Staff playlist – Songs to listen to right now

“Listen and Wait”
GRIZZLY BEAR
The band’s meticulously executed LP from last year, Shields, was expanded in November with demos and B-sides. On this track, the piano at the start is almost sprightly against the spooky reverb of Daniel Rossen’s vocals and gunshots of drums that threaten to explode everything into a full-on rocker.

“S.N.I.T.C.H.”
PUSHA T
The skillful flow of this Pharrell-assisted track is as authentically street as the incident that inspired the closing song of new album My Name is My Name. After a friend ratted him out in exchange for a shorter jail term, this Kanye collaborator was encouraged by Pharrell to turn the betrayal into a song. What results is a powerfully honest, cathartic sound from Pusha T on his solo debut.

“Getaway Man”
HEIDECKER & WOOD
From new album Some Things Never Stay the Same, this is either a seriously catchy song or an intentionally dumb stab at the sound of rock legends like The Eagles, John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. I’m not sure either, but I can’t deny the fun I have listening to it. 

“Diamond”
BRENDAN BENSON
After mind-melding with Jack White for The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson returns to an alt-country solo career with his wild card twang gleefully intact on this lead single from You Were Right, out Dec. 10. “Diamond” sounds like pure 1970s AM gold blasting from the windows of a rusty pick-up. “I can’t do it on my own,” Benson cries, but he’s wrong.