Thanks for subscribing to New Music for Olds. It’s a pleasure to be in your inbox. Yes, I know how that sounds.
This first edition of NMFO1 will be longer than future installments. My general complaint about newsletters is that they’re too damn long. But given that we’re all new here, I’ll need to be a bit explain-y up front.
First off, I sent out a “welcome letter” a few days ago. Check it out, if you’d like info on how this thing came to be and what to expect.
Next, a general FYI: Here at NMFO, we’ll be working with a semi-elastic definition of “new music”. If I feel compelled to include something released a few months or even a year ago, I will. My guess is, you’re fine with that and think it’s weird I’m even bringing it up. Get out of my head, me!
Finally, I’ll be using a few terms consistently from week to week (bi-week to bi-week?), so here’s a simple…
Glossary of terms
Nutshell: The genre or vibe, in ten words or less
Voltage: A handy 1 to 10 ease-of-listening scale, with 1 being ambient sleep music and 10 being death metal or free jazz. It’s an imperfect science, so think of this only as a timesaver. If you don’t enjoy aggressive music and you see an 8 or a 9 in this category, it prolly aint fer you.
Thoughts: What to listen for, if so inclined.
Pairing suggestion: The ideal setting for enjoying a particular song. For example, some songs are “snuggle with your dog on a rainy day” songs, while others are “stand triumphant atop a mountain of skulls” songs.
Let’s get to it!
GOOD STUFF
I picked a great week to start this thing. These three tunes are all, to use my native tongue2, wicked awesome.
OSKA, “Woodstock”
Album: My World, My Love, Paris
Nutshell: Romantic folk pop that will get stuck in your head
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: This song crawls into your ear and curls up like a warm puppy. It perfectly captures those early days in a relationship, when you blow off all your responsibilities to spend the day canoodling. It’s also an efficient piece of songwriting. Oska’s voice is delicate, but her sense of melody is confident and sophisticated. Not a wasted note. Immaculate production. Five stars.
Pairing suggestion: The chorus says it all: “Let’s stay here, under the covers, and never look up.”
That “famous image of lovers”
Tears for Fears, “The End of Night”
Album: The Tipping Point
Nutshell: The band you loved (perhaps?), reborn
Voltage: 5
Thoughts: “But wait,” sputtered the strawman. “I thought you said this was about new music. Those guys are only than me!” Well I don’t know what to tell ya, imaginary person I just invented. The new Tears for Fears album is really, really good. Roland and Curt’s voices sound untouched by time and every song sits in the pocket between their early synth stuff and the more organic sound they grew into later. Am I biased, given that my wife and I used “Head Over Heels” for our wedding processional? You be the judge!
Pairing suggestion: Joyfully splashing around in puddles right as the sun starts to peek out.
Trip Villain, “The Villain” (Album: Won)
Album: Won
Nutshell: Psychedelic stoner metal…with synthesizers!
Voltage: 8
Thoughts: I knew zilch about these guys when I clicked play—the cool cover art won out over the dumb name. Well, it’s been 48 hours now and I just got a Trip Villain lower back tattoo. If you cherish your balls (real or imagined), keep your distance, lest they get rocked off. The drumming is gloriously over the top and the guitar harmonics (you’ll know it when you hear it) are downright inspired. The song is extremely melodic, but it still feels heavier than most of that Cookie Monster3 stuff. Looooove. It.
Pairing suggestion: Emerging from a interplanetary lava pit and laying waste to civilizations
Third listen
FOR FANS OF… [Depeche Mode]
In this section, I’ll be recommending a currently-active4 artist that (hopefully) evokes one of your longtime faves. Not soundalikes, necessarily—just a band trying to achieve the same vibe. I’ll be pulling these from your suggestions, so if you have a cherished artist in mind, lemme hear it!
This first time out, I asked my best friend and former step-brother, Matt. We’ve been tight since junior high and exchanging music has always been a pillar of our friendship. You might even call it our Love Language5.
These days, Matt has real-life responsibilities6. So despite the fact that he graduated from music production school and worked as an audio engineer, he’s not as voracious a listener as he once was. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I’m writing NMFO with Matt in mind.
Matt’s suggestion was Depeche Mode, which is a great firstie, even while noting that Depeche Mode is still making music. Good music, in fact. I vacillated a bit, but the “new” artist I settled on was Drab Majesty.
Drab Majesty is mostly two dudes7 in LA, doing a modern take on goth pop. Scratch that, it’s not really a modern take—they’re straight up doing goth pop. Or “Dark Wave”, as it’s semi-commonly known. The shtick is laid on heavy and Drab Majesty might qualify as parody, if the songs weren’t so damn good. Here’s a few I like:
Drab Majesty is a bit dreamier than Depeche Mode, but the comparison is still apt, I think. It goes without saying that, when it comes to my attempts at musical association, results may vary. In fact, I now kinda recall that I played Matt a couple of Drab Majesty tracks and he was indifferent. Fuck me, right??
Anyhoo, that’s how this section of NMFO works. Let me know who I should try next!
SOME BULLSHIT
Generally speaking, this is the point in NMFO where you should feel fine to stop reading. People are busy! If I want to recommend a podcast or post a playlist, I’ll do it here. If I write a bit of music-related mirth or tomfoolery, here’s where you’ll find it.
Today, I’d like your advice.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t embedded music videos or band photos along with my song suggestions. That is intentional. Question is, is it misguided? To be clear, I have nothing against music videos—they almost literally raised me. You may even have heard tales of a young pudge in pleated khakis once winning a Toyota 4Runner on VH1’s Name That Video.
Still, I resist. Here’s my reasoning: In the context of this particular newsletter, photos and videos are bound to create generational dissonance. Most of the folks making great music right now are younger than you. That’s just the way it is. That’s one of the reasons folks stop consuming new music, I think. It’s not crazy that the sight of a wispy young thing traipsing around a Viennese rooftop might lead you to conclude “This is not for me.” Honestly, would you have given Drab Majesty a fair shake if you’d first seen this?
Conversely, watching your teenage faves drift into the deep end of the aging pool can also stir up some shit.
Those resentments-slash-insecurities never go away entirely, try as you may to snuff them out. Or is that just a me thing? Heck, if this newsletter takes off, genius young bands will one day be rightfully horrified to learn they’ve been featured in…something called New Music for Olds?? This is The Way.
But all that stuff is music-adjacent, at best. Music is what happens between your ears—everything else is culture8. So I find it helpful to go audio-only when evaluating a song for the first time. I trust my reactions more.
Plus, it’s hard to watch YouTube while walking your dog.
I’ll definitely be posting about music videos—good ones, weird ones, this one. But my plan is to do that down here, in the “Some Bullshit” section. But what do you think? Would you prefer me to include them with the audio clips?
I am aware that’s my second “call to action” in this newsletter. God as my witness, this newsletter won’t be a bunch of this shit:
But I’d welcome your input, given that you’ll be the one reading these things. All future attempts at engagement will be tasteful and relevant, scouts honor. And if they’re not, feel free to…let me know in the comments.
Oh by the way, it may be appropriate to mention that the Trip Villain video is hooooolyshiiiiiit amazing.
How do you like that? I buried the lede.
Okay, that’s a wrap on New Music for Olds #1. Paid subscribers, check your inbox next week. Everybody else, see you in a fortnight!
Can you use an acronym for something that barely exists? Is it like nicknames, where someone else has to do it first?
Massholian
There are good songs that use the “Death Growl”. I’m sure there must be.
Meaning they’ve released new music sometime in the past five years
I mean, please don’t. But you might.
Assuming you want to call Elder Scrolls a responsibility (I kid!)
Originally one dude, if I’m not mistaken.
No disrespect. Big ups to culture.
I absolutely would not have given Drab Majesty a fair shake if I had seen the picture first. So it's not just a you thing. It's a we thing. My vote is for no pictures.
So dude from Drab Majesty isn’t Spike Jonze? 🤔 leans that way fer sure