A Whole Load Of Wednesdays

Kate Miller-Heidke “Can’t Shake It”

There are so many songs that encourage people to dance, or go on about how totally awesome dancing is, and relatively few that express a powerful nervousness about dancing, and feeling horrible about one’s inability to loosen up and move in a way that is not thoroughly embarrassing. This is particularly odd given just how many people feel awful about their body, or have no idea what to do with themselves when confronted with loud, beat-centric music. If you fall into that category, Kate Miller-Heidke feels your pain, and she’s singing about it too. “Can’t Shake It” is all self-deprecating humor and cute irony, and though it touches on valid, potent anxieties, the song keeps a clear-eyed, light-hearted perspective on the problem.

Buy it via Kate Miller-Heidke’s official site.

Polly Scattergood “Nitrogen Pink”

“Nitrogen Pink” plays out like an epic story, like a Kate Bush variation on “Born To Run,” but the lyrics side-step any sort of narrative in favor of vivid, disconnected imagery, and a dramatic build toward an abstracted catharsis. Despite its stadium-sized grandeur, most of its sounds are atypical or counter-intuitive, contributing to the sense that the piece is like a replica of something that maybe does not exist. Scattergood’s voice carries the song through each new dramatic plateau, emoting convincingly while occasionally lapsing into a cracked, cynical tone that recalls the singing of Dan Bejar.

Buy it from Amazon.