Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly roundup of the musical highlights from the, erm, world of guitar. 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.
Maya Delilah – Pretty Face
What is it? The latest single from 22-year-old British singer-songwriter Maya Delilah, who – after amassing a huge following via Instagram and TikTok thanks to her soulful six-string chops – releases Pretty Face to celebrate her new partnership with Blue Note/Capitol Records. It’s a perfect intro into the sonic universe of Delilah, which sees her emotive vocals orbit around a mixture of elite phrasing, impeccable feel and irresistible tone.
Standout guitar moment: Though Deliliah spends most of the track strumming away, she gives herself the opportunity to let loose on the fretboard around the 2:00 mark, breaking free from the shackles of rhythm guitar to belt out a blues-y, bend-heavy solo that literally oozes soul.
For fans of: John Mayer, David Ryan Harris, Madison Cunningham
– Matt Owen
Yo La Tengo – Fallout
What is it? The lead single from This Stupid World, the beloved Hoboken, New Jersey indie trio’s first new non-instrumental album in five years. Few bands have aged as gracefully into their fifth decade as Yo La Tengo, and Fallout, quite simply, is everything that’s so damn good about them in a four-and-a-half-minute package – snarling layers of distorted riffing that cleverly disguise sweet-as-candy pop songwriting.
Standout guitar moment: Ever the Neil Young fan, guitarist/singer Ira Kaplan – perhaps unconsciously – tips his cap to one of his heroes by stabbing a single chord over and over and over again at around 2:50. On first listen, you might expect those to be the opening bars of one of Kaplan’s trademark bizarro fretboard freakouts, but after all these years, he doesn’t need to race frantically up and down the fretboard to offer that same cathartic release.
For fans of: My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground
– Jackson Maxwell
What is it? A modern-day renaissance man, Matt Heafy is apparently never settled unless he’s putting out new music. After Trivium put out their latest album, In the Court of the Dragon last year, Heafy turned his sights to Ibaraki, a black metal side project, under which he released his first album, Rashomon, earlier this year.
And now, in the relative downtime from both projects, Heafy has released a new single under a new moniker: Kiichi Chaos. This time, Heafy – a keen gamer himself – lends his formidable song writing talents to Team Vitality, a French esports organization who play first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS:GO, competitively.
“Metal and gaming are two constants in my life that I hold near and dear,” Heafy states. “I've always found that gaming and metal go so well together... it's as if they belong together.”
Standout guitar moment: The riff that kicks in from the 0:47 mark following a melodic choral section is Trivium-esque, with galloping palm-muted chugs and ever-so-heavy arpeggiated low-string runs.
For fans of: Trivium, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage
– Sam Roche
David Knudson – No Ways No Means (feat. Tim Kasher of Cursive)
What is it? 2022 has become one of the most prolific years in David Knudson’s career. Four years on from the demise of Minus the Bear, the sonically inventive guitarist released his debut album, unveiled a new song with Botch, and even announced live shows with the mathcore heroes.
As if that weren’t enough, he’s now releasing a new EP, Undo / Redo, and No Ways No Means, which features the vocal talents of Cursive’s Tim Kasher, is the first single: a fuzzed-up hard-rock stomper that will have MTB fans bopping in an angular fashion.
Standout guitar moment: That main riff has something of a Morello feel to it, but check that octave-up solo with wild whammy (or Whammy?) bends: there aren’t loadsa notes, but the delivery is perfection.
For fans of: Minus the Bear, Cursive, Sparta
– Michael Astley-Brown
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Pretty Boy (feat. Johnny Marr)
What is it? Manchester, England, has produced some of the biggest bands – and in turn, some of the biggest guitar players – of all time, boasting alumni such as Oasis and The Smiths. Now, two of those Mancunian guitar gods, Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr, have teamed up for a new single, released under the former’s High Flying Birds name. It’s a perfect combination of the pair’s respective playing styles, filled with jangly leads, punchy rhythms and some acoustic layering for good measure.
Standout guitar moment: The acoustic and bass both do a grand job of holding down the fort for the first few minutes, but what follows the breakdown at the 2:30 mark is especially tasty – a wall of rhythm riffs that play host to an infectious lick.
For fans of: Oasis, The Smiths, Sam Fender
– Matt Owen
Buffalo Nichols – Meet Me In The Bottom
What is it? Side A of his new two-sided single, Meet Me In The Bottom is a thrilling expansion of the Milwaukee bluesman’s sound. Punctuated by a fuzz-blasted bass line and dramatic punches of feedback, the song – a re-working of a blues classic – is a magnificent roller-coaster ride that grabs you from the first bar and never lets go.
Standout guitar moment: While distantly related to the blues, Nichols’ thrilling lead breaks – especially the second one – more readily recall the mind-expanding sounds of the psychedelic ‘60s, with their droning, almost sitar-like melodies and quick-fire pickin’.
For fans of: The Black Keys, The Doors, The White Stripes
– Jackson Maxwell
Iggy Pop – Frenzy
What is it? A standalone single from the Godfather of Punk, who has tapped Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith for three-minutes of raw riffage. With production hero Andrew Watt behind the desk, the one-time-only supergroup smash speakers left right and center, serving up one of the most raucous 180 seconds we’ve heard in quite some time.
Standout guitar moment: We can’t think of a track title that would better describe Frenzy, with the single-note stabs and warbling riffs exploding into an off-the-chain, wah-loaded throwdown for the outro.
For fans of: The Stooges, Guns N’ Roses
– Matt Owen
Vended – Overall
What is it? With the potent blood of metal royalty coursing through their veins, it’s no surprise that budding five-piece Vended have a sound that’s undeniably Slipknot-esque, with drop-tuned, distorted guitars, pummeling rhythm sections and spine-tingling sound design elements.
But for the stylistic cues the group have taken from their metal titan fathers, vocalist Griffin Taylor and drummer Simon Crahan – along with guitarists Cole Espeland and Connor Grodzicki, and bassist Jeremiah Pugh sure are paving their own path.
And another brick in that road is laid with the band’s ferocious new single, Overall, a dynamically varied metalcore cut peppered with enough weighty riffs to get any pit spinning.
Standout guitar moment: Lead guitar is generally abstained from to leave more room for straightforward riff brutality, and no riff hits quite as hard as the one in the breakdown from the 2:21 mark.
For fans of: Slipknot, Tallah, Tetrarch
– Sam Roche
Longheads – Glossolaila
What is it? Throw King Gizzard, the Doors and Black Sabbath into a melting pot, add a dash of desert rock and you get UK four-piece Longheads, who dropped new EP Mars Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore this week. The whole thing is a tripped-out journey that oozes atmosphere from every note, but Glossolalia is a relatively succinct summary of the band’s groove-heavy psychedelic approach.
Standout guitar moment: The second that solo kicks in against a backdrop of phaser-set-to-stun rhythms is a trip in itself.
For fans of: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, All Them Witches, Black Mountain
– Michael Astley-Brown
Samia – Mad At Me
What is it? The rising singer/songwriter’s first collaboration with pop mastermind (and ex-Vampire Weekend guitarist) Rostam Batmanglij, Mad At Me is the most outwardly accessible song of Samia’s career so far. Loaded with bubbling synths and packing an effortless chorus, the second single from Samia’s forthcoming album, Honey, signifies that she might not be an ‘under-the-radar’ talent much longer.
Standout guitar moment: There’s not a whole lot of guitar on this tune, but what little there is – particularly that heavily-processed, feedback-coated lead after the first chorus – sure makes its mark.
For fans of: MUNA, Vampire Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers
– Jackson Maxwell
Voice Of Baceprot – PMS
What is it? A hard-riffing, melodic new single from Indonesian trio, Voice of Baceprot. Short for perempuan merdeka seutuhnya (“completely independent woman”), PMS celebrates women who are breaking stereotypes and boundaries in all forms.
Impressively dynamic and varied, the track flips consistently between hard-rock riffing and more melodic chorus sections, even carving out a section from the 2:04 mark for bassist Widi to do a spot of noodling.
Standout guitar moment: Guitarist and frontwoman Marsya lets loose with a solo from the 1:37 mark, crafted with simple-but-effective melodic runs and occasional spurts of alternate picking.
For fans of: Burgerkill, DeadSquad
– Sam Roche
