yeule, ‘Dudu’
Named after the nonsense syllables in its hook, “Dudu” has such a blithe, shiny pop facade that the verses could easily go unnoticed. Yeule — a style-hopping, electronics-friendly songwriter and producer from Singapore — sings about unrequited love that’s turned pathological. “Overdosed from the pain / Woke up in a bed, restrained,” yeule sings. “I screamed and screamed and screamed your name.” But the vocals are so nonchalant, surrounded by whizzing synthesizers and kicked along by a robust backbeat, that the heartache almost evaporates.
DannyLux, ‘Sirena’
The Mexican American songwriter DannyLux has thrived by playing up his sensitive side, and “Sirena,” the single from his new album “Leyenda,” is no exception. In a waltzing corrido that updates the traditional acoustic guitars with a sheen of reverb, extra vocal harmonies and a sudden shift of texture before the second verse, he insists he’s been hypnotized forever by a woman’s beauty — though he also reminds her that “Other guys would put a price on your body, a price on your kisses.” He’s more sensitive, of course.
The Lemonheads, ‘Deep End’
Evan Dando’s band, the Lemonheads, last released an album of their own songs in 2006, but are promising a new one in the fall. Its first single is a 1990s Massachusetts rock reunion, with backing vocals from Juliana Hatfield (an ex-Lemonhead with an extensive solo career) and flailing, distorted guitar solos from J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. The band reclaims its old indie-rock, with scruffy guitar riffs and choppy drums behind Dando’s jaded baritone; he toys with words — “Going off the deep end, depends” — as he sings about everyday ailments and minimal expectations: “On the way to doomsday/You better find yourself a friend.”
M(h)aol, a post-punk band from Ireland, snaps back at getting ghosted in “1-800-Call-Me-Back.” Touch-tone beeps are the only melodic component of a clattering, jittery track that piles on dissonant bits — tremolo guitar, grunting bass, distorted drones — while the drummer, Constance Keane, inquires, “Why did you say what you said before? / You disengaged and shoved me in a drawer.” All the sonic irritants add up to danceability.
“La Belleza” (“The Beauty”), the new album by the ever-exploratory Colombian-Canadian songwriter Lido Pimienta, is a 28-minute orchestral suite. In it, Pimienta sings about desire, love, estrangement, heritage and more. In the lyrics to “Quiero Que Me Beses” (“I Want You to Kiss Me”), Pimienta longs for physical connection, while the music invokes a deeper cultural legacy. It begins with sustained, European-flavored chamber music, but is transformed with an Andean-flavored beat and the voices of a Colombian choir, insisting, “Give me more memories.”
