10 Songs and 8 Projects From February '21 to Check Out

Above: R&B duo VanJess, featured in this article for their new project "Homegrown", photographed by Michael Watson II.

BY MATTHEW CHAMBERS & Daniel Bernas

Just like 2020, 2021 has started out strong with the music that have been released.​ Across all genres, great things are being released - but sometimes it's too much to keep up with! That's where we come in. Here are ten of our favorite songs and eight of our favorite projects from February '21.

If there are any songs or projects you would like us to spotlight, submit them on this Google Form and we will listen to each one!

Projects

slowthai – ​TYRON
The second full-length album from British UK hip hop artist slowthai, TYRON shows slowthai at both his cockiest and his most abashed. Split into two parts, this album ranges from high-energy bangers such as "MAZZA" to more introspective, subdued songs such as "feel away" that reflect his emotions towards the both personal and public reckonings he has had to face in the past year. Deeply personal and super enjoyable, it is well worth your time to give TYRON a spin.

Mogwai – As The Love Continues
Mogwai is back with their eighth full-length album, titled As The Love Continues. Known for their post-rock classics such as their 2006 album Mr. Beast, Mogwai returns to form on As The Love Continues with a powerful and atmospheric project that is sure to please longtime fans and new listeners.

VanJess – Homegrown
Sisters and R&B duo Ivanka and Jessica Nwokike (known as VanJess) have come through with an incredibly smooth and lush project this month, titled Homegrown. With features from artists such as producer KAYTRANADA and neo-soul artist Phony Ppl, any fan of R&B should check out this duo that are sure to blow up soon.

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
Four years after her critically acclaimed Turn Out The Lights, a slow-burning collection of depression ballads, Julien Baker continues the hype built from her successful collaboration with Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers as boygenius. Carried by classic indie rock and folk sounds, Baker’s songwriting is expansive, gut wrenching, yet strangely comforting on this record as her sound continues to evolve. Little Oblivions is arguably her best work yet and one of the highlights of February.

Isaac Dunbar – evil twin
On his third project, Isaac Dunbar continues to grow as an artist and showcase his talent as a songwriter. With evil twin, Dunbar is at his most self-assured as he experiments with new genres and sounds, such as on the abrasive yet addictive opener "pink party". Dunbar is still able to keep touch with and showcase his indie pop roots, though, like on "fan behavior", the perfect soundtrack for saying 'f– you' to your haters. With evil twin, Dunbar is truly his own and shows why he is able to stand apart as a rising star in the indie pop scene.

Black Dresses – Forever In Your Heart
On their first album post-disbandment, Ada Rook and Devi McCallion take their electro-industrial fusions into louder territories than ever before. Through the 15 song tracklist, they answer their own question poised on the first track, “can we make something beautiful with no hope?” It’s 48 minutes of hopeless beauty - or beautiful hopelessness? Either way, it’s some of the best ear fatigue February has to offer.

Danny L Harle – Harlecore
The refined take on the often tacky sounds of trance Danny L Harle presents on his Mad Decent debut follows years of building a name for himself as an all-star producer of PC Music, finding himself on records by the likes of Charli XCX, Hannah Diamond, Rina Sawayama and, most notably, Caroline Polachek. Harlecore treats the fist-pumping vapidity of classic styles of EDM with a prismatic lens, finding power in intellectual simplicity.

Black Mass – In Ferneaux
Consistent in taking a new sound with each album, in the way a major pop star switches aesthetics with each era, Benjamin Power’s fifth album as Blanck Mass is a synthwave odyssey, placing the listener in the protagonist position of a b-list 80s sci-fi flick. Born from isolation, the two 20 minute tracks build themselves around an archive of field recording from Power’s global travels over a decade. Its tension expands and releases itself into moments of soul-affirming sound domination and crushing clarities of calm.

Singles

Not only was February a good month for projects, many good singles were also released! The playlist to the left has a small sample of these tracks, ranging from singles for upcoming albums ("KIM" by Tkay Maidza & Yung Baby Tate, "Not Around" by Ritt Momney, "OOZ" by Peach Tree Rascals) to movie soundtrack singles ("Fight For You" by H.E.R., off of Judas and the Black Messiah). There is something ​for everyone in this short playlist, so give it a spin and let us know which songs you enjoyed the most!

If there are any songs or projects you would like us to spotlight, submit them on this Google Form and we will listen to each one!