New Zealand alt-rockers The Naked and Famous burst onto the scene in 2010 with their uplifting, reverb-drenched single, "Young Blood." One self-released album, a world tour, and several licensing deals later, the Kiwi quintet is back with their major-label debut, In Rolling Waves. A satisfying blend of sugary electropop, moody synths, and anthemic hooks, the album deftly sidesteps the dreaded sophomore slump. As the band embarks on a massive world tour, The Week caught up with bassist David Beadle via email. Here, his six favorite songs of the moment:
1. Sombear, "Love You in the Dark"
"Sombear is an artist named Brad Hale who is the drummer from an excellent band called Now Now. They toured with us on our last run of North America. This is his solo project, and it's absolutely incredible: Musically and lyrically it's one of our favorite tunes recently."
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2. Suuns, "Powers of Ten"
"Suuns are a great band from Montreal with a very krautrock feel. Their record Zeroes QC is what originally got us into the group. This track is from their most recent record, Images Du Futur. Highly recommended."
3. Father John Misty, "I'm Writing A Novel"
"Father John Misty very quickly became one of my favorite artists of the last two years. Alisa [Xayalith, The Naked and Famous' vocalist] showed me the song 'Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings' and from that moment, I was hooked. I delved deep into Misty's previous career as J. Tillman, and I think I now know his entire back catalog. 'I'm Writing A Novel' to me sums up what it's like to come to Los Angeles as an outsider and experience the culture shock and lost-and-found nature of the city. There's a great lyric in this song that reminds me of a mutual friend out here: 'We could do ayahuasca, baby, if I wasn't holding all these drinks.'"
4. Apparat, "Song Of Los"
"This record, The Devil's Walk, is something we've all been listening to nonstop since 2011. It's something that can help you fall asleep on the bus, lift you up when you're feeling down, but also make you feel morbidly depressed. 'Song Of Los' also has a heart-wrenching video that I recommend checking out."
5. Health, "Tears"
"Health is a band we've been collectively listening to since we became a band. We once got to play a gig with them at a small university in the South Island of New Zealand. It was an incredibly weird situation that I still can't figure out to this day. This song is from the Max Payne 3 soundtrack, which is probably one of the best game soundtracks ever. Thom [Powers, The Naked and Famous' guitarist] just bought the game to play on tour under the guise of needing to hear the music within context."
6. Sigur Ros, "Kveikur"
"I think this is my favorite track on the new Sigur Ros record. I've loved them since the Untitled record, and the evolution of their sound has only gotten more exciting as each new record comes out. There's a great performance of this song on the iTunes festival series, as well."
(This interview was condensed and edited by Samantha Rollins.)
Watch the video for "Hearts Like Ours" below:
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