New Music Friday | Featuring ‘Chemical’ by Post Malone

It might not be a bank holiday but at least Friday’s arrived. This week’s New Music Friday features tunes from Post Malone, King Krule, ENNY, Sophie May, The Goa Express and more.

Post Malone – Chemical

Post Malone serves up his first new music of 2023. Yet rather than delivering something intense, ‘Chemical’ is a relatively lounge, pop-rock affair. There’s still plenty of emotion there, beneath his quivering voice and talk of a departed love. The single is the first taste of his forthcoming album, with the follow-up to last year’s Twelve Carat Toothache set for release later this year.

King Krule – Seaforth

Released to mark the announcement of King Krule’s forthcoming fourth studio album, Space Heavy, set for release on 9 June, ‘Seaforth’ comes off the back of a series of recent sold-out shows in Paris, Berlin, London, New York and Long Island as part of the singer’s SHHH Tour. Bearing resemblance to Damon Albarn, it arrives with a dog-friendly, beach-set dreamscape of a music video.

ENNY (feat. Loyle Carner) – Take It Slow

A track that forms part of lyricist ENNY’s latest EP, We Go Again, also released this week, ‘Take It Slow’ features the unmistakable, open wordsmithery of fellow South Londoner Loyle Carner.

Sophie May – Doppelgänger

As astutely written as ever, Sophie May’s new track ‘Doppelgänger’ – her first new music since last year’s debut EP You Do Not Have To Be Good – sees the 24-year-old sing about how all her partner’s exes look the same. Produced by Josh Scarbrow (whose credits include Arlo Parks and Matt Maltese), it’s sweet, melodic and, for many, bitingly relatable.

Temples – Liquid Air

Commencing Temples’ latest album, Exotico, ‘Liquid Air’ embodies the mood and feeling of the album as a whole, giving us a little of what fans have always loved, spruced up with something more, as it shimmies from psych-rock to a glistening, pared-back finish. Read our full review of Exotico here.

The Goa Express – Good Luck Charm

Burnley’s bright young things The Goa Express pack a punch with their latest track ‘Good Luck Charm’, which follows January’s fist-pumping ‘Portraits’. Speaking of their new tune, which bears a lyrical reference to The Shining (“it’s all work and no play”), the band have said: “Sometimes, you end up feeling down on your luck and then all of a sudden you make the call to get the hell out of somewhere. And, out of nowhere, you meet someone and you end up getting lucky again.” Indeed, even after last week’s bank holiday, we could all do with a change of scenery. Luckily for these lads, they got such a thing on their SXSW trip, which features on the new music video.

Aitch – Round 2

Collaborating once again with platinum-selling production duo WhyJay & Litek, Aitch returns with ‘Round 2’. Upon the track’s release, the 23-year-old has spoken of the next heights he wants to reaching following the release of his eagerly awaited debut Close to Home last year; keeping on-brand with the boxing theme of the new track, he’s said: “I released my album after five years in the game and in my eyes those five years were just round one. I’ve got a 12 round fight to complete, ding f*cking ding.”

NJOMZA – Emotional

She’s the songwriter behind Ariana Grande’s ‘7 rings’ and ‘thank u, next’, and was the first artist to be signed to the late Mac Miller’s label, featuring on his final album The Divine Feminine. And this week’s release puts NJOMZA back in the spotlight all on her own, with her RnB-leaning bop ‘Emotional’.

Black Thought – Hollow Way

Following the sublime Cheat Codes last year, Black Thought returns with another high-calibre collab, this time trading Danger Mouse for El Michels Affair on Glorious Game, released today – an album that inevitably lives up to its name, in all its glory.

Chappaqua Wrestling – Not In Love

It took a while for Chappaqua Wrestling founding members Jake Mac and Charlie Woods – friends since school – to complete the jigsaw of their fully-fledged band. But with John-Paul Townsend on drums and Coco Varda providing keyboard, percussion and additional vocals, the band are now able to meld all their influences into something original – and their debut album, Plus Ultra, out today, is testament to that. Read our full interview with the band here.