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

Drake continues to tease ahead of the release of his new album (Getty Images)

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.