Nine songs that spend their runtime lighting something, then let it go off.
Kanye West - Flashing Lights (Director's Cut) ft. Dwele
KanyeWestVEVO
horns, choir, then the whole thing detonates
Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone
KanyeWestVEVO
a sample climbs for five minutes before it breaks
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank) (Clean)
KendrickLamarVEVO
the hook is a coping mechanism, escalating
euphoria
Kendrick Lamar
a diss that builds in parts before the knockout verse
Billie Eilish - LUNCH (Official Music Video)
BillieEilishVEVO
polite verse, then the bass remembers itself
Ulrika Spacek - Build A Box Then Break It | Audiotree Live
Audiotree
title as instruction manual, followed to the letter
Persefone - The Great Reality | Audiotree Live
Audiotree
seven minutes of runway before it lifts off
All Them Witches - Saturn Song / Hold Up, Say What? (Live on KEXP)
KEXP
two songs stitched into one long ignition
Queens of the Stone Age - Keep Your Eyes Peeled (Live on KEXP)
KEXP
a riff that waits its whole life to arrive
1–9 SELECT · ARROWS ROAM · SPACE PLAY · ↵ THEATER · ESC STOP · S SHUFFLE · ? KEYS
