Music Wrap: The must-listen to tracks from October

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BIUNCA GUILFOYLE
WORDS BY ELIZA SHOLLY

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Hello, my sexy babies (please understand the reference). I hope you’re well and enjoying the spoils of La Nina. I, for one, am spending these days inside feeling gross and catching up on Rodger Cleye videos aka one of the funniest internet humour series in recent times. If you disagree, you are simply wrong.

I’ve also spent the month reflecting on some of my favourite songs and albums of the past 12 months. When we hit the tail end of any year, I will start shortlisting the best music to come out of it. I love predicting what’s going to make my Spotify Wrapped – full disclosure, I am employed by said music streaming conglomerate – and will also find ways to bring up ‘Who’s going to win the Hottest 100 this year!?’. The millennial in me is a simp for listicles, I’ll admit it.

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2022 has been a great year for music. Not my favourite, but definitely not bad. For predictable heavy hitters (Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles) of course, but also for those who, one year ago, hardly had any ‘mainstream’ status at all.

On a global scale, I dare you to tell me ‘B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)’ isn’t one of the greatest pop songs of the last 10 years. Let’s also pay credit to FredAgain for making Boiler Room the new Netflix, and to Steve Lacy for converting me into a hater of his music. That kind of disdain can only occur with an exceptional amount of oversaturation; a feat in itself.

More locally, Stella Donnelly’s Flood is stark and lovely. Adelaide’s Elsy Wameyo released her debut album River Nile this year, and it’s some of the best Afro hip-hop I’ve ever heard. 2022 was also the year I discovered Sydney band Sweetie, for which I’ll be forever grateful. But right now we’re talking October music. Let’s get into it.

SZA – ‘Shirt’

Coming into my inbox at the eleventh hour is SZA’s new song, ‘Shirt’. It’s officially SZA season and I have nothing more to add.

Greentea Peng – Greenzone 108

The first time I heard of Greentea Peng was in one of those TikToks where White guys vox pop strangers and ask “What song are you listening to?”. As lame and contrived as the format may be, even I’ll admit that I’ve found them a good source for music. Greentea Peng’s ‘Miss Da Sun’ was one of them.

I felt a gaping hole in my musical knowledge when I learned of it because Greentea Peng is no underground performer by any means. She’s a south London-raised girlie with musical influences of R&B, reggae and lots of dancefloor house.

Her second EP, Greenzone 108, fuses these genres with a heavy psychedelic vibe. I dare you to press play and not smile. Best enjoyed with a negroni (sbagliato ft prosecco) in some outdoor sunshine. My top tracks are ‘Look To Him’ and ‘Your Mind’.

Loyle Carner – Hugo

Speaking of British royalty, everyone’s favourite British-Guyanese jazz-hop rapper Loyle Carner has released a new album called Hugo. It’s been widely positively received (scoring an elusive five stars from Damien Morris at The Guardian) and called his most introspective work to date. He teeters between themes of neurodiversity and ADHD, and like all of his projects, straddles the light and dark of identity, complex relationships and his mixed-race roots.

And, now he’s a father himself, Carner spends a lot of time dissecting the paternal figures in his life. In that aforementioned Guardian piece, Damien Morris states that “Carner’s first two albums were occasionally terrific but his third is a masterpiece”. And while I appreciate what he’s saying from a critic’s lens, I definitely feel his first two projects were more accessible for a mid-level music fan. Hugo definitely leans more into hip-hop with less bold, traditionally ‘fun’ instrumentals.

I like Hugo, don’t get me wrong. But, to me, Loyle Carner’s best output comes when he doesn’t take it all too seriously. Not to get too “I miss his old stuff” but ‘Ice Water’, ‘Ottolenghi’ and ‘Tierney Terrace’ are some of my favourite songs of all time, which doesn’t seem to be the trajectory he’s continuing to follow.

Sampa The Great – As Above, So Below

I’ve talked about Sampa The Great many times in this column, mostly due to the fact that Australia really doesn’t deserve her. It’s embarrassing when we have such incredible local talent that’s consistently overlooked in lineups and awards, so much so that they have to look overseas for any form of heavyweight recognition.

Anyway, her latest project, As Above, So Below, continues what her last album The Return began. Recorded in Zambia, the project continues to educate the masses to the music of her homeland. Zamrock, polyrhythmic percussion, choral harmonies – you’ll find it all across this nine-track project.

Big Wett

I don’t ever do a ‘one to watch’ style shoutout in this column, but for Big Wett, I’ll make an exception. Now if you know me IRL, you’ll know I love nothing more than being right. While academics call this style of acclamation ‘trend forecasting’ I just like to believe I’m smarter and more forward-thinking than anyone else. In an earlier column, I proclaimed that her beats – which she dubs “songs for sluts” – are hard, fast and a little NSFW, covering themes like money, power, drugs and her own brand of sexual fantastic-ness.

Dubbed a ‘sex-rapper’ by some, Big Wett took the stage at Bigsound (the SXSW of Australian music) and her show inspired Rebecca Black (yes, that one) to shout her out as one of the most exciting performers she had seen as of late. Anyway, when she’s selling out tours please remember reading this and refer all your praises to me.