Life Listens: New music from XG, Greta Van Fleet, Georgia, Tobe Nwigwe, Kevin Mathews

SINGAPORE – In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Stream This Song: Greta Van Fleet – Meeting The Master

American band Greta Van Fleet are quite a polarising act – detractors dismiss the young act’s music as a copy of British rock elders Led Zeppelin.

That has not stopped them from conquering the charts. The quartet – comprising siblings Sam, Jake and Josh Kiszka, and their friend Danny Wagner – also got a credibility boost when From The Fires, their 2017 EP, was named Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards in 2019.

Meeting The Master, the lead single from their new album Starcatcher, is quite a grand display of rock vigour that melds folksy splendour with rousing power chords. It is their third album and currently at No. 1 on the Billboard rock charts.

Lead singer Josh Kiszka’s high-pitched wails still make him a dead ringer for Led Zep frontman Robert Plant, and the song arrangements are a little similar to some of the British band’s classic tunes.

Meeting The Master is not going to convert the jaded naysayers. But rock thrives on youthful exuberance and bold swagger, and as this song exemplifies, Greta Van Fleet have both. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Ace Album: Georgia – Euphoric

Euphoric is the third album from British singer-songwriter Georgia.

The dance-pop artiste made her name when sophomore album Seeking Thrills (2020) was in the running for the Mercury Prize, one of Britain’s highest music honours.

The new release is also the first in which she is working with another producer, former Vampire Weekend member Rostam, instead of going solo.

It is a winning combination, and the album title aptly describes the gleeful blend of electronic music and pop.

Still, her earnest singing and self-reflective lyrics lend a distinct air of intimacy to the tracks.

Georgia – who is the daughter of the co-founder of electronic music act Leftfield, Neil Barnes – has crafted a collection of songs that work just as well in a club as they do in one’s cosy bedroom. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Must-see MV: Tobe Nwigwe – Lil Fish, Big Pond

American basketball star Stephen Curry makes a cameo in the music video by American singer, rapper and actor Tobe Nwigwe.

But as observers have pointed out, Curry is merely mouthing the verses in the video, and does not actually rap on the song.

Still, it is the latest in a series of high-profile appearances outside the basketball court for the Golden State Warriors luminary.

He had made headlines when he emerged champion at the American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament, a few weeks ago.

The music video for the melodic hip-hop track appears in the Apple TV+ documentary, Underrated (2023), based on Curry’s life.

The song is another prominent project in 2023 for Nwigwe, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February.

He made his film acting debut as an action movie star in Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, which opened worldwide in June. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Chart Champ: XG – Grl Gvng

Japanese girl group XG, whose name means Xtraordinary Girls, is an interesting experiment.

All seven members – Chisa, Cocona, Harvey, Hinata, Juria, Jurin and Maya – of the hip-hop and R&B group are Japanese and they are managed by Xgalx, a subsidiary under Japanese record giant Avex.

But they were trained in the K-pop idol system, made their debut in South Korea and are based in South Korea, where they perform on South Korean music shows such as Inkigayo.

Singing mostly in English, they seem to be more interested in building a global fan base instead of a solely Japanese one.

The strategy has worked. Grl Gvng – from their upcoming first EP New DNA – debuted atop Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart for July 8. The addictive trap beat and the music video position the septet as a group to watch. – Jan Lee

Singapore Scene: Kevin Mathews’ 30th Anniversary

Singapore singer-songwriter Kevin Mathews is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Democracy, the debut album by his old group Watchmen, with a slew of new releases.

Last week, he released My One And Only Remixes, which, as the title suggests, comprises new versions of his 1993 radio hit My One And Only, a song from Democracy.

The five remixes are done by electronic music acts Falling Island, Abyss Simian, Aisha7 and Btcprox.

Mathews is also set to release two EPs: The Watchman: Prime on Sept 1 and The Watchman: Next on Nov 3.

He will also release his seasonal song, 4Christmas, on streaming platforms on Oct 6.

Together with his band The Groovy People, Mathews will be plying the live circuit, starting with a gig at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Circular Road on National Day at 8pm. – Eddino Abdul Hadi