xaviersobased and Osamason rap against a wall of shoegaze guitars on Uncomfy

There’s loads of music out there, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up.

Rather than letting the algorithm dictate your music taste, you can listen to Rated by THE FACE – a playlist that’s lovingly curated and updated by our (human) editorial team every week.

Yeat – Fly Nitë ft. FKA twigs

Every time Yeat drops a new project, his hardcore fans obsess over even the minor variations they’ve noticed in his bombastic rage rap sound. So they presumably lost it when he heard the oddball star on drum ​‘n’ bass for the first time. After Yeat does his best popstar impression, the breaks come in around half way through the track, and they’re presumably there to accommodate the featherlight vocals of FKA twigs – who, sonically speaking, is something of an unlikely collaborator. But we do get a few seconds of Yeat in d’n’b raver mode. It sorts of suits him. DR

xaviersobased – Uncomfy ft. Osamason

When an artist announces that they’ve dropped some music to tide things over before the release of their Proper Album, it can feel a little dispiriting, as if the tracks they’ve just dumped on us aren’t quite good enough to be included on a more significant future release. But although xaviersobased has said that his new EP Once More precedes ​“album mode”, the six track project is further evidence that he’s one of the most compelling experimentalists in contemporary rap. On Uncomfy, xav and fellow underground star Osamason outrun the beat with restlessly rapped threats and brags, but their braggadocio feels strangely poignant against a mushy wall of shoegaze guitars. DR

Yves Tumor & NINA – We Dont Count

It’s been two years since we’ve had new music from Yves Tumor, the snappily titled album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), and now they’ve made a return with this collaboration with NINA, one third of Bar Italia. We Dont Count opens with the two purring at each other (“I don’t really like it (I feel like you do)/ I don’t think you’ll win (we’re both losers too)”) over a scuzzy bassline, before opening up into a jagged post-punk chorus. In the accompanying monochrome and lo-fi music video, NINA writhes around backstage in a striped jumpsuit whilst Yves poses in front of the mirror with a table lamp. The collaboration may have come as a surprise, but you soon realise these chic and shadowy musicians are kindred spirits. TL

Frost Children – What is Forever For

Frost Children are in their mid twenties, and therefore they would have been too young to have experienced what they call the ​“golden age” of EDM outside of their bedrooms. But with forthcoming album Sister, Angel and Lulu Proust are making up for lost time. Jacked-up anthem What is Forever For is built with epicly garish synths and vaguely profound lyrics, teasing us with the illusion that you can drown your sorrows with Red Bull cocktails. DR

Sex Week – Moneyman

New York-based duo Sex Week have just dropped a brand new EP, Upper Mezzanine. One of the stand-out tracks is Moneyman, which is kind of about how fun it is to spend all your cash (relatable) – ​“Don’t hold your money, man, just spend it all /​Make it rain, yeah, just make it fall” – and kind of about apologising to someone you love for hurting them: (also relatable): ​“I promisе I will always see you in a sea of faces /​And I forgive you, hope that you forgive me for the things I do, too”. Half country, half indie-pop, it’s a softly soothing tune, thanks in large part to its soft harmonica riffs. JW

Irvine Welsh – A Whole New Side of Me

What do you mean Irvine Welsh, one his generation’s foremost novelists, has released his debut album? Made in collaboration with The Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra, Men In Love is disco through and through, inspired by his new book of the same name (a sequel to Trainspotting, would you believe). ​“In uncertain times, dominated by the ascendancy of soul dead oligarchs, their corrosive technology and looting economics, the great positive constant for humanity remains our infinite capacity for love,” Welsh said in the press release. A few spins of A Whole New Side of Me should hammer that point home. JW