rolling pop 2020s

i've listened several more times now and have concluded i enjoy it (re: "be happy")

cannot fuck with "blackbear"

"Be Happy" just came up on a playlist for me. It's very well-recorded, I'll give it that (if only that)...

So much of this playlist pop is thin, twee, singsongy stuff involving positive affirmations, partying to escape depression/anxiety, etc.

I don't mind Bea Miller - she's sort of a less distinctive / more beat-forward Billie Eilish (this song is pretty, though somewhat old & being repackaged now):

Bea Miller - feel something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysNPk-qeesk

i feel like the last time i heard a bea miller song she wasn't singing quite like that :\

partying to escape depression/anxiety

there's a clunky but i guess sort of #relatable line in "mood" that aims right at this idea: "we play games of love to avoid the depression" etc.

i've gone back and listened to the original "be happy" and it's uneven as a song; they definitely retained all the best parts/lines for the remix, which is overall an improvement. mosey's verse is also cute and while blackbear's contribution just kind of takes up space, it's at least ignorable.

love Bea miller's chorus on k/da's 'the baddest'.

"thin" is the best descriptor for a lot of the folksy-electronic self-affirmation whining I'm finding on exploring "Billboard/NOW THAT'S what the kids are listening to" playlists. Feels like a throwback to 70's mainstream AM US pop, all buttermilk flavor.

Nice song & performance, IMO:

Charlotte Lawrence - Slow Motion (Johan Lenox Version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCLBQCGf9xQ

Not even sure where this new Beabadoobee album goes, here or indie pop or what, but it's good!

If only we had a category for "Not Pop"/"Not Indie". Something starting with the letter S.

She’s legit pop, in terms of streaming/TikTok success, but for my money her lyrics keep her in the “Rolling Worst Music” threads.

i like her song "care" that i guess is on the album

I think this is a nice, sophisticated track (I particularly like the little horn stabs):

Rudimental - Come Over (feat. Anne-Marie & Tion Wayne)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN0iPfZUkUA

I don't know who this zoomer doofus is, but his stuff is pretty catchy:

Role Model - Going Out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufoLLZN-hZw

Role Model - Blind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh2b-17zhp8

No 2021 huh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ7hdZZw7aE

and as long as i'm here
https://dirt.substack.com/p/dirt-does-pop-music-still-exist

dissing Gibbs and Eilish as "zero calorie" not helping make a very compelling case there (second link)

I...hadn't checked the first link yet obviously

I’ve tried to keep my ears open, but the most notable pop song I’ve heard so far this year (“Driver’s License”) already has its own thread. Would be great to get tipped to some other good ones, though.

lol yeah it's almost april and i still haven't heard any pop songs that i found particularly good or noteworthy that didn't already have their own thread ;_; 'pop' music truly is dead y'all

i'm currently fairly obsessed w/ kali uchis "telepatía" -- the tik tok kids are right sometimes! lil nas x song also pretty good but obviously that's already generating abundant discussion on his thread

but yeah anyone pls feel free to start a thread for 2021 and/or share some good stuff! or we can just keep talking here about how slim the pickings are recently lol

if I may be so bold to recommend: Eurovision 2020 (now featuring Eurovision 2021)

the yearly fix for my sweet pop tooth

kinda into this?

The Kid Laroi, Justin Bieber - "Stay"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJczUoc26U

desperately needs a garage remix?

charlie puth & cashmere cat co prod/wrote so it had a chance at being good. i like it ok but it left me a bit cold, idk could be more dynamic melodically or something

^ the chorus is SO puthy

i actually would kinda like it but it's too short and ends so abruptly!

Josie Dunne, a singer/songwriter I’m into (someone on here described her song Back to It as “if Meghan Trainor were good”), has been rolling a new project called Tennis — each track is released monthly as an Episode. It’s good stuff, if you’re into her sound.

^the new one she just dropped ("Episode 3: Cooped Up") is particularly nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYqiFVXC5s

New Foxes single is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cqddw9iUDE

that's good but that lyric is ridiculous

really into the josie dunn, thank you! gettin CRJ energy myself

The entirety of that Josie Dunne album (Tennis) is now out – it's nice, sort of "experimental," in that some of the tracks are more sketches than fully fleshed-out songs (by design).

thanks for the bump, i really liked what i heard before!

lol this thread's title should just be updated to rolling pop 2020s

^I may make that mod request, lol

Has anyone heard A-N-Y good stuff lately? I'm in the mood for something new, but the usual playlists have pretty dire stuff – fake Olivia, fake Billie (...and that's the better slice of it).

Here's a gem for y'all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPe9MJMn7i4

Have had this on heavy rotation the couple of months

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMfIuOooDIc

Great song! Her voice is raspy in almost a Kim Shattuck kinda way.

I like this new song by NIKI, an artist on 88rising... it's sort of literate, emo-ish, singer-songwriter pop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMqcb16umH0

(the whole album is nice, though it's mellow... this is probably the poppiest track)

A little more on Niki, as I'm really digging this Nicole album (btw, I mischaracterized it above... all of the first four songs are really poppy).

Her previous LP, 2020's Moonchild, is an exercise in basic trend-hopping: there's a Reputation-era–Taylor style song; an Ariana clone (complete with "yuh"s); a tasteful nu-disco tune; a Billie Eilish ripoff... etc. (these are all in a row, btw). The songs aren't bad, but they're obv. not distinctive, and Niki's voice isn't strong enough to create interest ("Plot Twist," another Taylor soundalike, is pretty good IMO).

She also had an earlier single, "Lowkey," which people seem to know (it has 237mm plays on Spotify). It's fine, but fairly generic pop/r&b.

So it's fascinating how Nicole suddenly features a "voice" (both literal and metaphorical) – the songs are personal, specific, compelling, and don't really sound like anyone else in particular. Turns out that many of these are re-recordings/recreations of old songs she released online... she cites the "Taylor's Version" projects as a comparison, but it sounds more like a Car Seat Headrest–type thing to me.

It's really cool to hear an artist evolve like this, even if the "evolution" actually involves circling back to an earlier approach (which clearly plays to her strengths more than simply aping chart-toppers).

Sorry to triple-dip on this... but after listening to Nicole a few dozen times, I'm convinced it's a truly top-tier album. Her songwriting is really strong, the production is on point, and every song is good. Anyone who's into Taylor, post-Taylor (or, heck, pre-Taylor) personal singer-songwriter pop really should check it out.

I think it's hard to write a big, emo-y ballad like "Oceans & Engines," and stay on the right side of corny (...tho I may have an atypical tolerance for corn):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ0pazUc3ZA

It's a good album!

I like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPgN4EfzUrU

Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down

REMA : days of Rave & Roses (& of course Bangers)

there is a rema thread

"calm down" rules but gomez was not a good fit at all

Thx

Heard this playing in a coffee shop... I dig it. Sorta nü-Sheryl Crow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_miaFW4nRYk

(Ashe - Another Man's Jeans)

Here's a really nice ballad ("Love Is Letting Go") from the same album – featuring Diane Keaton, of all people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBqh2CiDPyM

Feel like this year was kinda… good??

Hottest Record Of The Year 2022 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fv8t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MUPTcjjiCA
Klara Keller - Sad Thinking of You

I guess this is Bebe doing Miley, but I like it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrGhXL9zCPQ
Bebe Rexha • Heart Wants What It Wants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSMryyB315A

not totally sure where to post this incredible jam with all of 9k views but an early soty for me