Add to playlist: Duo Ear’s weird, distorted electronics and the best new tracks of the week | music

from Hudson Valley, New York and London
Recommended if you like Books, Lily, World Peace DMT
the next Rumspringa was released on May 29

Jonah Paz and Yaelle Avtan recorded their first-ever song “Ear” on an iPhone in the Bard College library. That song, “Nerves,” pits their whiny voices against weightless strings and barely perceptible drums. Just as it seems about to float away completely, the track is suddenly overtaken by a screaming bass synth that splits the agonizing call of the first act into an emotionally charged, black-lit crackle.

The Hudson Valley/London duo are sometimes brought together under the “Double Laptop” banner alongside a group of younger artists who also balance whimsy with distorted electronics. Like Bassvictim, Worldpeace DMT, and Femcels, Earpad emotes lo-fi rock with its present sonic chaos and large-scale collage. Nostalgia is a key element but the appeal of the band is by no means reducible.

After distilling the DNA of 2000s pop with their debut album, last year’s The Most Dear and the Future, Paz and Aftan push the deconstruction process even harder on their second album, Rumspringa. The duo have long been inspired by IDM, and like the genre’s best songwriters, their greatest strength lies in how they approach the sonic field. On lead single Ne Plus Ultra, the half-whispered barter vocals are secondary to the epic, primary-hued synths, which provide a faint thread of melody as vocal notes, dance beats, and Chinese vocals decorate the song with vague jokes and funny pockets of uplift. The effect is like free-falling through an irregular consciousness and coming to terms with its strange logic: the thrill of watching a band take shape in real time. Harry Tafoya

The best new songs of the week

Durruti Column – Liars
Often cited, if rarely spotted these days: Vinnie Reilly returns for his first album in 15 years, chanting “I’m sorry, I love you” over sparse vocals and choral sounds. L.S

Cara Delevingne – Out Out of my head
The British model, actress, writer, and entrepreneur is adding “pop musician” to her professional portfolio, but this isn’t half an amateur effort: trip-hop verses give way to a groovy pop chorus. BPT

Gila Band – Giraffe
Ireland’s best band returns to show off every instrument in their formidable arsenal: the soaring twang of disintegration, processed clarinet guitar, screeching noise, overdubbing, and Dara Kelly’s enchanting lyrical abstractions of loneliness and love. L.S

Weak little horse – upside down
The Pittsburgh alternative rock group surprisingly released their new album, Bitknot, this week, and it’s its poppy moment: a lyrical ballad that transcends static guitars and electronics. BPT

Blood Orange – Essex_Honey.mp3
This bonus track from the album of the same name is Dev Hynes’s most clearly Essex-y song, pulsating with young racers’ rhythms – which form a fitting and poignant contrast to his forlorn vocals. L.S

Eddy current funnel ring – Bop
The raucous familiarity of the gentle jamming pit – and a little ’60s pop sensibility via Bikini Kill – bounce through this dryly fun feature from the Melbourne rockers’ surprise new album. [Not on Spotify: listen at Bandcamp] L.S

Anthony Calonico – Hillside
From the soft desert wind of his debut album, Spacious Heart, the Los Angeles musician lays down a futuristic ’80s jazz song with exquisite poise, his voice gliding through the soft light created by the piano and ambient tones. BPT

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