In partnership with Denon
Music is intensely personal. So then, why isn’t every listening experience? I’ve been using the Denon PerL Pro earbuds to test out some of my current favourite tracks and have been blown away by the level of detail and personalisation that they deliver. These new earbuds feature a unique technology that creates a custom sound profile specifically tailored to your own hearing, and it’s really quite special. This feature makes every instrument sound more distinct and present, and elevate the tunes that we’re obsessed with at the moment…
The artist I’m loving right now…
Griff
In my mind, Griff is the UK’s next great pop star. There’s a lot of Lorde in her emotional and clever lyrics, and she’s as adept at being a producer as she is a pop star and performer, making almost everything from scratch in her bedroom.
Her new EP ‘Vertigo vol. 1’ has been on constant rotation for me in recent weeks – “You’re scared of love? Well aren’t we all…” she says to a non-committal partner on the storming title track – and her songs have the perfect mix of emotional depth and instant pop appeal. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
The artist that helps me unwind…
Gia Margaret
Gia Margaret’s story is a fascinating one. After her singer-songwriter debut album from 2018, she faced the loss of her voice and made her next album – 2020’s ‘Mia Gargaret’ – a completely instrumental ambient record out of necessity. This unavoidable change has totally transformed (and in my mind improved) her music, and this year’s ‘Romantic Piano’ is even better, a gorgeous and meditative series of piano vignettes. It’s been my go-to this year if I ever need to slow my mind down.
A classic record I’ve recently discovered…
William Basinski – ‘The Disintegration Loops’
In recent years, I’ve become increasingly obsessed with ambient music, and my path through Brian Eno, Grouper and more led me to William Basinski and his one-of-a-kind records from 2002 and 2003. Completed in Basinski’s Brooklyn apartment on the morning 9/11, the pieces have taken on a narrative of a broken nation trying to heal, done so through music that literally disintegrates as it plays the same loop over and over. Now, if I ever have a spare hour, I put on ‘dlp 1.1’ and disappear into it. Catch me down the front when he plays it in full at next year’s Primavera Sound in Barcelona.
The artist I’m most excited for in 2024…
Master Peace
If any new artist is going to take the Indie Sleaze revival and turn it into something actually exciting and forward-thinking, it’s Master Peace. He’s influenced by all your ‘00s favourites but his energy is all his own. Debut album ‘How To Make A Master Peace’ is out next March and full of delightfully drunken beats and endless hooks. If all is right in the world, he’ll be a star by the end of 2024.