By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
The forecast for this week’s Tunesday is looking dark and brooding with a touch of forbidden love. If you enjoy Halsey, Malcolm Todd, Omar Apollo and Gigi Perez, you might want to tune in. Here are some new songs to get you through those last few days of midterms until spring break.
“safeword” by Halsey (Feb. 27)
Halsey is going down a new road — a very punky, sassy road — with her new single, “safeword.” I’ve really enjoyed watching Halsey stray from traditional pop over the years, exploring her abilities and dipping her toes into genres such as folk, alternative, rock and now, punk rock. My initial response to hearing this song was that the sound was really giving “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre vibes –– one of the most iconic punk bands of the early 2000s.
“Bleed (feat. Omar Apollo)” by Macolm Todd (Feb. 28)
Synth, bass and drums introduce a duet I’ve been waiting on a long time: Malcolm Todd and Omar Apollo. Before the Jan. 19 TikTok ban, Apollo teased this song on his account, saying “Wait, let me leak another song before this app gets banned.”
This track is exactly what I would have imagined from these two — a dark romance story of torn longing, the desire to know someone and pain portrayed through lyrics “you can take control of how my heart bleeds.” When Apollo enters in the second verse — harmonized vocals and all — literally chef’s kiss. If you want a dramatic ’80s-esque song about forbidden desire to play as you drive down a dark road contemplating life, here you go.
“Chemistry” by Gigi Perez (Feb. 28)
Known best for her hit, “Sailor Song,” indie folk artist Gigi Perez has taken the charts by storm within the last year. “Chemistry” is the latest of her works, detailing an intense love between her and another woman, a “secret life,” combated by the expectations of family and society, where “some things we just don’t talk about.”
The release of this haunting, heart-wrenching tune is kicking off a tour starting in April in Europe and North America. She will then open for Hozier on his Unreal Unearth tour in June.
