Add to Playlist: Maximum Sadness by Hannah Liu and Best Tracks of the Week | music

from Richmond, California
Recommended if you like Molly Nelson, Chromatics, Wonders of the 70s and 80s
the next The self-titled debut album was released on April 10

For those of us who can’t resist the allure of melancholy pop music, Californian artist Hannah Liu is set to become a new obsession. Soon to be released via Night School Records – home to the likes of Tristwch Y Fenywod and Teresa Winter – Lew’s self-titled debut is one of those albums that could easily be a hit, with nine irresistible, sing-along-worthy tracks all imbued with a neon-lit melancholy.

A mainstay of the San Francisco Bay Area creative scene, Liu began playing in the indie trio Grass Widow, and went on to form Cold Beat – an electronic group named after an audible band, with releases on taste-making labels Dark Entries and DFA. In addition to her endeavors in the music industry, she is a record store owner, visual artist, and filmmaker. She ran the record label Crime on the Moon and made a series of highly saturated music videos for Shannon & the Clams, Frankie Rose and her own bands.

Like her colleague Molly Nelson, Lou excels at wringing maximum emotion from familiar sounds. It deftly moves between subgenres and styles, from Moon Distance Minimum Wave to New Order Siloed. Final single Sunday is all widescreen instrumentals and melodramatic drums, like the sunrise at a New Romantic party in California. Another Twilight has a dark disco flavor with an irresistible bassline, crunchy guitar part and a sing-along melody. Across all these modes, Lew’s earnest vocal tone recalls the light touch of Chromatics’ Ruth Radelet – a refreshingly humane center of her extreme musical universe. Claire Beadles

The best new songs of the week

​Carla Dal Forno – Exodus
The Australian singer-songwriter is one of the greats of coldwave, balancing the melancholy of the style with tenacity and crackling heat. She returns with another gem that revolves around a ruminative bass melody. BPT

Bruce Hornsby – Ecstatic (with Bonnie Raitt)
“I’m committed to the unseen,” sings Hornsby, proving his point by venturing into a kaleidoscope of bubbling guitar, worthy of Graceland, along with basketball anthems inspired by watching his kids play. A wonderful surprise. L.S

St. Hilary’s manga – In Dance (with MoreNight and Freeza Chin)
With a beat inspired by Skepta’s raucous Riddim stage show, this explosive behemoth is designed for maximum wheel lifts, with Hilare barking out commands like an errant fitness instructor. BPT

Greg Mendez – I want to feel beautiful
The Philadelphia songwriter paints a surreal, wistful picture of life slipping through your fingers like sand, with a delicate arrangement of piano and drums sneaking in midway through to enhance the warm vocal hum. L.S

Aldous Harding – One Stop Shop
The first single from Harding’s next album is about coming home and questioning your identity, using an instant classic vocal melody and a cool switch mid-song. BPT

Rosa Walton – Sorry anyway
“You drove me crazy on M54,” sings one half of Let’s Eat Grandma on her solo debut, a powerful ode to messy love with the wilder side of Tegan and Sara in its veins. L.S

Gout – I am a beacon of health and wellness
As you might expect from the name of the Scottish metallers, their song title is very sarcastic, with lead singer Ally Scott worried about masculinity and pushing his body to the limits. BPT

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