Fat White Family, for the uninitiated, are a South London group trading in all manners of classic punk depravities, rock'n'roll drug habits and songs with imaginatively risqué titles (Cream Of The Young, Is It Raining In Your Mouth?, Bomb Disneyland). Led by founding frontman Lias Saoudi, the band is notorious for their outrageous live gigs, where shocking antics and nudity are not uncommon. As a band, this collective transgression is the unique selling point upon which their 2013 debut album Champagne Holocaust and its follow-up Songs For Our Mothers hinged. It's also the very factor that contributed to "the sort of classic stereotypical drug meltdown", as Lias puts it in his recent interview with Noisey, which led to them getting dropped by US-based Fat Possum Records.
But things started to turn around for them when they were picked up by UK-based Domino Records, home to a roster of diverse artists including Hot Chip, Arctic Monkeys and Blood Orange. A relocation to Sheffield, a (relatively) successful attempt at sobriety and a reunion with co-songwriter/guitarist Saul Adamczewski later, the band re-emerge with their third studio outing, Serfs Up!, a collection of 10 lucid, thoroughly reinvigorating tracks that finds Lias and Co venturing into such unexpected territories as pop, jazz and disco.
A great example is Feet, the disco-flavoured opener kitted out with strings and sinister, homoerotic undertones ("I could not believe it/ I could not believe my eyes/ The thing that I saw down there/ Down beneath your thighs"). Equally mesmerising is I Believe In Something Better, which pits bossa nova-esque rhythms against industrial techno synths while Lias offers a slice of optimism alongside the evangelical church organ.
Vagina Dentata sounds like a love child between Mac DeMarco and Tame Impala raised on Alex White's saxophone solos. Elsewhere, Fat White Family dip their toes into space rock (Kim's Sunsets), funk (Fringe Runner), new age (Oh Sebastian, whose pizzicato chords recalls Enya's Orinoco Flow), western (Rock Fishes, When I Leave) and even Gregorian chant (Tastes Good With The Money).
Quotable lyrics: "Bobby's boyfriend is a prostitute/ And so is mine" (Bobby's Boyfriend)
The verdict: Against all odds, these louche lads have delivered the best work of their career to date.
Listen to this: Feet, I Believe In Something Better, Fringe Runner, Tastes Good With The Money.
THE PLAYLIST
Madonna (with Maluma) / Medellín
With songs like La Isla Bonita and the 1996 musical drama Evita, it's no secret that Madonna has always been partial to Latin pop. Here, she jumps on that Latin pop train once again, this time with support from Colombian reggaeton superstar Maluma. Taking its name from a Colombian city, the song finds Madge fusing light-footed electro courtesy of long-time French producer Mirwais with mid-tempo reggaeton. "I took a pill and had a dream/ I went back to my 17th year/ Allowed myself to be naive/ To be someone I've never been," she muses, her vocals digitally distorted, in a sultry call and response with Maluma. Although it feels slightly uninspired as a lead single, it does seem like she's attempting to circle back to the more restrained approach to pop à la 1998's Ray Of Light, which we're all for. Medellín will appear on Madame X, her forthcoming 14th album, inspired by her adopted home, Lisbon, and revolving around the titular "secret agent" alter ego.
Vampire Weekend / Unbearably White
Despite its clickbaity title, Unbearably White is not a song about Vampire Weekend's much-talked-about "whiteness" or race, but rather a disintegrating relationship that could be taken as an extension to its companion single, This Life, which we featured last week. Like Harmony Hall before it, the track contains a gorgeous guitar line with a distinct John Mayer vibe (Waiting On The World To Change). Lyrically, frontman Ezra Koenig touches upon unfulfilled romance ("Baby, I love you/ But that's not enough") and hints at the inevitable end ("There's an avalanche coming/ Don't cover your eyes/ It's what you thought that you wanted/ It's still a surprise").
Four Tet / Teenage Birdsong
After a brief hiatus following the release of his ninth record, 2017's New Energy, UK electronic producer Four Tet is now gearing up for what could potentially be a season of new material. Led by the Nelly Furtado-sampled Only Human earlier this year (released under the moniker KH), Teenage Birdsong flutters into view with a supple flute loop. Soft percussion and vivid synths then take over, adding textural layers that have always been the hallmark of Four Tet's instantly recognisable sound. As the song nears its end, the flute motif resurfaces to further drive home the significance of its title. A stunning achievement.
SZA, The Weeknd, Travis Scott / Power Is Power
The final season of Game Of Thrones is in full swing and if you're a GOT head who dreads the series' looming end, there's a compilation inspired by the show called For The Throne that might help alleviate the pain. Seemingly taking its cue from the Black Panther soundtrack, lead cut Power Is Power features blockbuster R&B crooners SZA and The Weeknd as well as hip-hop collaborator king Travis Scott. With such an all-star line-up, it should be epic right? Well, not quite. Over generic synths and buzzing basslines, the trio halfheartedly give a shout out to Jon Snow ("I was born of the ice and snow/ With the winter wolves, in the dark, alone") while perfunctorily alluding to Cersei ("Heavy is the crown, but never for a queen"). For a song titled Power Is Power, this feels rather impotent.
Plasui Plasui / Dream
Thai indie four-piece Plasui Plasui are avid sonic alchemists whose knack for blending dreampop with lo-fi and psych-rock has resulted in a slew of stunning singles such as You Know?, Same Here and Time. On their latest offering Dream, vocalist Rattasart Thoschuav sings about meeting a girl from his dreams, his voice barely floating above the hazy, washed-out guitars supplied by bandmates Thanapol, Sakonlawat and Jakkapan. For the band, singing comes secondary, while mood and melody reign supreme. (Honestly. the magical breakdown around the four-minute mark alone conveys so much more than any words could).
