Hell Is Hereditary

Ela Minus “Upwards”

“Upwards” is a pop song in the way the songs on Björk’s Post and Homogenic are pop songs – bold, catchy, and propulsive, but rendered with an eccentric palette and general indifference to how things are “supposed” to sound. It’s like the opposite of sugaring a bitter pill, but not the same as self-sabotage. The twists and turns and peculiar tones are essential to how Ela Minus delivers her most enticing hooks, and the harsh, angular stylishness of the production elevates a song that could be a more straightforward dance track. It’s not a pop song in goth/industrial drag, it’s a goth/industrial song with very angsty lyrics that happens to have strong bop tendencies.

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Mura Masa featuring Yeule “We Are Making Out”

It’s exciting to hear new electroclash songs that are just as good or better than the stuff that came out in the early 2000s. “We Are Making Out” is abrasive and raunchy on the surface, but upon closer inspection it’s all sentimental sweetness. This is literally a song about making out on the London Underground on the way to their snogging partner’s place. It’s about conveying the excitement of fresh lust, and the mystery of what comes next, though it isn’t that mysterious. The fourth verse is where Yeule really cranks up the sweetness by giving this scene a little context. How did they end up making out on the Underground? “Because you drew a picture of my heart on a guitar / accidentally said, ‘I love you.'”

Buy it from Bandcamp.