The 5 Best Songs Of The Week

Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to subscribers on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)5Kristin Hersh - "Pass Christian""This is sunshine in a jar." That's what Kristin Hersh's words say, anyway. Her voice says something else. For decades, Hersh has been one of left-of-center rock music's great spirit summoners, an otherworldly warbler with a cutting wit and a taste for the expansive. On a track that might as well be a throwaway — the lead single from the vinyl-only post-album EP — Hersh takes us on one of her heaviest trips yet. Per the credits, Hersh played every instrument on "Pass Christian," and she made her fuzz-drenched space-rock leads drip with as much dread as her voice. It's like she suddenly decided to make her own Earth-style drone-blues-metal and succeeded wildly. When she harmonizes with herself on the chorus, the beauty makes through, so maybe it really is sunshine in a jar. —Tom4Palehound - "Natural Disasters""Natural Disasters" is one of those songs that puts everything in perspective. Things are really bad — can’t we all just get through it together? El Kempner puts it in much more poignant terms: "There is no time to left to judge when/ Natural disasters are closing in on us/ And you’re still holding a fucking grudge.” The music is understated, built around a woven melody of guitar plucks and soft piano embellishments. It grows subtly, with shuffling drums, claps, and the occasional bell ring. Kempner sings of happiness at a distance, of finding peace in boundaries. It’s not a flashy ode that hammers home its sentiment, but rather one delivered with a compassionate, somewhat pragmatic sensibility. Even in its seeming simplicity, the song showcases the power of Kempner’s writing.“Natural Disasters” isn’t a holiday song. But as the end of the year approaches and winter brings on its familiar self-reflection, just as we all reach peak exhaustion, the song feels timely. I’d hate to end this blurb with some yada yada about forgiveness and grace being bigger than any manmade weapons, vices, or treacheries. But if the world’s going to hell anyway, wouldn’t it be nicer to go peacefully than begrudgingly? —Margaret3Deloyd Elze - "Yamaha 250"Deloyd Elze likes to mix up genres, bringing subtle electronics into tender alt-country. Might as well mix up spiritual traditions too, bragging to his lover about arranging a tarot reading right after introducing the refrain, "You set the table/ And I'll say grace." Allen's new song "Yamaha 250" is rich with that kind of lyrical playfulness, and maybe even richer on a musical level. As layers of skittering electronics and rustic strings pile up into gorgeous swells of emotion, so do memorable lines and character flourishes. It's a slice-of-life song that doubles as the sound of a promising musical artist making the leap. —Chris2Quiet Light - "Forever"Quiet Light’s Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2 made a splash this year because its 12 tracks feel like a soft, bright glimpse into the future of music. But Riya Mahesh’s new tune, “Forever,” is an odyssey back to the ’80s. It’s a sprawling synth-pop love song adorned with dreamy saxophone and a simple but evocative refrain: "All I wanna do is be good to you." More than anything, Quiet Light knows how to transform an emotion into a song, and "Forever" is pure love. —Danielle1Armand Hammer - "Assembly Lines"On this week's surprise-dropped Snakes & Ladders, Armand Hammer haven't lost a step. E L U C I D and billy woods remain masters of abstract sounds and dystopian visions, not least of all on "Assembly Lines." Over Preservation's eerie synth soundscape, the rappers interrogate the intersection of labor and technology in the AI era, coming away with chilling conclusions about workers' fate: "My country, 'tis of thee/ Slavecatcher androids hunt you in electric sheep." —Chris