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Artist News CMU Playlists
On The CMU Stereo 2022 – Spring
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 8 December 2022
Oh, we’re on a roll now. Today we unveil the second part of our On The CMU Stereo 2022 playlist, bringing together our ten favourite tracks released back in the spring. I’m excited for you, because I know what’s on it already. Like our winter selection, it’s another testament to just how much great music has been put out this year.
We kick things off with Wet Leg, whose rise to fame has been nothing short of astounding. Let’s not forget that they only released their debut single in June last year, now they’re nominated for four Grammys (five if you include the one Soulwax received for their remix of ‘Too Late Now’). The song included here – ‘Ur Mum’ – is a stand out from both their debut album and live sets this year, not least because of its fantastically mean opening line. Plus, screaming is fun.
From there we head to ‘There Are Good Times Coming’ by Sinead O’Brien, which delivers a message I think we could probably all do with hearing at the moment. Then there’s ‘Purpose’ by the reunited Fyfe & Iskra Strings, which features a great vocal performance from Ghostpoet, who has otherwise been fairly quiet on the music front this year.
Choosing which Ethel Cain song to include on this playlist was no easy task, because her debut album, ‘Preacher’s Daughter’, is so full of brilliant ones. The album has an atmosphere of its own, pulling it all together as she goes from playing Americana to sounding like early Weeknd, under a shroud of lyrical darkness. ‘American Teenager’, a single in April, is a great example of why we’re so enamoured with the record.
The next track on the list is a cover. With ‘Rise Above’, Ibeyi takes a 40 year old Black Flag song about the early 80s hardcore punk scene and expertly recontextualises it as a Black Lives Matter protest song, featuring a guest verse from Berwyn.
P Money and Whiney first teamed up for a grime versus drum n bass showdown on last year’s ‘Buss The Red’. This year two more tracks followed, including ‘Sorry I’m Not Sorry’, which is the next track to make our playlist. A whole album is on the way next year, which is very exciting indeed.
Now, no 2022 playlist would be complete without something from Kendrick Lamar. And here we have ‘N95’ from his ‘Mr Morales And The Big Steppers’ album. His first LP for five years, it more than stood up to the anticipation awaiting it, and he then exceeded all expectations with his incredible Glastonbury headline set and tour show.
Caterina Barbieri continued to expand her analogue synth sound on her latest album, ‘Spirit Exit’, which gave us the track included here – ‘At Your Gamut’. Rina Sawayama also returned with an outstanding second album, which was introduced with the brilliant ‘This Hell’.
And Daniel Avery turned in possibly the best album of his career – a high benchmark – with ‘Ultra Truth’, our favourite track from which is the Haai and Kelly Lee Owens featuring ‘Chaos Energy’.
Check out the playlist on Spotify and YouTube, and stay tuned for the next block of ten tracks – our summer selection – on Tuesday. And you can go back and check out part one – our winter playlist – here.
Here are the ten tracks on our spring playlist:
Wet Leg – Ur Mum
Sinead O’Brien – There Are Good Times Coming
Fyfe & Iskra Strings – Purpose (feat Ghostpoet)
Ethel Cain – American Teenager
Ibeyi – Rise Above (feat Berwyn)
P Money & Whiney – Sorry I’m Not Sorry
Kendrick Lamar – N95
Caterina Barbieri – At Your Gamut
Rina Sawayama – This Hell
Daniel Avery – Chaos Energy (feat Haai and Kelly Lee Owens)
