Every week, Vulture highlights the best new music. If the song is worthy of your ears and attention, you will find it here. Read our picks below, share yours in the comments, and subscribe to the Vulture Playlist for a comprehensive guide to the year’s best music.
Courtney Barnett, “How to Boil an Eggâ€
While we’re still waiting on an official announcement for the follow-up to Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett’s 2015 debut LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, this week gave us a (kind of) new bit of Barnett: A recently recorded version of one of her oldest songs, which had never been released until now. Sonically evoking a freshly electric, mid-’60s Bob Dylan (think “Subterranean Homesick Bluesâ€), the tune has some great zings: “You have a great abundance of axes there to grind / Remember some people have real problems next time you whine.†Hopefully, it’ll also get people checking out the rest of the music on Barnett’s Milk! Records, which released it as part of a collaboration with Brisbane-based Bedroom Suck Records. —Gabe Cohn (@gabescohn)
Harry Styles, “From the Dining Tableâ€
Laugh all you want at the masturbation line in the opening of this sentimental song — “Woke up alone in this hotel room / Played with myself, where were you?†— you can’t fault the kid for being honest. I shouldn’t call Harry Styles a kid. He’s 23 and has made as adult of an album as a first solo album post-boy-band era gets. He wanders into a lot of uncharted territory on this album, whether it’s remembering sexual dalliances or maturely burying dead relationships, even the idea of them. The closing track, “From the Dining Room Table,†slips back into old One Direction traps — longing after a lost love or the missed opportunity to get that far — but it does it elegantly and without frills, as the feeling is best presented. This song banks on Harry’s voice (it’s got only an acoustic guitar and the brief emergence of violins), which is a lot of pressure for someone who’s had to share the mic with four other dudes for his whole career. From the sound of that soaring falsetto (and the shocking ease with which he delivers it), he’s been holding back all this time. —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)
Fleet Foxes, “Fool’s Errandâ€
“Fool’s Errand†only runs about half the length of the last single from the Fleet Foxes’ upcoming third record, but it’s just as much of a journey. An unusual synthesized string section kicks off the track, before Robin Pecknold takes center stage, singing verses that repeat the line, “What have I got if not a thought?†It’s a bizarre-sounding track, even before the final minute, in which the lush verses and choruses pare down to an a cappella lullaby, followed by solo piano. The group is known for staggering, larger-than-life harmonies and layered instrumentation, but it’s these smaller moments that keep them human. —GC
Girlpool, “Your Heartâ€
Bands like Girlpool are essential because they present the best depiction of what it’s like being in the pressure cooker of teenage hysteria, even after you’ve exited that age. “Your Heart,†though, is a song for any time — it’s a rush of emotions that drowns you when you’re enamored of someone that never really goes away, though it’s amplified when you’re young and experiencing the sensation for the first time. “Your Heart†is not a love song, but it does examine the confusing process of falling hard when it all started off so high. —DL
Gourmet, “Deliciousâ€
“I’m covered in syrup, but I’m delicious. Yeah, I’m delicious.†That’s the line that sends us into the chorus of “Delicious,†a song you could easily file under “superficial club poptronica,†which is definitely something I just made up. If you loved the indulgent stream-of-consciousness, lazy flow of Mickey Avalon, and have been looking for something to fill the “So Rich, So Prettyâ€â€“size hole in your heart, Gourmet has made this dish for you. Put on your favorite Juicy tracksuit and dig out that old Miroir Louis Vuitton bag, because it’s time to party like you’re Paris Hilton again. —Jordan Crucchiola (@jorcru)