Caught in the net: A hint of what's to come from Drake

Drake (pictured) continues to tease ahead of the release of his new album – his third – Nothing Was The Same, out on 16 September; yet another major hip hop record in year of big-name rap releases. Recently the Canadian hip hop/R&B star put out the second single from the track from his new effort, available already on iTunes and other usual digital outlets – as well as streaming on Soundcloud at snd.sc/13i6Noh. With production duties from Majid Jordan (reportedly a somewhat mysterious Canadian duo), “Hold On, We're Going Home”, veers more towards the R&B side rather than the rap side, with Drake singing quietly over layers of downbeat and downtempo house-like soundcapes. A seductive number that bears repeating.

Dustin Wong's strange new sound

Dustin Wong is best known for his work with the cacophonous Baltimore art-rock band Ponytail. With the band now defunct, Chinese/American guitarist Wong has been steadily carving his own path, with solo releases and collaborations. Early this year he put out a collaborative album with Tokyo musician Takako Minekawa; now comes a solo LP Mediation of Ecstatic Energy released on Thrill Jockey in September. The album's opening track “The Big She” is being trailed on Soundcloud at bit.ly/14njnpn. It's a strange sounding affair; an intriguing, largely instrumental piece with small bursts repetitive guitars, drum beats, vocal sighs and other noises all floating around before coalescing in a final burst of surging sound.

Adebimpe's side project packs a punch

Last week, I wrote about the comeback of TV on the Radio with their new single “Mercy”. This week I return to their frontman Tunde Adebimpe, who has a side-project going in the shape of his elaborately named group Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band. The quartet has an EP out on 1 October and has shared the self-titled record's opening song “The Blast, The Boom” at bit.ly/1cZRnfi. In part because Adebimpe's vocals are rather distinctive, it doesn't sound a million miles away from his more renowned group, but nonetheless his newer charges knock out an impressive, powerful art-rock racket, as the song's title might suggest.