Faronheit | A Chicago Centric Music Blog

Today’s Pick Your Poison is overflowing with goodnewss, so I’ve chosen to highlight three songs at the top that hit hardest on my emotional register. If you’re not deep into Cuco already, “Feelings” is a great entry point into his world. I’ve always admired Kelly Lee Owens for her introspective take on electronic music, because it’s clear she puts a lot of time and care into generating nuanced and beautiful songs you can also dance to. Then there’s Luke Temple, who’s back recording and releasing music under his own name after projects like Here We Go Magic and the pseudonym Art Feynman. His song “Wounded Brightness” is simply stunning folk music. Keep going past the jump and you’ll find even more songs from artists such as Bronze Whale, Fly Pan Am, Gaffa Tape Sandy, Lil Nas X, Poppy, Saint Daniel, Sunbathers, Youth Sector, and more!

Cuco – Feelings

Kelly Lee Owens – Let It Go

Luke Temple – Wounded Brightness

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A fresh track from Bazzi leads off today’s Pick Your Poison, which also includes a guest spot from 21 Savage. Keeping the guest parade going is Common, who shares a new song with Daniel Caesar and J Dilla that’s also a sequel to his classic “I Used to Love HER”. Rounding out the highlights is a song from Editors, who I’ve felt are sort of like the UK cousins of Interpol. Follow along through the jump for even more new music from notables like Alec Benjamin, Bad Honey, Burna Boy, Duncan Fellows, Justice Skolnik (ft. Sarah Reeves), Kamandi, Kevin George, LYAM, and Pat Lok (ft. Luke Burr).

Bazzi – Focus (ft. 21 Savage)

Common – HER Love (ft. Daniel Caesar & J Dilla)

Editors – Frankenstein

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Honestly, there are so many great tracks in today’s Pick Your Poison that just the three highlights at the top won’t cut it. You need to dive deep into this thing, and absorb all of the greatness. But if you push me to choose, a new track from Free Nationals (who you may know from their work with Anderson .Paak) bwith special guests Mac Miller (RIP) and Kali Uchis should definitely be worth your time. It’s great to have Maria Usbeck back with the first taste of a new record due out later this summer. And who could turn down a song from Tycho, who brings Saint Sinner in as a special guest. Again, you should explore beyond the jump for more music from Angela Perley, Carmen Villain, Cold Hart, EMBRS (ft. All Tvvins), Flume (ft. London Grammar), Joey Ochoa, Rose Dorn, Tuxedo (ft. Benny Sings), and Watgood.

Free Nationals – Time (ft. Mac Miller & Kali Uchis)

Maria Usbeck – Amor Anciano

Tycho – Japan (ft. Saint Sinner)

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It’s been a minute since we last heard from Bad Books, so you could say it’s nice to hear they’re back with a new song (available below). Former Majical Cloudz vocalist Devon Welsh also has something new in the works, and the first single “Faces” is quietly powerful stuff. And while I’ve somewhat struggled to connect with music from LP in the past, I’m really enjoying her latest song. You can find even more after the jump, including tracks from BabyJake, deM atlaS (ft. Atmosphere), Dominic Fike, Kash Doll (ft. Lil Wayne), Kiana Lede, Lipphead, TJ Porter, and more.

Bad Books – UFO

Devon Welsh – Faces

LP – Shaken

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Days like today make it super fun to assemble a fresh edition of Pick Your Poison. There’s so much great new music being released that I’m excited to share it with you! That includes a cover of Kesha’s praying by artist to watch Sir Babygirl, who accompanied the track with an essay about how the song helped her through a particularly rough time dealing with trauma and abuse. There’s also the return of Tei Shi, who changes things up by moving from synth pop into something a bit quieter and more bossa nova in style. Then Chicago’s own Whitney unveil their first new single after a couple of years away from the spotlight. Great to hear them back in action and sounding like their effortlessly smooth selves. You can find plenty more music after the jump, including tracks from Aan, GoldLink (ft. Tyler, The Creator & Jay Prince), Jon Bourney, Mirrorball, Slotface, Tunde Olaniran, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Yung Bae, and more!

Sir Babygirl – Praying (Kesha cover)

Tei Shi – A Kiss Goodbye

Whitney – Giving Up

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The full list (well, minus 2-3) of Lollapalooza aftershows has been released. If you’re not familiar with Lolla aftershows, they are a series of concerts that take place at various Chicago venues each night after the festival wraps up at 10pm. They typically go late into the evening and feature artists performing in much smaller settings than they normally would. For example, Death Cab for Cutie will be playing an aftershow at Metro, which has a capacity of about 1,100 people. You can check out the full list below, and if you’re interested, tickets for all shows go on sale this Friday at 10am CT.

You can find Japanese Breakfast at Lollapalooza this year, and also playing an aftershow at Lincoln Hall. She’s also recorded a cover of the Tears for Fears classic “Head Over Heels” that’s part of today’s edition of Pick Your Poison. Other highlights today come from artists to watch Haybaby and Stef Chura. Please look into their music further if you enjoy the songs below! Outside of those three, there’s more music after the jump from Arthur Moon, Brijean, Coloray, Deanna Petcoff, Goldroom (ft. Mereki), Grey (ft. Robinson), Possible Humans, and more!

Haybaby – Animosity

Japanese Breakfast – Head Over Heels (Tears for Fears cover)

Stef Chura – Scream

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Let’s wrap up May with some really cool tracks as the weather finally starts to get hot. Having a numbers-only band name can be a little odd and tough to search for, but 0171 make the minor inconvenience worth it with their latest single. I’m always excited when Kate Tempest comes back with new music, because she’s such an extremely talented and dexterous poet, rapper, and lyricist. Prepare for her next album with a new track below. Toss in an addictive new one from Summer Cannibals as well for good measure, and things are shaping up quite nicely. But wait, there’s more! Cruise on past the jump for additional tracks from Aan, Alxndr London, Coucheron (ft. Sval), NF, Maude Latour, Monomotion, Seb Wildblood, Skilton Avenue, and even more.

0171 – Red Light

Kate Tempest – Holy Elixir

Summer Cannibals – Can’t Tell Me No

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Say hello to the Riot Fest 2019 lineup! The Chicago-based festival will be celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, and they’ve spared no expense at booking a strong lineup of rock bands that includes Blink-182, Slayer’s final Chicago performance, and a reunited Bikini Kill as headliners. Plenty more excellence in the undercard as well, including The Raconteurs, Rise Against, The Flaming Lips, Jawbreaker, Ween, Bloc Party, Die Antwoord, Patti Smith, Rancid, Violent Femmes, Descendents, The B-52s, Dashboard Confessional, The Struts, Bob Mould, and many more! Obviously the lineup poster is below and you know how to read, so give it a quick look! Tickets are on sale now for a pretty inexpensive $130, but prices will go up over time so the earlier you buy the better. Riot Fest 2019 takes place from September 13-15 in Chicago’s Douglas Park.

Today’s Pick Your Poison might not feature any Riot Fest artists, but there’s still plenty of great music to enjoy. Highlights come from courtship., Tourist, and Trippie Redd, but that’s definitely not all. Journey beyond the jump for songs from Ash Walker (ft. Laville), Bones & Fifty Grand, Curbi, HAN, Hanne Hukkelberg, Johari Noelle, Kemba, Lil Keed (ft. YNW Melly & Lil Uzi Vert), and Theo Bard.

courtship. – Guy Stuff

Tourist – Elixir

Trippie Redd – Under Enemy Arms

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After a long 3-day holiday weekend, it’s nice to get right back into the action with a brand new edition of Pick Your Poison. Plenty of good stuff to share, including highlights from The Appleseed Cast, Esther Rose, and Young Thug (ft. J. Cole & Travis Scott). Keep on going after the jump for additional tracks from Black Grapefruit, Fletcher, Hey Violet, IDK, La Felix (ft. Max Green), The Score, Sorcha Richardson, Underworld, and more!

The Appleseed Cast – Time the Destroyer

Esther Rose – Only Loving You

Young Thug – The London (ft. J. Cole & Travis Scott)

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Garage band Dumb leads off this edition of Pick Your Poison with a breezy track that’s great for the start of the summer season. EDM stalwarts Gramatik & Big Gigantic take things up a notch with a wild collaboration that’ll get you moving. Then experimental folk artist Jesca Hoop returns with a new song off her forthcoming album. All are worth a listen, as are the songs you can find after the jump, including ones from Bedroom, Jordan Klassen, Jordan Rakei, Llovers, Max Styler (ft. Alex Hosking), Outer Spaces, Pascale Project, Rynx (ft. Mainland), and Strange Ranger.

Dumb – Content Jungle

Gramatik & Big Gigantic – Better Believe It Now

Jesca Hoop – Red White and Black

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One of my favorite things about Pick Your Poison is the ability to feature some excellent songs and artists that you might not have heard of before. That’s very much true today, and if you’re not familiar with B Boys, Goldroom, or Stef Chura, now’s the perfect time to dig into their music! Press play on any of the three tracks at the top here and get a feel for their sound and if they might be for you. Of course there’s always more, and if you journey past the jump you’ll find more songs from AKA Lui, Asquith, Athlete Whippet, boerd, Miss Red, Sean Kennedy, Same Girls, Silverbacks, and Slayyyter.

B Boys – I Want

Goldroom – U (ft. Chela)

Stef Chura – Sweet Sweet Midnight (ft. Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest)

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