Listen to “Lampshades on Fire” here, via The Current.
Two major singles hit the web over the last few days: D’Angelo‘s “Sugah Daddy” (off his first album in 14 years, Black Messiah, which RCA released via iTunes last night) and Modest Mouse‘s “Lampshades on Fire” (from their forthcoming full-length, Strangers to Ourselves, out March 3 on Epic; it’s their first album since 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank).
I’ve always been apathetic/disdainful toward Modest Mouse, but “Lampshades” is pretty good, packing an unexpected Southern rock swagger and a mutedly celebratory melody that’s somewhere between the White Stripes and Mercury Rev. The release of D’Angelo’s Black Messiah exploded my Twitter feed yesterday. I haven’t heard Black Messiah yet, but “Sugah Daddy” has pumped up expectations for it. The song reminds me of the output Sly Stone was releasing through his short-lived Stone Flower imprint, as well as Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On. The production’s as lean and sinewy as D’Angelo’s torso on the cover of Voodoo, and the music harks back to that landmark record, too. The only words I can decipher are “she needs a spanking,” “my philosophy,” and “yeah,” but no matter*. The music economically speaks the seductive language of stripped-down soul and funk (a very sculpted funk), its every contour glistening with sensuality and kundalini. I give the edge here to D’Angelo, but what do you think? Vote in the poll below.
*Pitchfork has a screenshot of the lyrics here. Note the line “so I made the pussy fart”; your move, radio.
