New music from Lil Nas X, I Have a Love, Phem, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift, plus spotlight artist emir taha

In her weekly column, our music correspondent goes through the best new releases

Emir Taha (YouTube)

It’s a five-star bonanza this week, with The Independent’s critics (myself included) handing out perfect scores to three very different albums. I fell head over heels for Irish artist David Balfe’s debut album under his For Those I Love project; our albums critic Helen Brown was a huge fan of First Aid Kit’s Leonard Cohen covers record; Rachel Brodsky adored the new serpentwithfeet LP.

Lil Nas X has knocked it out of the park with his Latin-inflected “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” and the accompanying, phenomenal music video. I’m a huge fan of the new music from Ben Howard, who gave a great interview with Rupert Hawksley that you can read here. Also the album review from Rachel, read here. Taylor Swift offered the first glimpse at the previously unreleased music from her vault, which will feature on the re-recorded version of her album Fearless. “You All Over Me” ft Maren Morris is a delightful throwback to Swift’s country roots.

Demi Lovato is giving me proper No Doubt vibes with her lead single “Dancing with the Devil”, from her forthcoming album of the same name. It’s a brave and extraordinarily honest insight into the events that led to her near-fatal overdose – you can read more about that in Rachel’s feature on Lovato’s YouTube documentary. I missed Mathilda Homer’s soaring rock track “Rock Bottom” a couple of weeks ago but fortunately someone brought it to my attention so it’s on this week’s playlist. Saint Sister are back and in a contemplative mood on “Karaoke”, while Mysie, freshly signed to Fraser T Smith’s label, has dropped new single “Keep Up With Your Heart”.

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LA-based alt-pop singer Phem caught my attention with her excellent single “Self Control” and has now dropped an EP, how to stop hating yourself pt 1.5. Over eight tracks, she confronts themes including ludicrous beauty standards, mental health, sexuality and religion. South London rapper Vic Santoro operates some slick wordplay on “Came and Saw”, which manages to be nostalgic but also future-facing as he reflects on how far he’s come, and how much further he needs to go. I love the delicately spun “Breathe” from Greta Svabo Bach, whose new acoustic-based sound is a far cry from her earlier, Grammy-nominated work with artists including Cher and Deadmau5.

My spotlight artist this week is emir taha, a Brixton-based Turkish artist marrying Turkish folk with hip hop and R&B. I find the way he sings in quarter-tones and traditional Arabesque style completely addictive because it’s something you don’t really hear in Western music. He just released his new EP, Hoppa pt 2, so make sure you check that out, and read our Q&A below:

– Hey emir, how's your 2021 so far?

Like everyone I’ve been staying at home, trying to distract myself from the lockdown. I can’t complain at all though as I live with my close friends who I make music with. We’ve been making music at our home studio, playing games, watching movies and cooking. We also started playing chess lately.

– Tell me about this EP and your general approach to music

Hoppa pt.2 is the continuation of p.1. I wrote some of the tracks in London, some in LA and Istanbul. Musically, it shows the ground of my music and better defines the space I’m in. Music grows with you, so I think part two naturally feels more mature to me. I made some of the tracks in a period of questioning my journey and purpose. It reflects on the music I make.

I also take a lot of inspiration from the culture I grew up in. I feel like there’s a lot of affection and emotion in Turkish culture.

– What are the influences for this project in particular, and are there any artists you find yourself constantly inspired by?

I’m mainly inspired by the music I grew up listening to, by the different rhythms, scales and instruments from home. Like for “Bad Reception”, I was inspired by Arabesk (Arabesque), a genre of music created in Turkey, with pioneers such as Müslüm Gürses and Ferdi Tayfur who are heavily inspired by an arabic style of music. There are so many amazing artists coming up who I also admire. Bakar, slowthai, REMA, July 7, Hak Baker to name a few. I’m constantly inspired by the rub of the two worlds.

– What else do you have lined up for this year?

Hoppa pt.2 dropped this week as well as the music video we shot for “Katakulli”. I’m now off to make more vibes!