Bartees Strange shouts out Toronto on rousing new single, plus new music from Alice Glass, Kurt Vile, Joey Bada$ and more

Star Tracks compiles the most interesting new music from a broad range of established and emerging artists.

This week’s playlist features new music from Bartees Strange, Kurt Vile, Joey Bada$$, Alice Glass, Luna Li, Curren$y and Katy Kirby.

Click here to listen along to the Spotify playlist, which includes additional tracks we loved this week.

Bartees Strange: Heavy Heart

“We should go to Toronto more often,” Bartees Strange sings softly in the first verse of his latest single “Heavy Heart.”

Most people listening wouldn’t even think about it for more than a second, but for a Torontonian, it’s probably the first thing that’ll jump out at you. It’s rare that our city gets much recognition anywhere in art or music from outsiders, but when it does, we tend to react in extremes. Why Toronto? Why would anyone want to come here, let alone more often?

It’s aside from the point, but it’s otherwise a nice shout-out in an emotional track from indie singer-songwriter Bartees Strange, who burst onto the scene in 2020 with the critically acclaimed “Live Forever.” The English-born, Oklahoma-raised, now D.C.-based musician has recently signed to prolific label 4AD, and released the single and the accompanying music video, directed by Mannequin Pussy’s Missy Dabice and featuring a cameo by legendary indie producer Will Yip on drums, to mark the occasion.

And he will indeed be coming to Toronto, later this month in fact, with Car Seat Headrest. Let’s just hope he’ll continue to come around more often. — Justin Smirlies

Kurt Vile: He Like A Child

Nothing soothes my soul quite like a laid-back Kurt Vile jam. Nearly 20 years into his career, the Philly singer-songwriter and guitar god seems content to continue sculpting away at his signature sound — a layer cake of guitar riffs, loping percussion and that beautiful deadpan drawl.

The blissed out “He Like A Child” is the second single from Vile’s forthcoming album, “(watch my moves),” which drops April 15. — Richie Assaly

Alice Glass: The Hunted

Released over the course of four and a half years between 2008 and 2012, the trilogy of self-titled albums by the Toronto duo Crystal Castles united the rock kids and the electro kids perhaps more than any group since Daft Punk. A decade later, you can hear the influence of Ethan Kath’s glitchy productions and Alice Glass’s distorted vocals all over contemporary music. Sadly, in 2017, after leaving the band, Glass issued a harrowing statement alleging abuse at the hands of Kath.

At the end of February, Glass released “Prey//IV,” her debut solo album that she has framed as a sequel to the Crystal Castles trilogy and a reclamation of her art. “My album is for people who have experienced pain that they don’t understand. It’s for those of you that know suffering,” Glass wrote on Twitter.

Produced by Jupiter Keyes – a former member of the noise rock band HEALTH – “Prey/IV” manages to capture the chaotic spirit of Crystal Castles, even as its sound is modernized to incorporate elements of dance music and hip hop.

“Watch the hunter be the hunter,” Glass shrieks on twisted revenge fantasy “The Hunted,” her voice thrashing among a wave of trancy synths and a sub bass line that would sound at home on a Brooklyn drill song. “Now, when you’re suffering, I’ll smile.” — RA

Luna Li: What You’re Thinking

Multi-instrumentalist Luna Li has finally dropped her debut album “Duality,” and “What You’re Thinking” is the album epitomized. Li’s initial wondering over wandering synths is met with a cascade of instruments that propel her sugary yet woeful hook. As drums and electric guitar crash over the chorus the sorrow-filled lyrics bend toward resentful until cleared by a heavenly violin and dreamy harp to cut the tension. With how hair-raising the hook is, “What You’re Thinking” almost resembles a big room house track where everything is done in anticipation of that bitter guitar. Thanks to Li’s proficiency with the harp, guitar, violin and keys, the progression, although a kaleidoscope of sounds, meshes seamlessly to make a harrowing yet hopeful cut. — Demar Grant

Curren$y and The Alchemist (feat Babyface): Louis Baggage

Another week, another stellar record from The Alchemist, the tireless producer whose discography is starting to look like an encyclopedia of underground hip hop. The latest entry is a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, their third LP together since 2011.

“Blessed to reach underground king status,” Curren$y raps on “Louis Baggage,” his bars staid but transfixing, delivered over a plush guitar loop and jazzy drums. And while The Alchemist’s superlative crate-digging skills tend to lend themselves particularly well to maturing rappers (Curren$y is 40), he also makes space here for a lively verse from Babyface Ray, a Detroit rapper on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. — RA

Joey Bada$$: Head High

It becomes harder and harder to hold your head high, but Joey Bada$$ is still finding ways to do it. Where Joey Bada$$ is from, “the stories never end with no happily ever afters. Just broken families forced to start new chapters.” And still, between boom-bap drums and hopeful backing vocals he’s keeping his head up.

This track is an interesting one as Bada$$ continues to recall the darkest things in his life only to say he’s overcome through sheer force of will. It’s an example of how a lot of people must deal with grief, often there’s no closure, you’re just left to stew in your emotions and then set them to the side “’Cause you never know when could be your last, time breathin’, now you bleedin’ from the gun blast.” — DG

Katy Kirby: Bad Man

Singer-songwriter Katy Kirby made a splash last year with her debut album “Cool Dry Place,” a concise and impressive collection of raw and supremely crafted folk-rock songs that landed on a number of year-end lists. Born in a small town in Texas, Kirby’s evangelical upbringing was devoid of pop music, giving her “a sound of her own.”

In February, Kirby released an extended version of “Cool Dry Place,” which includes a cover of “Bad Man” by the beloved indie artist Alex G. Though her vocals stick closely to Alex G’s original melody, Kirby eventually flips the song into a rootsy jam session complete with honky tonk keys and electric guitar solos. — RA