Oculate UK: This Week In Music

A week like this puts into sharper focus the need for our humble music round-up. There were A LOT of new tunes this week?! It makes our job tougher, but our lives better, so we can happily shoulder the burden.

Condensing this great abundance of artistry was tricky, but selecting who to lead the charge was decidedly not. Quite simply, it's Little Simz' week. All hail Queen Simz! But once you've finished listening to Lotus, your next port of call should definitely be the following.

Find all these (& a few more) on our This Week In Music playlist.

Have a lovely weekend, and welcome to This Week In Music!

Little Simz - Lotus

Well, here she is. This album solidifies the already solidified place Little Simz holds in the rarified air at the top of rap. If you're in any doubt, listen to her new album Lotus. In her first full-length outing for a while without producer Inflo, she spends a portion of it referencing the breaking-down of that very relationship. The fuel this has given her has led to the creation of possibly her most intimate work to date. It's raw and unflinching. It's not always the easiest listen, it isn't meant to be, it can't be. It's honest, and at a level of excellence that few ever manage to reach. Flowers on flowers for Simz. A whole bleeding florist.

Wunderhorse - Rope

I wunder what Wunderhorse have been up to? Turns out they've been making bangers, that's what. Rope is here, the group's first gift since last years album Midas, which featured in our projects of the year list. It's a punchy yet personal single, brimming with the energetic instruments and poignant lyrics that first caught our attention. One can only hope it's the start of something more. After all, Midas was the name of the first single released from Midas the album...

SL - Summertime Feat. Knucks & Sainté

“Summertime has started”. Yes it most certainly has, and we can’t be happier that SL, Sainté & Knucks’ latest collaboration is the one to remind us of that this week. Time to well and truly let our hair down, we say, even if overcast skies are dampening our mood this week - as Summertime sees the rap heavyweight trio at the top of their game on this compact little summer number that’s a must-add to your playlists this weekend!

LULU. - Not There Yet

LULU.'s music is a real breath of fresh air. I strongly suggest you check it out, because I don't think you'll have heard anything like it before. She takes soul and afrobeats, and marries them together with a gospel-vocal twang, and it sounds incredible. Her new single Not There Yet, her first since last year's EP Dear Disoriented Soul, is a beautiful place to begin. Rooted in introspection, and full of emotional texture, it showcases her ability to translate feeling into music is only just beginning. Keep an eye on LULU.

Niko B - People

The UK’s answer to a giggle and a head-bop, Niko B, has returned this week with People, his three-track EP that finds him swapping the goblin-inspired satire and ridiculous bars we’ve come to love from him for some sun-soaked synths and serotonin. This project is definitely a fun one and we can really feel a sonic evolution incoming from the comedian stroke artist, as he moves into more dance-infused production which has him feeling “like Calvin Harris”. A personal favourite from the EP, has to be ‘I like the way you talk looking at me’, check this one out!

Ocean Alley - Love Balloon

Do you want to feel like you're driving down the gold coast at sunset, sea-salt on your skin, with a surf-board strapped to your roof and the promise of a cold beer ahead? So do we, that's why we love Ocean Alley's latest single, Love Balloon. It's quintessential of the Aussie rockers, and excitingly, it's also the title single from their upcoming album. So it's all aboard Ocean Alley's Love Balloon - and let's take ride!

Lauren Duffus - Can's Gone Warm

Lauren Duffus has had quite the excitement surrounding her name this year after releasing the addictive N.U.M.T.E (standing for Need U More Than Ever) earlier this year. An apt name, which accurately describes how I’m feeling about her new debut EP, Can’s Gone Warm, a six-track project that really ticks all the boxes if you’re needing to shed a tear in the rave. ‘Can’s Gone Warm’ is a delicious and experimental debut that sees Lauren Duffus weave her distinctive left-field production roots with expansive and reverberating R&B melodies. Think FKA Twigs, BANKS and Kelela; we’re sold.

Check out the above, and honourable mentions, in the playlist below: