, in essence — the shit that people fell in love with in the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s,”says Duckwrth of his major label debut, SuperGood. A romantic oeuvre, similar to Mac Miller’s The Divine Feminine, SuperGood seems like it was created for the ladies and those who love them. The album is a perfect summer send-off, with equal parts sonic nostalgia, sensual charisma and good, old-fashioned boppage. Favorite tracks: “Kiss U Right Now,” “Did U Notice?” “Tuesday” and “Super Good”
“Brown Skin” – Cam the Artisan
Atlanta rapper, Cam the Artisan made TGG’s playlist last month with smooth-as-butter and lionhearted “WYA?!” from his debut album, Hues. Cam’s latest single, “Brown Skin,” produced by Ashton McCreight, is just as addictive, to say the least. Another certified banger for the list, this record will provide nothing less than the best vibes for your summer function– money back guaranteed (by me).
It wasn’t until after the 8th rotation of Harley Sulé’s “Something Good” that I came to the realization that I had been held hostage by a song. Please tell my mother I love her. The record is Sulé’s debut single under his own moniker; previously “anonymous” under soulful alias Jimi Charles Moody, the artist is nowhere near new to the game. The versatile artist also makes up one half of the UK hip-hop duo, Rizzle Kicks. Surgeon General’s Warning: If consuming “Something Good,” be weary of your surroundings as it may take you the way it took me.
APRE released “Without Your Love,” the second single from their forthcoming project, Always In Your Head, last week. The UK-based alt-pop duo consists of members Charlie Brown and Jules Konieczny. The artists summarized the single as being “about the idea that you shouldn’t force yourself to make the relationship work – appreciate what it’s done for you, and keep moving forward in your life.” The single is one of my favorite breeds of song– upbeat, hopeful production with contrasting somewhat somber lyrics. Always In Your Head is set to be released in November.
“Comfortable With Myself” – Blaine Legendary
Self-described as having a “demeanor like Clark Kent but a stage presence that’s Superman,” Blaine Legendary is comfortable with himself. So much so, he wrote a song about it and we’re that much better because of it. The single’s music video is a reminder that although this year is a dumpster fire, we’re all burning together, so why not make the best of it and enjoy ourselves in whatever way we can?
“WIYULD” – Evann McIntosh
Continuing the theme of self-love and self-acceptance, we have 16-year old Evann McIntosh entering the ring with leviathan-level confidence with her latest single, “WIYULD.” This alt-bedroom-pop anthem is a record for those who need reminding that they are indeed a force with which to be reckoned. I’m talking to you. Yeah, you.
rest up – boy pablo
Following recent singles “hey girl” and “honey,” Norwegian artist Boy Pablo recently released two-track single pack, rest up, in anticipation of his debut album, Watchito Rico. The DIY artist has fine-tuned his sound since the 2017 viral success of his single, “Everytime,” leaning into his specific brand of sleepy, romantic bedroom pop. Perfect for those nights in, “rest up” is an exemplary addition to your self-care playlist. Watchito Rico is set to release October 23rd. Watch the absurdly charming video for “hey girl”:
“SULA (Paperback)” – Jamila Woods
If you don’t know, I am a certified Jamila Woods stan. There’s simply no other way to put it, and I have no qualms about being labeled as such. The artist’s debut album, 2017’s HEAVN personally helped me through some tumultuous times. Her latest album, a conceptual project of sorts, last year’s LEGACY! LEGACY! highlighted influential Black figures throughout modern history, further solidifying her position as an icon herself. Her latest single, “SULA (Paperback)” pays delicate homage to the Toni Morrison novel. “Sula was the first Toni Morrison novel I ever read and it inspired the first chapbook of poems I ever wrote,” the artist said in a press release. After revisiting the novel years later, the artist said, “It reminded me to embrace my tenderness, my sensitivities, my ways of being in my body. This song is a mantra to allow myself space to experience my gender, love, intimacy, and sexuality on my own terms.”
new song SULA (Paperback) out now everywhere! produced by me & Kamaria Woods, guitar by @jcanavanmusic, inspired by Toni Morrison’s novel of the same name 🖤
Charlotte Day Wilson has somehow managed to acquire the coveted recipe for sonic success, consisting of the following compounded elements: the emotive prose of a celebrated folk songwriter, unique vocal capabilities– unobtainable by us mere peasants– and equal parts both heart and soul. Whether the artist made a deal with the devil in exchange for her creative gifts is yet to be determined; Wilson steers her metaphorical wagon down her own musical lane, taking alternative routes to the final destination: The Feels. In this week’s continuation of Sad Girl Summer, we’re covering Wilson’s most recent release, a transcendental single two-pack: “Take Care Of You” and “Summertime.”
Produced by Wilson and Jack Ro, the singles are an auditory expedition, with whispering acoustic instrumentation progressing into layered and augmented swells. On “Take Care Of You,” Wilson is joined by Syd, best known as the front-person for R&B collective, The Internet. The song is a sobering plea for vulnerability and trust, a delicate topic to broach with any relationship flight risk.
Wilson balances coping with the detachment from a romantic partner and welcoming the almighty villains of interpersonal relationships: time and distance with “Summertime.” The track gives us a sample tasting of the specific breed of confusion often only found in love, leaving us in a mental fog long after the song’s breathy outro. The track is short, coming in at two minutes and thirty-two seconds, and begs to be repeated.
With a catalog chalked full of collaborative efforts with the likes of Daniel Caesar, BADBADNOTGOOD, and KAYTRANADA, the vocalist surpasses others in the game with a trained yet subdued passion and funereal gloominess. The singles come almost a full year after Wilson’s 2019 single, soulful and somber “Mountains,” which continues to be in TGG’s regular rotation. The artist has yet to release a full-length, so here’s hoping this dual drop is foreshadowing the artist’s album debut.
“‘Lost In Paradise’ was a specific vibe we produced based on the song I wrote about my life and experiences recently– feeling unsure about my future and not really enjoying myself in the city I live in.”
From Tulsa, OK, Whesli was met with a cultural shift when she moved to Los Angeles to pursue music. The independent songwriter released her soulful single, “Lost In Paradise” in June. The track is a wake-up call, with somber lyrics like “Guess I’m swimming in a shallow ocean/ My comfort don’t comfort me” and upbeat production converging to create a very specific breed of song– the type of song fit for your early morning drive to a new job on a beautiful summer morning, only to be met with stop-and-go traffic. Hopeful but anxious.
“I write about experiences that are very personal and real to me, mostly as a therapeutic way of dealing with my emotions, but also on the off chance that someone might be able to relate to what I’m saying and not feel so alone with their emotions.”
Sometimes, we miss something we never really had; the record’s homesick feeling isn’t directed towards Whesli’s hometown so much as a home she’s yet to find. When asked where the longing for familiarity on “Lost In Paradise” stems from, the songwriter told The Greater Good, “I wouldn’t even say that the song is about missing my ‘home,’ because sometimes I don’t even know where that is. But it’s just feeling like where you are right now isn’t ‘it.’ Just waking up and not remembering why you’re doing what you’re doing, in a place that can feel really cold at times, just feeling unsure about everything.”
The artist announced the single’s release on Instagram, crediting the likes of audio engineer Damien Lewis and producer Daniel Perback.
The record’s production is atmospheric of Sad Girl Summer. “We wanted it to have these warm vibes that reflect a lot of Los Angeles mixed with this underlying coldness and uncertainty a lot of people have living in big cities,” Whesli explains, “You’re around a lot of people but can still feel alone. And I had this feeling and idea for the song for a while, the verse and the chorus, but the song didn’t really click and come together until a pretty dramatic event made me almost lose somebody,” she continues, “which made everything else feel pretty insignificant in comparison to having this person in my life. That’s when I finished the pre-chorus, which basically is saying, all these other things in life are great and can be fun and all, but what really matters is you.”
Growing up as a preacher’s daughter, Whesli has always found herself around music. The artist spoke of her journey to her sound, saying, “I basically just fell in love with all kinds of music and digested any and all music that spoke to me. From there, the natural step was to pick up a guitar and try to see if I could imitate what I heard. And not long after, the music became an escape and a way for me to express my emotions and what was on my mind.” The artist picked up that guitar and performed a particularly lovely rendition of The Beatles’s “Blackbird” for her Youtube channel in 2015.
Whesli describes herself as “free spirited when it comes to my art. My journey, like many others, has consisted of highs and lows– trying to figure myself and my music out, but I feel very positive about where I’m heading.” We feel very positive about where this insightful songwriter is headed, too.
Listen to “Lost In Paradise” now and keep your peepers peeled for Whesli in the future.
