The Best 4.5 Songs You Need to Hear This Week

It's already been a week since we told you about the best songs of the week, and honestly, so much can happen in a week. Tiffany Haddish can put out a music video, for instance (which is worth your time—Todrick Hall is a legend in the making, we should all be paying much more attention to him). But that's not one of the best songs this week—no, there are far too many other contenders in play, including some spoopy Halloween bops (tis the season), the return of DIIV, a loosie from Panda Bear, the long-awaited City Girls freestyle "JT First Day Out," and more. These are the best songs of the week.

LOVECRAFT, "AWOOO"

The less you know about this spooky collective of Hollywood producers and songwriters, the better. Going into LOVECRAFT blind means you can just let the haunting (sorry) melodies of "AWOOO"—with vocals by MNDR, who's going by Deepkutz for this project—crash over you like a tidal wave of frights and freaks. And then listen to the rest of the album, and be thankful we've got three more weeks of Halloween tunes to get us through these trying times.—Brennan Carley, associate editor

Gesaffelstein, "Doom"

I love it when music feels evil. Not like “singing about witches and dragons” evil but genuinely menacing as fuck evil. “Doom” by Gesaffelstein is some evil ass shit. It’s a relatively short track off of the DJ’s newest EP, Novo Sonic System, but it sure does make an impression. It’s all low, pulsing synths, sharp snares, and has this genuinely blood curdling trill that sounds like it’s straight out of a horror movie. Just in time for Halloween!—Gabe Conte, digital producer

DIIV, "Between Tides"

DIIV’s phenomenal third LP, Deceiver, dropped last Friday, some of the finest shoegaze this side of the decade. Zachary Cole Smith’s band released three singles ahead of the record, but for my money the best song is “Between Tides.” It starts off as one of the more pleasant, jangly tunes on the album, then transforms into a glorious, sludgy onslaught—a guitar showcase fit for 2019.—Colin Groundwater, assistant to the editor in chief

Panda Bear, "playing the long game"

Per a press release sent from Mr. Panda Bear himself, “[‘playing the long game’] is about a brief series of thoughts I had one morning about who I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m going. Hope you enjoy it and hope all’s well.” And ever since the song’s release, the brief series of thoughts that I've had every morning is, “I need to listen to ‘playing the long game,’” and who I am is a guy listening to “playing the long game,” and what I’m doing is pressing the big circular button with the tilted pyramid inside next to “playing the long game,” and where I’m going is to my computer to listen to “playing the long game” again. The Animal Collective member’s new solo song is “trap” but more like if a traditional trap song were nearly slowed to the speed that made Justin Bieber’s “Baby” sound like a whale call. It’s schmaltzy like that.—Cam Wolf, style features writer

And our .5 of the week…

City Girls, "JT First Day Out"

Welcome home, JT.—Luke Leifeste, senior social manager

Originally Appeared on GQ