Welcome to Future Sounds!
Every other Wednesday, Ghettoblaster brings you several singles from upcoming albums to excite and entice your ears.  Below you’ll find songs that really stand out as essential listening to us.  So please sit back, relax and treat yourself to some seriously great music.
What’s this?  A Future Sounds post on a Wednesday?  That’s right, exciting things are afoot at Ghettoblaster Magazine.  We would like to officially welcome new Online Feature Writer Luke LaBenne (http://www.popvolture.com/) as a regular contributor to our lovely website.  Moving forward we will be posting a new edition of Future Sounds every Wednesday, and also are introducing a new feature every Friday, which you’ll have to check back in two days to see what it is!  So, without further ado, here is Luke’s first post for Future Sounds.  Enjoy!

The Avalanches – Frankie Sinatra

The long awaited return of The Avalanches has arrived with Frankie Sinatra, the groups first single in 16 years. The song comes from their forthcoming album, Wildflower, which the group began producing in 2005. Killer samples and bouncy baritone horns create a dope beat for hip hop greats Danny Brown and MF Doom to rap over. This song marks the triumphant return of a beloved band and will no doubt be a hipster party anthem for years to come.

Glass Animals – Life Itself

Life Itself sees Glass Animals branching out and coming in to their own. This is the first single off their sophomore album How To Be A Human Being, out August 26th. Life Itself tells a story about getting lost and finding yourself again. it perfectly captures that sentiment repeating, “come back down to my knees // gotta get back, gotta get free.” While their first album had some of the catchy jungle beats and creative electronic elements present here, their sound leaned more toward alternative R&B. However, Life Itself is an infectious indie-rock tune, a stark contrast to the sound they are known for. It has a new energy and will make listeners rethink what this band is capable of doing.

Weaves – Coo Coo

This song is the latest in a string of singles from Toronto rock quartet Weaves, off their self-titled debut out June 17. Primitive percussion and creaky vocals are backed by harmonizing guitar riffs, akin to Tune-Yards. Much like Merrill Garbus, frontwoman Jasmyn Burke is breaking a trend seen with a lot of female lyricists, who only write about, “looking for their next love.” Rather than embellished stories of love and heartbreak, her lyrics are more casual and grounded, packed with playful alliteration and clever phrasing.

Of Montreal – it’s different for girls

Kevin Barnes’ answer to Animal Collective’s Golden Gal, this is another ode to women and the shit they have to put up with. This song is not just Barnes “mansplaining” feminism, he is also at times a bit critical of female behavior, but then the reasoning behind it and attempts to squash common stereotypes towards women (i.e. calling them crazy). He also turns the focus to men at times, “for every pshyco chick there’s ten thousand hateful pricks.” All of this is done in typical Of Montreal synth-rock fashion. Making the track danceable while addressing an important social issue. This is the first single off of their 14th album, Innocence Reaches, due August 12th.

Steady Holiday – Under The Influence

Dre Babinski isn’t new to the world of music. She was originally a member of LA folk-rock outfit Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. Then, after they disband, she and bandmate Edson Choi formed Miracle Days. Where previous projects found her underutilized or sharing the spotlight, her latest endeavor, Steady Holiday, is all her own and exceeds many of her past ventures. The title track of her debut album, Under The Influence, begins as a dark, eerie rock tune that blooms into a gorgeously orchestrated, dream-pop hymn. Babinski’s soft vocals soar at times, with lovely melodies reminiscent of Grizzly Bear. Under The Influence is out on June 24th, showing us a whole new side to this musical veteran.

Okkervil River – Okkervil River R.I.P.

On this song, Will Sheff delivers a poignant, cryptic narrative chronicling a dark period in his life, in which he lost his grandfather and his band and music career were seemingly crumbling. Though this acoustic, folk saga sounds like classic Okkervil River, Sheff isn’t backed by his usual band. He worked with new players, many of them jazz musicians, the same as his grandfather. Sheff explains, “I think this record was me taking my life back to zero and starting to add it all back up again, one plus one plus one.” This is the first track on Away, out September 9th. Much like Justin Vernon’s isolated time delivered For Emma, Forever Ago, Sheff’s darkest moments deliver his most powerful work yet.