Top Pops! La Femme, Glass Animals ft. Tei Shi, Craft Spells, Hiatus ft. Shura

La Femme bring their sexy Frenchness, Tei Shi pimps out her vocal skills to UK musicians Glass Animals, Craft Spells return with Nausea, and Hiatus and Shura get lost in an afterlife dust cloud.

“Pop music shouldn’t always get a bad rap,” says Top Pops!, a recurring selection of indie pop highlights across a selection of styles, updated every month to keep you on your dancing, shaking toes.

+++ FULL POST + ALL TOP POPS! COLUMNS + ALL MUSIC COLUMNS

La Femme - French Band

La Femme – “Amour Dans Le Motu”

French band La Femme seem to be caricatures and stereotypes of their native land in the best of ways. One could certainly assert many things about the six-piece, which is ridiculously comprised of five handsome males and one handsome gal, but one could never, ever deny their sexuality and mad fashion sense. This year, they return with the unbelievable 10,000-track (just about) Psycho Tropical Berlin, proving that they are now way more than the surf/dance punk band they used to be. They’re also one of the most energetic and playful bands you’ll ever see live, so catch them on tour NOW NOW NOW — and to prepare, get lost in the colorful haze of the incredible music video for “Amour Dans Le Motu”, which seriously embodies the album title in its eight minutes of cinema.

Apr 1 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle #
Apr 2 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown #
Apr 3 – Denver, CO – The Summit Music Hall #
Apr 5 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Apr 7 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Apr 8 – Vancouver, BC – The Media Club
Apr 9 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project
Apr 11 – San Francisco, CA -DNA Lounge
Apr 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Roxy Theatre
May 2 – Austin, TX – Austin Psych Fest, Carson Creek Ranch !

Glass Animals ft. Tei Shi – “Holiest”

After wowing us with her cover of Beyonce’s “No Angel” at SXSW this year, Tei Shi continues her badass bitch vocal world takeover by guest-starring on this track by UK up-and-comers, Glass Animals. It comes from Glass Animals’ GOOEY EP, out now on Harvest Records.

Explains Dave Bayley of the band: “We wanted to work with Tei Shi because she has an amazing voice and this super-cool modern New York RnB style thing going on. So we sent her a couple beats we had lying around that we thought she could really add something to. And she sent back a great vocal about both loving and hating something. I thought it would be fun to play the character that she’s addressing in my part so the the different voices then help tell the story from two different perspectives.”

 

Craft Spells – “Breaking The Angle Against The Tide”

Summer comes early and impressively with Nausea, the upcoming Craft Spells Record. Nausea definitely features some of the best work by the band that I’ve heard yet, and this, along with “Changing Faces”, are huge stand-outs. The guitar line alone is worth repeat listens.

 

Hiatus ft. Shura – “We Can Be Ghosts Now”

In my favorite lyric of this minimal house track by Hiatus, Shura sings, “Meet me in the dust cloud”. Within the cloud is where the track itself resides, its pulsating energy masked beneath a sleek and calm exterior. A fantastically sexy sound, as though its goal were actually to make an afterlife in spectre worlds appealing. You can also watch a stop-motion animated music video inspired by love and geometry, directed by Tom Jobbins.

 

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Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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