There’s always a reason why some stuff just fail to make the final cut. To these artistes, it could mean a fight with the label to include it in the album, or that the track lacks the flavours of current artistic endeavours. But for us listeners, unreleased songs that seemingly pop out of nowhere on the internet are like finding rare jewellery in the deepest depths of the earth — even at its demo-state or poor audio quality.
Before I digress too much, here is a playlist of four great unreleased gems of tracks that deserve as much, if not more, attention than official releases.
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Frou Frou — A New Kind Of Love
The thing about this track’s recent popularity is rather tricky. It’s from either that Soundclound track that used Imogen Heap’s vocals as a sample (which happens quite often. Read: Clams Casino) or it’s slowed-down version on Tiktok which has garnered more than a million likes, this unreleased track from Frou Frou has always been dear to me. How it did not appear in the band’s (only) cult album in 2003 will remain a mystery.
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Lana Del Rey — Queen Of Disaster
Lana Del Rey may as well be the “queen of leaking my own song”, and funnily the title of her best unreleased track sums it all up very well. The sweet melodies in this number and how it would’ve been a perfect closing track in her 2011 album “Born To Die” will always be a missed opportunity for Ms Grant.
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Charli XCX — Lipgloss (SOPHIE Remix)
The late SOPHIE has always shrouded her live sets with mysterious remixes you can’t find anywhere else. Previously available only as a loose two-minute recording from a live show in New York, this remix eventually found its way online a month after her passing.
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Crystal Castles — Kept
While it might not necessarily be an unreleased track, this Crystal Castles song from the group’s final album was only made available as a purchase on its physical distributions. That means it’s absent on streaming platforms. Why? The duo wanted to raise donations for Amnesty International.
Once you’re done with my Unreleased Gems playlist, click here to catch up with our May 2021 issue!
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