This week’s Star Tracks playlist also includes new music from Plastikman and Chilly Gonzales, Normani, 88Glam, Muna, and Toronto artist TOBi.
Rosalía fans might take a second to adjust to this new theme, but a second is really all one will need. Welcome to the newest era, “MOTOMAMI.” —I don’t think an artist has ever maintained as much cultural relevance without releasing a studio album. Normani’s “Fair” is her second song this year, and where “Wild Side” had a pop flair, “Fair” is pure R&B. Over droplet synths and subdued 808s, Normani delivers a super smooth vocal performance that’s only reinforced by its lyrics.
According to a press statement, Gonzales — a polymath who in addition to classical compositions also makes hip hop and house music — was inspired by the Plastikman record’s loose use of melody and negative space: “It would not be a remix. It would be one composer instinctively reacting to, and finding space within, another composer’s already completed work.”
The group that perhaps epitomizes this made-up genre is MUNA, a trio from California that has been around for a while, but has gained prominence since signing with Bridgers’ “Saddest Factory” label last year. MUNA’s second single from their upcoming self-titled LP, “Anything But Me,” is a punchy little bop that would sound right at home on ‘80s radio.