Hello, and welcome to a new Spotify playlist-embiggened Essential Guitar Tracks. As you may well know, every seven days (or thereabouts), we endeavor to bring you a selection of songs from across the guitar universe, all with one thing in common: our favorite instrument plays a starring role.
Our goal is to give you an overview of the biggest tracks, our editor’s picks and anything you may have missed. We’re pushing horizons and taking you out of your comfort zone – because, as guitarists, that’s something we should all be striving for in our playing.
So, here are our highlights from the past seven days – now with a Spotify playlist (scroll to the bottom for the latest additions).
Jacob Collier – WELLLL
We knew Jacob Collier was cooking when he announced his upcoming album would feature Steve Vai, Willow and a five-string Strandberg, but WELLLL – his new single co-written with Remi Wolf – has still managed to take us by surprise.
There are no over-the-top displays of theoretical virtuosity here: this is a straight-up electric guitar beatdown, filled with lithe licks, Weezerish chord punches and a bruising breakdown. That Strandberg sounds ace, too, and we can’t wait to hear more of it when Djesse Vol. 4 arrives. (MO)
Tesseract – War of Being
Regularly hailed as pioneers of the current wave of djent, Tesseract have out-prog-metalled many of their successors with the first single and title track from forthcoming concept album, War of Being.
An 11-minute journey through thumped light and Meshuggah shade, ‘epic’ doesn’t even cover it, and it’s a thrill to hear Acle Kahney and James Monteith still breaking new ground after all these years. (MAB)
Cherry Glazerr – Soft Like a Flower
The lead single from I Don’t Want You Anymore – the newly-announced fourth LP from Clementine Creevy’s Cherry Glazerr project – Soft Like a Flower is loaded with guitar goodies.
There are those cloudy arpeggios that lead the song off, and the explosion of riffage that powers the headbang-inducing chorus. Bonus points, too, for the snake-like bassline that coils itself around the song’s verses. (JM)
Dan Auerbach – Every Chance I Get (I Want You In The Flesh)
There’s a distinct flavoring of Norman Greenbaum’s psych rock classic Spirit In The Sky to Every Chance’s central riff. However, it’s dressed throughout with richly varied lead licks that compile several stages of Auerbach’s career, from laconic Fat Possum blues, to his scuzzy Glenn Schwartz rock stylings and even a flash of some Tuareg-like phrasings he must have picked up producing Bombino. (MP)
Demi Lovato + Slash – Sorry Not Sorry
Demi Lovato’s rock renaissance continues apace with a re-recorded take on her track Sorry Not Sorry, for which she’s recruited Slash. Swapping 808 booms for tightly knit powerchords that teeter on the edge of complete breakdown, Sorry Not Sorry – Rock Version exceeds the original, and even gives the top hat-toting guitar icon a chance to let rip on a none-more-Slash solo. (MO)
Svalbard – Faking It
The UK blackened metal force transform depression into aggression on this emotionally and tonally weighty single, taken from new album The Weight of the Mask, due in October.
Veering between post-hardcore and death metal, Faking It’s shifts in mood reflect the track’s inherent duality, as harmonized chugs do battle with tumultuous tremolo-picked leads. (MAB)
Lutalo - Push Back Baby
Maybe it’s the languid summer season, but Push Back Baby has the sort of lilting, laconic central lick that weighs heavily on the eyelids. A rusty, scooped distortion tone is also brilliantly interwoven with some cleaner picking, making for a tonal and textural delight. (MP)
Mutual Benefit – Little Ways
Little Ways will serve as a good initiation for those unfamiliar with the sophisticated, beguiling songcraft that underpins Jordan Lee’s Mutual Benefit project. This beautifully understated tune is highlighted by an evocative solo informed by the song’s country leanings, one in which every twangy, yearning note is perfectly articulated. (JM)
Vanny Tonon – The Flow of Elements
Last year, Ibanez endorsee Vanny Tonon released The Hybrid Master of Time – a track that showcased his Hybrid Slap technique. Now, the Italian has returned with a new album, which further puts on display his mind-melting guitar skills. The Flow of Elements is a particular highlight, serving up a ricochet of delicately percussive picks and a volley of dazzling sleight of hand tricks. (MO)
Soen – Memorial
One of the most satisfying palm-muted triplet riffs of the year, this symphonic single from the Swedish prog-rockers is a huge sing-to-the-sky anthem, sent into the stratosphere by those Maiden-esque harmonized guitars in the final chorus. (MAB)
Starbenders – Body Talk
Atlantan glam rockers Starbenders were once tipped to Guitar World by none other than Dave Mustaine. They have a bit of a guitar secret weapon in Kriss Tokaji and here he gets an airing on a wah-laden solo, full of alternate picking that comes on like a turbo Slash. (MP)
Cole Gallagher – Stumbling in the Dark
With Jack White producer Vance Powell and members of the 400 Unit in his camp, Gallagher is hurtling towards the release of his debut EP, The Confluence, which has now been previewed with Stumbling in the Dark. It’s a soulful, melancholic number that goes big on the emotion and even bigger on the jangly chord arrangements. (MO)
Chris Shiflett – Damage Control
You’ll have enough fingers to count how many notes the Foo Fighters guitarist plays in the solo of his latest single, Damage Control, but boy, does he make each one count. The solo provides an opportunity to hear Shiflett’s soul as a player – his voice on the instrument. It’s the kind of chance to shine individually that he rarely gets when rocking stadiums around the world with his bandmates. (JM)
Royal Blood – Pull Me Through
Don’t be fooled. Royal Blood haven’t swapped the heavy bass for a harpsichord, no matter what the opening exchanges might imply. Stick with Pull Me Through, and those classic Royal Blood licks arrive with their usual searing efficiency. We imagine this would garner applause even from the toughest of festival crowds. (MO)
Also on this week’s playlist…
- Shamir – Our Song
- Another Michael – Angel
- Yard Act – The Trench Coat Museum
- Of Virtue – Sober
- Destroy Boys – Shadow (I’m Breaking Down)
- Snõõper – Running
