Today is one of those Fridays that already feels like a Saturday that feels like a Sunday. You know? Perhaps it was me gorging on Japanese BBQ and all the shots of sake last night for my dear friend's birthday. Eh. I'm feeling an exceptionally poppy mood for my music selections this week, so please prepare for five sweet tracks to shuffle through the weekend.
As always, I hope these songs inspire you to check out more music by these artists, or lead to introducing you to another artist you’ve never heard before!
Remember: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about these artists and share the love.
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“Rubber Bands” - Nines feat. RAY BLK and Skrapz | Rising London rapper NINES just dropped his album Crop Circle today, and the album is stacked with slick features. My favorite and perhaps the most pop accessible of the bunch is "Rubber Bands," layered over a sinister sampling of Zapp's 1985 hit "Computer Love." The star of the tune is the hook sung by Ray BLK. Listen here
“Alright” - CYN | I'm lighting some candles for CYN to reach the right audience, because this girl is destined to make some waves. the Detroit native has spent the last seven years hustling her way into Katy Perry's circle, and finally landed support from KPez's A&R and signed to her label... meaning CYN is literally breathing the same air as some of the greatest contemporary pop songwriters of the last decade. Now she's touring with pop's favorite Scandinavian wunderkind Sigrid. "Alright" is an ode to all the kids in high school berated for being daydreamers and chastised for "wasting their time" yet made it through their teens unscathed and turned out, well, alright. Listen here
“Too Late” - Nimmo | Dark pop duo Nimmo make music for feelings. That sounds vague, but music is the language of the heart, and nothing heals better than dancing the pain away. Opening with strings before bursting into a relentless thump and piano stabs, the song opens with the lyrics "Can I feel the air resting in your lungs tonight? / You've never known me less, but I keep you short of breath at night." Like, damn. You feel that? I well and truly felt that. Listen here
“GIRLS X BOYS” - alice | This week Peter Robinson, more commonly known as The Voice of Popjustice, was going on about how pop music needs to bring a god damn proper chorus back to pop music. And middle eights!! The landscape of pure pop has been left barren and littered with "drops" and lyricless choruses. "GIRLS X BOYS" is a big single for the freshly signed British singer (Virgin EMI UK, Captiol US). Think the dizzy bass line of Tove Lo's "Cool Girl" -- the only complaint I might make for this song is it's missing at least 45 seconds off it. "GIRLS X BOYS" lacks a clear, distinctive middle eight (which could easily be slipped into that missing 45 seconds!!!), the single is brimming with so much potential that I'm excited to see more of alice over the coming months. I'm banking on seeing her take on a Dua Lipa-esque career trajectory over the next 18 months if her A&R can plug her in with the right people. Listen here
“The Wave” - LION BABE feat. Leikeli47 | Gaaaah daaaamn! LION BABE always pulls through with a dose of sunshine. I'm positively drunk on these grooves. Listen here
New Music Friday Selects
- Kicking off the selects with a new music source alert. My friend Sam helped launch a brand new online music site called BANSHEE ZINE. The site aims to highlight music opinions by women and non-binary folks. Please check it out! Read here
- After a string of commercially successful but critically lukewarm/disliked singles, Liam Payne has finally stepped up to take on a summer jam con sabor. Featuring Colombian hit maker J Balvin, “Familiar” is by far Liam's best solo effort yet. I've been patiently waiting for Liam to fulfill his destiny as the Latin Keith Urban. Once an all Spanish version of "Familiar" drops, it's over for you bitches Listen here
- Kanye West is back on Twitter acting like he's the new Foucault, and allegedly we are getting a new Kanye x Kid Cudi album during Gemini Szn. Whoop whoop.
- Janelle Monae! A gift on earth! Has yet another single. “I Like That” is a sensuous, slinky jam Listen here
- Scandinavian nymph demi-goddess AURORA returns with her vast, ethereal single "Queendom." BRB, galloping my way to the island of the Amazons Listen here
- The Gays™ are creaming over Anita Granita's comeback single “No Tears Left to Cry.” Homegirl lowered her ponytail for this one because she means business. Listen here
- Surprisingly, my favorite single release of the week is Khalid's “OTW” feat 6LACK and Ty Dolla $ign Listen here
- “Hands On Me” BURNS feat Maluma and Rae Sremmurd is top tier summer dancefloor jammery Listen here
- cmd+f alumnus Matthew Young released a new single, “Fix Me Up” Listen here
- Leon Bridges has gifted us with a new single, “Beyond” Listen here
- It's always nice to see some of my favorite artists that were formative to my music tastes during my teenage years are still going strong. Listen to Tokyo Police Club's new single, "New Blues" Listen here
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A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I have shared in this week’s letter are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here.
Subscribe to that playlist, share it with friends, or take some inspiration from the ever growing list to compile some of your own.
If you’re interested in listening to what I’m rinsing this month, you can follow my April 2018 playlist here. There I will dump a hodgepodge of new and old songs that fit my mood and the trends of the month. Having a personal monthly playlist makes a year in review so easy. Share your playlists with me!
See you next week!