Welcome to Played Out, AfterEllen’s new weekly playlist of the best tracks that are sure to be on heavy rotation into the weekend and beyond for us girls who like girls and the people that like us girls who like girls.
Tei Shi This week London is laying it down, with five of the 10 artists listed based there a British invasion is certainly underway. Plus a little Mykki Blanco Featuring Kathleen Hanna for good measure, because we deserve it this week.
CHVRCHES – “Dead Air”As you may or may not know Lorde is curating The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 album (her own contribution “Yellow Flicker Beat” is killer), and she’s doing quite a good job. She managed to snag CHVRCHES’ first single in over a year, and it’s a solid sign of things to come from the Scottish trio.
Laurel – “Memorials”Memorials comes off the highly anticipated Holy Water EP, out Dec 15, from 20 year old Londoner Laurel, and is already drawing multiple comparisons to Lana Del Rey. It’s a bit dreamy, a bit sexy and totally groovy.
Shivum Sharma – “All These Years”
Another young Londoner with a forthcoming EP out this December-the 8th to be exact. If you’re looking to add some sultry to that special mixtape you’ve been working on, look no further than this contemporary crooner.
Shamir – “On The Regular”Hailing from Las Vegas, 2014 has been quite the year for Shamir. He burst onto the scene with his infectious hyper-pop raps and undeniable style and has quickly become one to watch.
Deers – “Behind Cans”Four girls from Spain playing some really fantastic grunge pop, “Behind Cans” is another notch in their expanding belt.
Tei Shi – “See Me”Born in Buenos Aires and banging around in Brooklyn now, Tei Shi is no stranger to praise, and rightfully so. This week’s sleek “See Me” is pressing all the right buttons.
TALA – “Everybody’s Free”Because literally every single one of you loved Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, oh and right now TALA is the it girl of the indie-, alt-, post-, electro- R&B, whatever you want to call it, this is just further proof.
Mykki Blanco Featuring Kathleen Hanna – “A Moment With Kathleen”I’d be a fool not to include this collaborative track. Mykki opens with a fan girl moment and Kathleen Hanna provides some clean meta raps about her own history in the punk world.
Rosie Lowe – “How’d You Like It”For the fans of Jessie Ware and BANKS comes Rosie Lowe, with a forthcoming album she’s certainly a name to remember. Oh, and guess what? She’s from London. Maybe we should pack our bags?
Zibra – “Heartache”New wave industrial dub-rock? Yes please. Glitchy VHS low-fi video? Yes please. These dudes also build their own synths from scratch, how cool is that? Oh, and I don’t even want to tell you where they’re from…
Played Out is brought to you by After Ellen contributing music writer Anne Alexander. She lives in New York and she likes music and, uh, stuff, but definitely music. You can reach her with recommendations, comments, concerns, or just in general on Twitter @tweetannietweet and Instagram @its_me_anne.
