Welcome to the February edition of Beats Per Minute’s monthly playlist BPM Curates.
The year’s second month is home to Valentine’s Day, which is supposed to be a day of love – but the feelings that arise around it can be far more complex. And as for the rest of the month, well, let’s say there hasn’t always been a lot of bonhomie going around. Whatever your needs for your feelings, we’re sure to have it covered in this bumper BPM Curates – whether it’s 19 minute towering rockers, graceful acoustic beauties or polychromatic electronic dreams or something else entirely, it’s bound to be here.
Below is the track list and some notes from our team about why they’ve selected them for this month’s playlist.
Avery Friedman – “Photo Booth”
Brooklyn musician Avery Friedman documents a night out with friends on “Phone Booth”, an energetic synth romp that trades in neon-lit memories and primal impulses. The guitars feel washed out and just slightly off-center, her voice voice a suggestion more than a command. Come join the midnight parade and loosen your inhibitions. There’s a joyous feel to the track, as if this night is made just for emotional release and overwhelming sensation. It’s rolling waves carry you along, a companion to Friedman’s wide-eyed acceptance of everything the evening offers. A fuzzy haze settles across the music, our perspective tinted by honey-colored glasses. We’re both witness to, and participant of, the grace of the night, and for a short while, the world and its needless burdens are forgotten and cast aside. – Joshua Pickard
Baby Nova – “Killed For Sport”
Canadian artist Baby Nova explores the dark subject of social media trolling on this gripping song that features one of the most distinctive new voices in pop. – Larry McClain
Beirut – “Guericke’s Unicorn”
The world thought it was a unicorn – and it was – until it wasn’t. The Guericke Unicorn lingers in history, mysterious and misunderstood. The same can be said of Beirut, the project helmed by Zach Condon, which has long been tied to faded grandeur and old-world whimsy – an image he had resisted, until he could no longer. “Guericke’s Unicorn” from his upcoming album, A Study of Losses, now finds him embracing these very clichés he resisted, leaning deep into the imagery, time, and atmosphere listeners have always tethered to Beirut, as the song pulses with disbelief and delight, while blending melancholy and wonder in a way that feels both nostalgic and timeless. – Kyle Kohner
Daughter of Swords – “Money Hits”
Alex Sauser-Monnig is fed up with the social and personal inequities of late-stage capitalism. Her voice of protest is “Money Hits”, a song that tears apart the fallacies of accumulated wealth through a particularly buoyant pop aesthetic. Despite its loose-limbed rhythmic approach to societal imbalance, her words are pointed and barbed in their accusations. The cyclical melody works its way deep into your brain, refusing to budge and is continually inverting and twisting until it barely resembles what you first imagined. The ways in which she explores the whimsical nimbleness of her lyrics is a testament to her ability to paint a withering portrait of the desire for money while couching her anger in the loping uplift of indie pop’s innate effervescence. Underneath its bounding movements, “Money Hits” is a searing indictment of the reckless exploitation of the working class and our disregard for the natural world. – Joshua Pickard
DITZ – “britney”
DITZ’s new album Never Exhale might be a little uneven (personally, I like it a little better than my colleagues), but given its fragmentary history – songs written on the road, members absent for stretches of the sessions – it’s nonetheless an interesting document of a band that still holds the potential for a true masterpiece in them. Even if they haven’t quite yet reached the high barrier of the other Futurismus players whose sound they resemble – Gilla Band, Naked Lungs, Model/Actriz, Prostitute all come to mind – there’s enough good material on their second album to warrant a listen. If anything, it’s interesting to hear what is often a collision of the new-rave precedent UK indie-sound that quickly became lost to time – just think of Test Icicles – with the heavier, industrial energy of Futurismus.
The strange, strangulated “britney” is a good example. Starting out a slow, thumping ballad, it slowly crafts itself into a mean, grim noise-rock/blues bastard, demanding attention with its inherently vulgar bass sound and filthy guitar work. It’s an ideal closer to an album that at times still struggles with identity and form, bravely aiming for something that goes where it hurts! – John Wohlmacher
Doechii – “Nosebleeds”
When accepting her Grammy for “Best Rap Album”, Doechii used her speech to inspire artists who are told they’re too dark-skinned, uneducated, dramatic, and loud – but now she’d like you to sit the fuck back down. “Nosebleeds” is a victory lap with an altogether different tone and is directed at anyone who told her she was too black, stupid, emotional, and disrespectful. “Everybody wanted to know what Doechii would do if she didn’t win / I guess we’ll never…” is delivered with a Minaj-esque sneer while the beat – co-created with Jonas Jeberg – splashes swamp water and mosquitoes on the haters in her way and wake. – Steve Forstneger
emerson – “You Really Must Hate Me!”
This 17-year-old newcomer from New Zealand has the talent to become our next Sabrina Carpenter. “You Really Must Hate Me!” is an acoustic guitar-driven gem that’s instantly hooky and charming. – Larry McClain
FACS – “Sometimes Only”
For many, Wish Defense will mark their first brush with the mighty FACS. Rising from the ashes of Disappears (Steve Shelley’s former band), the three-piece recorded six albums in eight years, with most of them being intense sonic explorations between post-punk, shoegaze and krautrock – an absolute jewel of guitar music that explodes into wild flames during live performances. Returning to their original line-up, the band recorded their latest album with Steve Albini on his last two days on this Earth (minor overdubs and additional parts were recorded on one final, third day, the tape and Albini’s set-up still sitting and waiting where he had left off).
On “Sometimes Only”, frontman Brian Case finds a chiming guitar motive that is backed by the typically thundering Albini rhythm-section sound. The legendary engineer’s touch gives the track an especially dynamic polarity, between the stark geometry of concrete brutalism and the dynamic refraction of light within an opal. In its extended, four minute outro, the song blossoms into pure klang-form, as Case’s voice becomes overlaid, echoing doppelgänger filling the room and the drums slowly build up. FACS are one of the best guitar bands we have at the moment, and on “Sometimes Only”, a true giant crafted his final milestone with them. – John Wohlmacher
Flyte – “I’m Not There”
“Recorded live in a single take” might usually be reserved for breathless, immediate rock music, but with “I’m Not There” it becomes a metaphor for the intimacy with which Flyte singer Will Taylor empties his thoughts. Any music that evokes Bryter Later will have mental-health lurking in the shadows, but the loose and intuitive performance hints at Astral Weeks as well. Taylor’s tenor recalls a fragile Glen Hansard as do the sentiments: “Hiding little stains / Spinning in a circle / Tangling my strings / Standing in the hallway / Losing all my leaves”. – Steve Forstneger
Gabacho & Lester Rey – “Pedacito De Cielo”
Bursting open like the music for the title sequence of a Tarantino film, the muscular and mustachioed “Pedacito De Cielo” (a little bit of heaven) carries a surprising amount of emotional baggage. Gabacho – aka Mexican-Chicagoan Siul Esoj Reynoso – resumes his exploration of psychedelic, Latin rock and touches on not only Peruvian chicha but also classic salsa. The warped/submerged sensation is echoed in the lyrics. “No puedo respirar / debajo del mar”, Lester Rey sings (“I can’t breathe / under the sea”), confiding in his lover that he struggles with his day-to-day when she is not near. – Steve Forstneger
Hikaru Utada – “Electricity” (Arca Remix)
Chilean multi-talent Arca has already worked with luminaries from all over the globe so it was only a matter of time before she and Japanese legend Hikaru Utada fell into each other’s arms. Here, the producer remixed “Electricity”, one of the new songs from Utada’s recent greatest hits comp Science Fiction, pixelating it into a space-pop gem. Utada’s strident voice remains the vocal point, but is echoed and warped into a wall of Utadas – a powerful prospect. – Rob Hakimian
Jenny Hval – “To be a rose”
With her new song, “To be a rose”, from the upcoming Iris Silver Mist, Jenny Hval explores the elusive nature of memory. Accompanied by ephemeral instrumentation, including an adventurous but grounded percussion part, she paints an impressionistic portrait of her mother “on the balcony / … over our dead-end town / smoke moving delicately / dreaming up the summer air”. Lyrics and sonics meld to render a sense of ever-shifting reality. Even if Hval can’t permanently grasp the fragrance of a potent recollection, she can appreciate it as it wafts by, vanishing as quickly and unexpectedly as it arrived. – John Amen
Julien Baker & TORRES – “Tuesday”
Promoting their upcoming album, Send a Prayer My Way, Julien Baker & TORRES release their latest single, “Tuesday”. Led vocally by TORRES, the song offers a diaristic narrative regarding a relationship between the singer and another woman, whose conservative mother disapproves of their “sinful” connection. The singer lies about the nature of the relationship in order to appease the mom, but feels betrayed and flooded by shame, taking “a knife to the paper-thin skin on my arm”. The song addresses the way prejudice against same-sex relationships is still rampant. The tune also operates, however, as a way for the singer to process the experience and essentially let it go. Though capturing a real-life anguish, and featuring some heavy content, the song unfurls via a fairly ebullient melody and tongue-in-cheek tone. – John Amen
Kelela – “Furry Sings The Blues” (unplugged)
This is Kelela. Covering Joni Mitchell. And crushing it. She even – as tired as the phrase may be – makes it her own. That is all that needs to be said here. – Chase McMullen
Leni Black – “Growing Up Is Painful”
Nashville artist Leni Black still carries the hurt of high school bullying, but she’s turned those feelings into great art on “Growing Up Is Painful”, a song that has the timeless feel of the very best of Carole King and Taylor Swift. – Larry McClain
Lily Seabird – “It was like you were coming to wake us back up”
Memories are wonderful and painful things. On “It was like you were coming to wake us back up”, Lily Seabird manages to find a balance, a common thread, that connects these disparate feelings. The skeletal folk-rock structure she works with here is in service to the remembrance of a friend who passed away, her electric guitar and voice encircling one another as she recalls the details of the departed. Soon enough, the band comes in, and the track grows in volume and emotional reckoning. Small details are clutched like precious sacraments. She watches as this friend rides up a hill, a spectral vision of friendship and affection persisting. We’re eventually in full-on rock mode, the ache of her absence merging with the joyous recollections of their time together. Seabird embraces the pain and the happiness, the song acting as both tribute and monument to a life surrounded by love. – Joshua Pickard
Maria Somerville – “Garden”
Maria Somerville released a wondrous and teasing mini-album All My People in 2019 and the announcement of her signing to 4AD shortly after came as no surprise given the promise it showed. However, after that she just seemed to disappear… lost in the fog of one of her hazy productions. Well, now the Irish artist’s emerged and a new album called Luster is arriving in April. “Garden”, the second single from it, displays a more muscled-up approach to her atmospheric stylings, leaning heavily on the shoegaze sounds of greats gone by – and she has the poise to pull it off. A yearning, irresistible beauty, “Garden” makes clear that Luster will be worth the wait – but these final weeks of waiting will be torture. – Rob Hakimian
Model/Actriz – “Cinderella”
“Cinderella” sees the New York noise-punks Model/Actriz double-down on the frantic energy fans first came to love on their debut album Dogsbody. Chiseled strums scrape at lead singer Cole Haden’s insecurities and his haughty defenses. “Astonishing / Utterly divine / Exhilarating / Preciously sublime,” he says in exasperated deadpan. He’s in awe of the person he’s with, someone who’s so astonishingly themselves that he feels he can’t keep up.
Haden rises to the occasion nonetheless. He offers up a painful childhood moment: the wish for a Cinderella birthday party, only to change his mind at the last minute. “I was quiet, alone, and devastated,” he admits – a phrase queers of all ages have probably used to describe themselves. Like Haden’s lyrical admission, “Cinderella” is a worthy accomplishment; a four-minute thriller that’s manic, dizzying, and undeniably groovy. It’s a wonder any of us can keep up. – Carlo Thomas
and because “Cinderella” was so popular in BPM HQ this month, we’ve got a second write up…
Get ready to feel filthy as fuck and have a sad cum, bb. Model/Actriz are back, and they are astonishing, utterly divine, exhilirating and preciously divine. “Cinderella” is the first taste of their sophomore LP, Pirouette, out in May, and, at first, it feels like more of the same: metallic clicks, motorik pulse, dance-rock rhythm and the damaged/sexy baritone of Cole Haden sing-speaking about the transformative power of being with the person he’s addressing. But the track harbours an almost sentimental vulnerability that becomes apparent after Haden admits to wanting a Cinderella birthday party as a child; this is a love song more than a lust song, and it’s tenderly beautiful in its own particular way. “I won’t leave as I came” Haden insists. On this evidence, listeners won’t be the same after hearing Pirouette in its entirety either. – Andy Johnston
Ostraca – “Song for a Closed Door”
Hey, have you been enjoying the new Deafheaven tracks? You know they are and have always been basically a screamo band. You know what else? There’s a hell of a lot of amazing screamo being made in the world right now. One of the bands that’s been making some of the best screamo is Virginia’s Ostraca, who put out an incredible album called Disaster back in 2023, and are returning with a new EP, Eventualities, this April. “Song for a Closed Door” is the opening track and it’s a moving, post-rock-inflected epic that still finds plenty of time to smash everything to rubble. These three guys know how to make a track sound positively gargantuan and “Song for a Closed Door” is no exception; it builds slowly, embellished with tasteful piano, before exploding into glorious cacophony. If you liked last year’s Obsidian Wreath by fellow Virginians Infant Island, you will love what Ostraca are doing here. – Andy Johnston
Swans – “I Am a Tower”
With their latest sprawling epic, the 19-minute “I Am a Tower”, Swans embrace a familiar yet ever-intriguing playbook. Masters of pacing, and adept at mining the overlap between the epic and the schmaltzy, Michael Gira and crew revel in the rumbly progressions, sinister drones, and well-placed accents we’ve come to expect. Gira occasionally resembles some pagan hierophant spewing mandates from an alpine cliff, his minions huddled in the rocky valley (“I am gathering souls I am gathering your scabs / I am the best fucking fuck that you never will have”). Around the nine-minute mark, the track shifts in tone, retreating from the ferocity of the opening half and adopting a more buoyant and spacious feel. If the first half evoked the subterrestrial, the second conjures the stratospheric. If the first was about death and destruction, the second is more related to birth and regeneration. In this way, the track is a study in opposites and functions as a sonic diptych. The closing unfurls as an integrative chorus, Gira repeating “I Am a Tower”, his voice and the driving music conjuring a sublime blend of humility and braggadocio, embodiment and transcendence, megalomania and self-erasure. – John Amen
tamsen – “crazy frog is just a normal frog to me”
The Austin, TX emoviolence act tamsen put out their self-titled debut EP on Sans Soleil Records near the beginning of February, and if nothing else, proved they have excellent song title naming skills (e.g. “a raven has eaten your face!”). The middle point of their perfectly formed EP is “crazy frog is just a normal frog to me” – a grin-inducingly gnarly punk-rocker that twists and contorts itself into a giddy screamo mess of pummeling riffs, throat-ruining vocals and crashing drums. The final breakdown riff vibrates with black-metal malice and sends you on your way with the kind of feeling you used to get from the likes of Orchid and pg.99. No wonder crazy frog feels pedestrian to these guys. – Andy Johnston
Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack – “SO ALIVE!!”
There’s still these rare moments when you stumble across an album, completely out of nowhere, and find a hidden treasure that sounds like a future classic! On Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over, Montreal artist Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack, aka Timothy Raja de Reuse, sounds as if somebody had Scott Walker collaborate with Spirit of the Beehive, The Murder Capital and Circuit des Yeux! It’s a thrilling, vibrant, sprawling art rock album that only few people seem to have noticed.
On the thrilling “SO ALIVE!!”, de Reuse imagines a heartbreaking story of queer loneliness and murder, imagining himself as the murderer of a lover, but being drawn back to the corpse, observing purple insects that suddenly take and body and lift it to the heavens. His lyricism here is astonishing and deeply touching in its imagery: “They took him skyward by the scruff of his neck / And left me heavy on the earth / I think these days / People don’t die the way people are meant to / They stay in suspension or they just never were/ What grand bargain did he enter / To never decompose? / I am just power of will only blood spit and filth / And none of my wonders are carved in stone”. This year’s first unheard masterpiece, a true revelation! – John Wohlmacher
Yetsuby – “FLY”
Seoul-based producer and DJ Yetsuby is gearing up for the release of a new album in just a few weeks’ time, right as spring takes over and “FLY” is set to be a perfect soundtrack for those first excursions outside with some skin bared beneath the lightly glowing sun. A dizzying array of dappled electronics, low-key beats and an insistently hypnotic little sound (for lack of a better word) give this one the swagger and smell of fresh and fragrant air. – Rob Hakimian
Listen to our BPM Curates: February 2025 playlist here.
