The Next Wave ft. New Paris Texas, Stats & Research, and Study Music

Your dose of music discovery from Pigeons and Planes has landed. Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Next Wave. This week, we're featuring Paris Texas' new EP Red Hand Akimbo. We're also answering your burning questions about P&P Stats & Research, study music, and finding new songs. [Subscribe to the Newsletter]( In [our conversation with Paris Texas]( earlier this year, the duo went deep on film, music, and world-building. Their vision came together with the raw and one-of-a-kind 2021 project BOY ANONYMOUS, but they aren't overthinking things on their new EP Red Hand Akimbo. As a fan, it can be a shitty feeling when a favorite new act takes off and immediately switches up their whole style, and luckily for fans of Paris Texas, that's not the case here. Their latest 5-song project maintains the same visceral energy, unpredictable changes of pace, and grimy guitar licks laced with rap verses and hooks you can yell along with. “Not tryna break new ground with this EP," says Louie, one half of the pair. "Still just having fun. A lot of homages to shit we like in this EP." From the looks of their packed, sweat-drenched live shows in LA and NYC this month, it's connecting. Whenever Paris Texas decides to smash the mold and take things in a new direction, we'll be curious to hear it. For now, Red Hand Akimbo is exactly the follow-up we all wanted. Watch the "girls like drugs" video below: Dear Pigeons is our advice column. We put out asks on social media for questions from the readers, and we'll do our best to give advice, guidance, ramblings, and recommendations based on our own experiences. Dear Pigeons, What is the best genre of music to study to? - @hicharliedc via Instagram Music is awesome. We don't need a Stats & Research department study to know that listening to our favorite music can improve mood and energy. For creative tasks and certain types of projects, your favorite songs and albums, old or new, are probably perfect, but studying and really taking in new information might need something different. Although I like to think I can get into deep focus mode while playing whatever I want, I'm lying to myself. When the lyrics of Dijon's "Many Times" or DJ Drama's yelling on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST become the stimuli my brain is honing in on instead of whatever I'm trying to focus on, I'm probably not doing my most effective work. So I tend to turn to music with no lyrics that can still make me feel great but won't take all of my attention away from the task at hand. Jazz and classical music can be perfect for this, but I like to get some electronic textures in there too. Here are three of my go-to deep focus albums—I hope they help, but if not they're all great records in their own right. Susumu Yokota - Acid Mt. Fuji Burial - Untrue Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Alone In San Francisco - [Alex Gardner]( Director, Strategy & Operations, Pigeons and Planes Dear Pigeons, How the hell does the P&P research team come up with all these ideas? - @ihategum via Instagram Hello hello ihategum, glad you're interested in the P&P Stats & Research Department. Gonna answer your question with another question: What made you ask that question? The answer: a curious mind and the desire to learn. For example, you see something that interests you (P&P S&R) and want to know more. Your pink matter platter (brain) craves a serving of solutions for the unknown, so you do whatever it takes to find an answer that suffices. Here at the P&P Stats & Research Department, it literally keeps us up at night when we see or hear something that doesn't fully quench our thirst of knowing absolutely everything about everything. So we continue to ask questions, find answers, and try to deliver the finest findings the world has ever seen. So with the possession of true curiosity in our back pocket, we will never run out of ideas*. *We are absolutely maxed out on ideas and are desperate for anything new. Our brains are literally burnt out from the constant grind of creating daily content that has a shelf life of ~2.1 seconds. Please send any fresh thoughts or research suggestions to @pnpstatsresearch IMMEDIATELY. - Carl, P&P Stats & Research Associate Junior Director of Public Relations and Assistant Research Managing Partner Dear Pigeons, How do I find moooore new music! - @briancheck5 via Instagram Hi Brian, One thing I love to do is sort by location on Bandcamp. I came across Spellling's album Mazy Fly by looking through new releases from Oakland a few years back and have been a massive fan of hers since. It's always interesting seeing what music comes out of cities that don't get as much love in the music industry. I also like seeing what others are listening to on Spotify. Follow a few friends with music taste you trust and check in on their playlists every now and then. The same goes for music blogs. Over 60,000 songs drop every day on Spotify and these blogs are here to sift through it all for you. One of them, of course, is P&P. Here's a shameless plug to our latest [Best New Artists]( feature, which I happen to think is pretty great. - [Maddy Quach]( Community Manager at Pigeons and Planes Deb Never has been one of our favorite artists since she emerged in 2019 with a grungey, honest, alt-pop sound. The singer-songwriter and producer grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but after moving to Los Angeles she found creative partners in the WEDIDIT collective. Since then, she's collaborated with the likes of BROCKHAMPTON, Dominic Fike, and Kenny Beats, and in September she released an impressive new, EP Where Have All The Flowers Gone. For the new season of Making It, we talked to Deb Never about growing up an introvert, Asian-American representation, and a love of music that has been there since before she could even walk. Watch Making It with Deb Never below: [Complex on Instagram]( [Complex on Facebook]( [Complex on Twitter]( [Complex on YouTube]( © Complex Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 229 W. 43rd Street, 10th Floor New York, NY 10036 You are receiving this email because you've signed up for the Next Wave Newsletter. Want to stop receiving messages from Pigeons & Planes ? 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