Song of the Week Roundup: May 2023

ICYMI: A roundup of our song of the week features from the month of May.

"Video Games" - Joe Pera ft. Dan Deacon

T&E writer Parisa says, "While I'm fully aware this is, in fact, a podcast episode and not a song, I'm still featuring it because the backing music by Dan Deacon in this installment of the Drifting Off with Joe Pera is truly a thing of beauty. The synthy compositions weave so effortlessly through the narrations while picking up on the nuances of Pera's tone and adding warmth to his dry wit. There's a passage where Pera describes watching the sunrise from the Sky Harbor airport, and the way the music mimics the light and colors in the sky is just so freakin' good. A true testament to how background music shouldn't be counted out as an artform. An honor and pleasure to fall asleep to this."
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"Shiver" - Fever Ray

T&E writer Brit says, “There’s so much about this song that I love. From the beginning it grabs with that low sireny-echoing drum noise, almost like you're in a cave, trancelike. It evokes a familiar feeling, a relatable feeling that generally stays internal–the excitement and uncertainty about touching someone for the first time, or wanting to be touched… It’s easy to sway to and get swept away to. It builds and gets exciting, before ending back where it started.”

"My Entire Life" - SUSTO

T&E writer Greg Gonzales says, "SUSTO released a single title track from its upcoming album, My Entire Life, and it's exactly the uplifting sound I hoped for (plus a trippy AI music video). SUSTO has an alt-country sound seemingly inspired by Elton John and southern gospel, and Wolfgang Zimmerman (Band of Horses) — plus a few tough years — have drawn out a new depth of sound from frontman Justin Osborne."
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