Our Favorite Songs Right Now: Dirty Projectors, the xx and More
The latest playlist of current Rolling Stone favorites features wistful new offerings from indie heroes Dirty Projectors and the xx, a gospel-tinged single from country lifer Jessi Colter, and Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White's winning Velvet Underground cover. Also hear the latest from Odd Future affiliate Syd, modern folk luminary Laura Marling and more.
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Laura Marling, “Wild Fire”
Marling is a restless folk searcher in the finest Joni Mitchell tradition, and this darkly pretty tune about not buying your own bullshit is one of her best. "Are you getting away with who you're trying to be?" she sings, at once subtle and stinging.
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The xx, “Say Something Loving”
An incredible single from the U.K. trio's new LP, I See You. They flip a sample from forgotten Seventies soft-rock featherweights the Alessi Brothers into a dubby, dreamlike anthem of hard-won romantic hope.
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Jessi Colter, “Psalm 136 Mercy and Loving Kindness”
An outlaw country godmother's tender benediction, gorgeously produced by Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye.
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Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White, “Sunday Morning”
U.K. singer-songwriter Flo Morrissey and retro-pop savant White pull off a slick historical sleight of hand, uncovering the Velvet Underground classic as a boot-stomping Nancy Sinatra hit.
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Dirty Projectors, “Up in Hudson”
The art-pop crew drops some sad-summer vocoder soul, with a rippling groove and a classic post-breakup couplet: "Now I'm listening to Kanye on the Taconic Parkway ridin' fast/And you're out in Echo Park blasting Tupac, drinking a fifth for my ass."
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Beachheads, “Moment of Truth”
Pure power-pop elation from Norwegian dudes who sound like the Foo Fighters on a Big Star bender.
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Syd, “All About Me”
The only female member of the combustible L.A. hip-hop crew Odd Future goes solo with a somber yet tough R&B jam. It's an alluring first taste of her excellent debut LP, Fin, which is out soon.