Highsnobiety

This week we're back with another delivery of The 5 Best Free Tracks of the Week. Sifting through the average and the mediocre, we're happy to bring you a selection of top quality tracks all for the low low price of nothing.

Unless you’ve spent the last week under a rock with zero wifi connection, you’ve already heard about the launch of Tidal – an artist-owned streaming platform headed up by Jay Z – heralding a new era of high quality music files, exclusives, and tailored playlists; all for the not-so-low price of $20 a month.

The launch has been divisive, and there’s been scepticism surrounding the whole thing, so we’re taking this opportunity to remind you that every seven days, Highsnobiety delivers The 5 Best Free Tracks of the Week. We promise to deliver tailored, high-quality selections, but for the low low low price of $0ish dollars a week (‘ish’ because every so often it may cost you the grand sum of hitting ‘like’ on someone’s artist page, but whatever, right?). And this week, there are some real gems amongst the bunch. Specifically, there’s he of "Harlem Shake" fame Baauer collaborating on the fly with the fantastic Fetty Wap, on a track produced in partnership with Yours Truly and Adidas, with the result made available to all for free. There’s also the opening track from the forthcoming Ryan Gosling movie Lost River, put together by Johnny Jewel and featuring Saoirse Ronan, again, made available to all for free. As for the other tracks, you’ll just have to scroll down to find out. But as you may have guessed by now, your money is no good here.

Baauer - "Promises" feat. Fetty Wap & Dubbel Dutch

Following on from successful sessions involving people like Jeremih, Tinashe, Shlohmo, Danny Brown, Chance The Rapper, Jacques Greene and more, the #songsfromscratch project sponsored by Yours Truly and Adidas approached Baauer, Fetty Wap and Dubbel Dutch to sit in a studio together, and the guys ended up creating a tune perfect for summertime airplay.

"Promises" is a bright, cheerful hip hop homage to getting your hustle on, and is naturally punctuated by some huge horns and the kind of bass that may break your ribs. Watch a video of the guys putting the song together over on the #songsfromscratch site, (as well as all other previous efforts from the ongoing project), or head straight to that download button, burn it to disc, and jump into the nearest convertible with a decent subwoofer.

Armani White - "Stick Up"

This track from Philidelphian rapper Armani White may only run for a little over a minute, but what a minute it is.

With a strong Jurassic 5 vibe, "Stick Up" sees Armani squeezing as many syllables into the song as he can, featuring a flow like a burst water main. And whilst you'll have to follow Mr White on Soundcloud in order to get your hands on the goods, you won't mind as much once you actually give it a listen. And much less so when you hear more from him in future without us even having to give you the heads up.

Cadenza - "When Will I Stop Dreaming" feat. Kiko Bun & Loyle Carner

Given away as part of Annie Mac's Free Music Monday series, have yourself a listen to the melancholic musings of UK up-comers Kiko Bun and Loyle Carner spread over the seductive booms and baps of producer Cadenza.

Tastefully sampling Shakedown's "At Night," any individuals who consider themselves as much a fan of old MF Doom as they are of King Krule will probably find happy medium between the two in this terrific track from some true British talents.

Johnny Jewel - "Tell Me" feat. Saoirse Ronan

With the bar having been set by Drive, we imagine that Ryan Gosling appreciates better than most the effectiveness of having a strong soundtrack to accompany your movie. And with Lost River marked for imminent release at theatres, the music has already made its way online. The man at the helm for this particular project, (directed by Gosling), is Johnny Jewel of Chromatics, who shared in-depth details of how "Tell Me" – the soundtrack's opener – came into being.

"While we were working on the movie, Ryan decided he wanted to have Saoirse sing on screen. We kept talking about it for months, trying to find the right piece of music...Out of nowhere, I got a text from Ryan that simply said..."Rat's in town. You ready to do it?". I packed up a microphone, a tape machine, and a preamp, and drove as fast as i could to the mix stage. When I got there, they gave me a huge sound stage to work in, but she was a little nervous."

"To melt the ice, I set up an 8 track on the floor of the kitchen next door. I unplugged all the phones from the wall, and put them inside the refrigerator. She came into the room, and the three of us piled up all of the furniture and suitcases in the corner to block the door. I wanted to make her feel as safe as possible, and I wanted her to sing as intimately as she could. Like she was the only person in the world."

"Ryan turned off the all lights, and all three of us sat on the floor in a circle in the dark. We recorded it in two takes with a single microphone and no headphones. There are no words to describe that moment. It was pure magic."

L'homme aux 4 lettres - "Neoprene" feat. Billion Dollars

Rounding this list of with a random banger is probably a good way to finish up for this instalment. Aware that the term "banger" is a phrase which had an expiration date around 2009, there really are few other words that could adequately categorise "Neoprene" by L'homme aux 4 Lettres. Featured on a free mixtape called Filet Mignon III which also includes other efforts from aspiring producers, you should expect the kind of fast-paced percussion and general style of production that'd probably make Diplo go "what the fuck IS this??".

As for other things to expect, you'll be sure to find more music in the same place at the same time next week!

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