Best Songs of the Week

Love lights a spark that fends off darkness on “The Outsiders.” The standout song from Kweku Collins’ debut full-length, Nat Love, couples a quieting earnestness with raindrop guitar chords. Hopeless romanticism in top form. His heart beats brightly alongside another’s. Hand in hand with his comforting partner-in-crime, the Illinois artist embraces a vulnerable tone that almost feels remorseful. He switches from past to present tense and then back again as he speaks of commitments, breaking away, loneliness, and shared sunsets in one gut-wrenching swoop.

Inspired by a 1983 film adaption of the same name, Collins borrows the movie’s signature—“stay golden”—and uses it to great effect here. In an album of emotional ups and downs, no song came closer to moving me to tears than this one.—Alex Siber

At this point, Hudson Mohawke is one of the best known names in electronic music, appreciated by raging EDM bros as much as experimental electronic music lovers. His most recent album Lantern was a reminder to newer fans that there is a lot more to HudMo than TNGHT turn up, and if you've been paying attention, you'll already know that his influences range far and wide.

His latest drop, a remix of Boards of Canada's "Amo Bishop Roden," uses the track's gentle beauty as a jumping off point, and flips it in a club-ready direction. It's a far cry from the original, but a lot of fun nonetheless.—Constant Gardner

Christian Rich is the production duo behind some of your favorite songs by Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt, and J. Cole. Now that they're striking out on their own, Christian Rich is picking their collaborators wisely.

Tunji Ige leads the way on "Still," providing vocals that fit perfectly with the brass section that acts as the beat's centerpiece. It's a savvy collaboration that is mercifully void of booming drops or hooks that assault your ears. "Still" is a cool, classy track. It finds the groove early, sticks to it, and Christian Rich, Tunji, High Klassified, and Kris Bowers notch another W.—Graham

Fekky is slowly but surely building up a back catalog of bangers, dropping collaborations with some of the UK's best artists. He's already made tracks with Dizzee Rascal and Skepta, and his latest features gruff-voiced UK rap monster Giggs, who has been on an incredible run of guest verses ever since "Man Don't Care" with JME last year.

On both Kano's "3 Wheel-Ups" and this track, Giggs is rapping a little faster than the slow and low drawl that is so recognizable from his earlier mixtapes and albums, and he's sounding as good as ever.

Over Machine Baby's bumping beat, the two rappers take no prisoners, and the stylish black and white video is the perfect accompaniment.—Constant Gardner

James Blake doesn't need to be omnipresent in order to be relevant. His last album Overgrown was released in 2013, and his three-year absence has only made his return more exciting. This week, Blake announced on BBC Radio 1 that his third album Radio Silence is finished, and he released this mesmerizing song "Timeless" to celebrate. Gorgeous. Welcome back, James Blake.—Jacob Moore

In many instances, the lyrics of a song are what resonates the most with a listener. The meaning within the words can paint a picture of the specific story the artist is trying to tell. In rare cases, however, an instrumental track can be just as emotive, if not more so. Without any words to guide them, the rhythm allows listeners’ brains to think as freely as they wish, to interpret the music in their own way. This is nearly always the case whenever BADBADNOTGOOD releases music.

Two years after their last album III, the band returned this week with “Speaking Gently.” As it begins, the instrumentation feels quite dreamy and gentle. But soon, it opens up with a bit more energy and sets the stage for your imagination to take flight. In the time since their last album the band has been busy working with many different artists, and the impact of these collaborations can be heard within their new music.

Ironically, “Speaking Gently” isn’t as gentle as much of their previous work. Instead of one smooth rhythm, the track takes several twists and turns. The results end up as some of BBNG’s best work yet. Each listen of “Speaking Gently” vividly paints a brand new mental image, which may really be the most enjoyable part of it all.—Adrienne Black

Find yourself a man who loves you as much as Skepta loves his gang. Honestly, it might never happen.

All jokes aside, Skepta is a proud man. Proud of his crew, who he's been working with for years, making it from the struggle to a more comfortable life, proud of his Nigerian heritage, proud of his Britishness, especially as it pertains to his music, and proud of his independence. As much as his music can shutdown the rave and start a mosh pit in America, almost all his songs have messages of self-belief and self-fulfilment. That is the case again with "Man (Gang)," the new single from Konnichiwa, which has incredibly raw production (which actually samples Queens of the Stone Age), but also gems in the lyrics, especially the hook.

Konnichiwa is out May 6, and it's shaping up to be very special.—Constant Gardner