Staff Picks: Best Songs of the Week May 2nd - May 8th

"Days before the release of her fifth studio album, Train on the Island, Aldous Harding dropped the album's closer as her final single, "Coats." The indie-folk track shows the fingerprints of John Parish, her longtime co-producer, its intimate and bare arrangement leaving space for the tense, almost menacing harmonies between Harding and H. Hawkline. Harding's voice, even as it shifts into a huskier alto, is fragile and almost straining; yet it doesn't waver as she sings eccentric lyrics like "Big thick coats on the dogs of people just trying to help." It's cinematic in its progression, examining how people can both protect and conceal."

"Chaka Khan is an established legend, but sometimes icons have to shout their achievements from the rooftops. With her latest single "Chakzilla," the funk pioneer is underscoring her status as one of the greatest to ever do it. The song title and music video are based on the Godzilla franchise, and it makes for an incredibly entertaining, cheesy time. Over production that manages to sound both refreshingly relevant and true to Chaka's era, the singer wields her renowned vocals, as unabashed and free as she ever was. "I know that I am great," Chaka belts brightly. "I'm a giant.""

"Deante' Hitchcock released his latest album, Junkie in the Sun, on May 6th. The project sees the Atlanta rapper and songwriter astutely dissecting the calamities of life, and how we're moving through it collectively and individually. "Smile You're on Camera" is a sobering look at the relationship between humans and the optics of s"

Aldous Harding released “Coats” as the final single before Train on the Island, presenting intimate indie-folk arrangements shaped by John Parish and featuring tense harmonies and fragile, strained vocals. The song’s eccentric lyrics examine how people can protect while also concealing. Chaka Khan’s “Chakzilla” draws on the Godzilla franchise through its title and music video, delivering an entertaining, cheesy funk statement supported by production that feels both relevant and true to her era. Deante' Hitchcock’s “Smile You're on Camera” comes from Junkie in the Sun and focuses on life’s calamities and how people move through them together and individually, including the relationship between humans and the optics of being seen.

Read at Consequence