Now Hear This: New music from Christine and the Queens, Estrons and Little Simz

Do you find yourself wading through stacks of music every week, trying to figure out what to listen to? I know I do.

It’s not controversial to point out that there’s a lot of new music around. Each Friday, we’re hit with a flood of new songs that we’re expected to sift through until we land on something we actually like. Unless you’re happy to just sit and be fed whatever drops into the curated playlist you’ve subscribed to.

It can be overwhelming, and that’s one of the reasons why I’ve launched the Now Hear This column. I add all these songs to The Independent’s playlist on Spotify each week, but often I find myself wishing I could tell readers exactly why I think a particular track is so good, or explain why I chose to omit one of the bigger releases.

The idea of Now Hear This isn’t to lecture anyone about what they should or shouldn’t be listening to. That’s how dictatorships are born. Instead, it’s a look at some of the biggest releases that week (good or bad), but also a way to spotlight some emerging new talent so it doesn’t get forgotten or left behind when the next wave of music hits the following week.

This week has seen the release of possibly my favourite album of the year, Chris, by Christine and the Queens (read The Independent’s review here), along with the new LP from Villagers that really took me by surprise (review here). Avril Lavigne has returned with the insipid piano-based ballad “Head Above Water” that I’m not super keen on, but her voice is definitely still in good shape. Lana Del Rey also has a new song to follow her recent single “Mariner Apartment Complex” (featuring a piano sequence that sounds A LOT like the Brokeback Mountain theme). "Venice Bitch" is a lilting, lullaby-like croon featuring classic Del Rey tropes like insanity and American culture. It's a nice song, but you do wonder if she's running out of things to sing about again.

I didn’t want to go too hard on the new 1975 single “Sincerity Is Scary” which actually came out last week, but it’s really bad. I’m not sure what’s going on with the band, but three out of four of their new singles have been dire (the only good one is “Love It If We Made It”, which is excellent). “Sincerity Is Scary” sounds like one of Ed Sheeran’s cast-offs: it’s a sickly ballad that frontman Matty Healy claimed was about dismantling his ironic shield, but if anything this sounds as false and insincere as anything else they’ve released before. “Love It If We Made It” was raw and angry, and his gasping quote from Donald Trump’s infamous remark about how he “moved on her like a bitch” is one of the most powerful moments on a song this year.

Singer-songwriter Rukhsana, who features on the superb new Ghetts album Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament, has dropped her own single "Sober", a beautifully simple, heartfelt track that focuses on soft electric guitar and her gorgeous vocals. One of my favourite hip hop artists, Pete Philly, has stormed back with his new release "Gigawatts II" ft Jurley Colin. Electric indeed. I popped over to Amsterdam for a chat with him a few months ago, if you fancy a read.

Have you checked out "Offence" from one of the UK's best MCs, Little Simz? "Jay Z on a bad day, Shakespeare on my worst days." Yikes. Those pipes. The strings! Little Simz is honestly one of the most underrated rappers around and her last record Stillness in Wonderland was one of the most criminally overlooked of 2016. Don't sleep on the next one. It's a particularly good day for rap – the self-proclaimed "world's best boyband" BROCKHAMPTON just dropped their own new track "J'OUVERT".

My spotlight artist this week is Estrons, who I’ve been raving about via The Independent for a while now. Fronted by Tali K?llstr?m, they’re a perfect pop band for 2018 in the sense that they have an absolute disregard for genre. So you have a scuzzy post-punk vibe thanks to K?llstr?m’s distorted vocals, some classic rock riffs, and such catchy hooks that you’re left agonising over whether to dance or mosh.

They’re releasing a debut album – You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough – in October. Until then, I’m giving you the first look at their video for “Body” plus a chat about the patriarchy, Pussy Riot and what they make of the music industry in 2018. Fragile male egos, steer clear.

Q&A with Estrons’ Tali K?llstr?m?

What do you feel the difference is between sexualising yourself and being sexualised by the media/the patriarchy?

Sexualising yourself is about your own pleasure and your own power to appreciate yourself – it’s masturbation. We get told to be sexual for others and yet masturbation and self-appreciation, especially as females, is looked down upon and abnormalised unless it is for the benefit of others. Sexualisation for the media and patriarchy is largely encouraged, but it must fit the criteria of their own desires and preferences. When someone catcalls you or comments on your appearance without you asking, it’s not to empower, love or appreciate you – it’s to take away your power and make you their own object. It’s like my mother said to me: “It’s not love baby, it’s lasciviousness.” You’re there for them, not for yourself.

What did you learn from your gigs with Pussy Riot?

I learnt first-hand that performance art especially as a female is not about appearances, it’s about what you have to say and the message you are trying to get across. These women didn’t care about pleasing people, they cared about their art and translating their experiences to the public. In the end that’s what art is about and it’s a very forgotten lesson when it comes to performing art and music.

What was the worst omission from this year's Mercury Prize shortlist?

I honestly don’t judge anything on whether or not it’s been nominated for an award anymore nor do I pay attention. It doesn’t mean anything. Some of the worst films I’ve ever seen have been critically acclaimed at Cannes. You can re-ask me that question if we end up getting nominated for something and find me bathing in a tub of prosecco listening to my own music...

Which of your contemporaries are you most jealous of (if any)?

I think because of the climate in the music industry right now the term “you’ve got to have money to make money” is more true than ever. Gone are the days where a broke band can be on the dole living in a bedsit in London just waiting for that big deal to come and sign their problems away. You have to work a lot harder these days to make it out of the cesspool of “new and exciting music” to actually make the grade which requires a lot of hard work for no money, so it’s a lot easier for the musicians that have got the financial support there in the first place, giving them a much better chance of making it through the slog of “making it”.

What annoys me though is that it’s no longer seen as cool to come from a well-off background so people start making up stories and emphasising and making out that they haven’t. They wear poverty and hardship like a fashion accessory and use it as a tool to further their project. I’ve never tried to flaunt my background much because it’s not something I’m “proud” of. It’s not “cool” when you’ve lived it your whole life and know no different. Poverty is real and it’s hard and it’s made me almost have to leave doing my passions countless times, so I do get annoyed when people exploit it when it’s not something they will ever truly understand.

What are you sick of hearing about in the music industry?

Everything. I don’t care about any of it and neither do I listen anymore. No one knows anything, that’s what I’ve learnt. It’s great to have support from the media and your team and that can be priceless and of course I am endlessly grateful for the incredible things we’ve been given from all of the talented people we’ve met, but you meet a lot of people that don't have your best interests at heart. In the end it’s the public and the people you connect with who have the real control and they are the ones that matter the most. If we can change or save just one life then that’s us achieving our goal.

Estrons' debut album You Say I'm Too Much, I Say You're Not Enough is out on 5 October