Driven by the community of listeners, SoundCloud lets you find out what people with similar tastes to you are currently into, via The Upload. So you can go straight to the good stuff, or do your own thing.
Now that you can enjoy SoundCloud on Go Binge with Three without using any of your mobile data, you can afford to experiment more, even when you’re not within the comfort zone of your home wifi. So, what’s the world listening to on SoundCloud this summer?
Perhaps it’s that belief that if we lose ourselves in a good dance track we can almost feel the waters of an Ibiza beach lapping at our feet without having to stump up the air fare… but it seems to work. Pure summer, with the promise of London’s excellent South West Four festival – returning to Clapham Common for bank holiday weekend – still to come.
Homegrown urban music that doesn’t sound like a supermarket own-brand version of American hip hop was a long time coming, but the Skepta generation has it nailed. Roll the windows down and enjoy the gritty escapism of music for a London landscape.
Or ‘dream pop’ if you prefer. Lana Del Rey’s floaty melodics and ethereal tones are back in fashion. Del Rey herself describes her latest album, ‘Lust for Life’ as having ‘a retro sensibility with a futuristic flair’. Whatever that means, we think it’s perfect listening when you’re flat out on your picnic blanket looking at the clouds in the park this summer.
Great tracks offer escapism, but when you bump back down to earth, you want a beautiful song with a decent beat to be waiting for you. For that, reach for old and new – from Damon’s 2D creation Gorillaz to Rag ’n’ Bone Man, who was even heard on the election trail just a few weeks ago. Even better, the two forces come together on ‘The Apprentice’ on the latest Gorillaz album, ‘Humanz’.
With the release of H Hawkline’s new album, ‘Romanticize’, Cory Hanson emerging as an understated master of melodic lyricism and Aldous Harding catching the eye of discerning indie punters at festivals like Sea Change this summer, alternative music’s strongest card right now seems to be the singer-songwriter. Forget wistful covers of old pop hits, these innovative wordsmiths deserve to be on the English Lit syllabus.