Sufjan Stevens - No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross

It's been five years since Sufjan Stevens released The Age Of Adz.  Five years before that, Sufjan released Illinois, so it only makes sense that he would choose this year to release his upcoming album, Carrie & Lowell.  Today, you can hear the first sampling of Carrie & Lowell.  "No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross" is the album's penultimate track and shows Sufjan going back to a stripped down folk-oriented sound.  Gone are the Adz beats and electronic elements of Enjoy Your Rabbit.  Check it out below...

The Soundtrack Of My Life's Top 25 Albums Of 2014

25. Kylie Minogue - Kiss Me Once

24. Neon Trees - Pop Psychology

23. Haunted Hearts - Initiation
22. Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction

21. Spoon - They Want My Soul
20. 2NE1 - Crush

19. Beck - Morning Phase

18. Röyksopp & Robyn - Do It Again

17. The Drums - Encyclopedia

16. Dum Dum Girls - Too True

15. Kiesza - Sound Of A Woman

14. RAC - Strangers

13. Taylor Swift - 1989

12. Lykke Li - I Never Learn

11. Bleachers - Strange Desire

10. Betty Who - Take Me When You Go

9. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

8. Karen O - Crush Songs 

7. Trust - Joyland

 

6. La Roux - Trouble In Paradise

5. Imogen Heap - Sparks

4. Banks - Goddess

3. St. Vincent - St. Vincent

2. Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines

1. Beyoncé - Beyoncé

Grace Jones - Original Beast

Lorde is basically friends with all the cool people.  And by cool people, I mean all the musical legends and icons that you love.  First there was that picture of her casually hanging out with David Bowie and Tilda Swinton and now she's managed to get Grace Jones on the Lorde-curated Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack.  Let's not even talk about the fact that she chose to exclude a new David Lynch track from the album.

The new Grace song is called "Original Beast" and it's this insane electo-tribal attack.  Her vocals are eerie and savage, and it's pretty much the perfect Grace Jones contribution to a highly successful young adult novel-to-film adaptation that you never asked for.  What even is this world that we're living in?

Tiga - Bugatti

Tiga has created the true earworm sequel to "Shoes".  There's really not much else to say about this new single, since the otherworldly video speaks for itself.  It's like some hypnotic trance that will become imbedded within your brain, and before you know it, you'll be sporadically shouting "BUGATTI" at random intervals throughout the day.  Enjoy your new and improved life.

The Drums - I Can't Pretend

The Drums released their third album Encyclopedia last month, and I'm not quite sure why, but it's received a somewhat mellow response.  They've narrowed down the band lineup to a duo and switched up their sound ever so slightly, but the record is pretty fantastic.  One of the highlights is "I Can't Pretend", a bouncing single that already sounds like a Drums classic.