rolling pop 2017

except it wasn't, Aguilera "introduced" herself with "Reflection"

ron fair on the typical strategy for introducing a new artist, at least regarding "Genie in a Bottle":

"In our business, it's more important to start off with a number one record on a debut act than it is to start off with a great song. But it's still great sugar candy."

oh yeah i forgot about that. i don't think i ever noticed her version of "reflection" at the time, even tho i went out and saw mulan and everything. not the best example then!

like, I don't love this single (I'm guessing the waste-of-a-cello intro is not part of the single proper, because yikes, wish the cello showed up in the actual mix though) and I do love david frank but let's take off the nostalgia glasses here

that ron fair quote is interesting in that it's not clear whether he thinks "genie" is a great song. (i do!) or whether he thinks being great helps a debut single's prospects commercially. but point taken about how the priorities weren't particularly different back then!

i would add tho that being ahead of trend or at least distinctive enough to set oneself apart from the back is not necessarily about being "great". the last debut single (for a non-crossover top 40 artist) that i think actually successfully accomplished what i described above was meghan trainor's, and i would be the last person on earth to describe that song as "great".

* from the pack

i went back and looked at a bunch of ex-boy banders' debut solos singles for a piece recently and found that it was mostly the opposite of what you're saying. usually the first single was really safe, often a ballad. consider like bobby brown's "girlfriend" vs the songs that would really propel him to solo stardom, or the first sisqo single vs "thong song" or "work it out" vs "crazy in love." justin timberlake is one of the only really notable group-to-solo artists whose first single was as good and memorable as the stuff that came after it, but he sorta had a head start insofar as he basically started making solo singles on the last nsync album, including w/ the neptunes. i don't like "pillowtalk" personally but you could probably lump zayn in with JT too since that song ended up having a long commercial tail.

so i think liam and camila etc are not special in that regard. i don't have a great deal of optimism for either as solo artists but i bet their next songs will be better.

"sign of the times" probably counts as an exception, at least as far as radio trends

Jordan Knight also broke formula in '99. Joey McIntyre did not.

the first sisqo single vs "thong song" or "work it out" vs "crazy in love."

literally don't know either of these, were they soft-launched teasers or songs that were actually expected to do commercial damage?

i assumed "thong song" and "crazy in love" were debut singles so i guess all my hand-waving is rly just based on selective memory, oops

okay so "work it out" was a soundtrack single so basically similar to "reflection"

i liked your theory before it was debunked, dyl. at the very least that's how things should be, imo

I mean it's true in that "forward-thinking" material is generally given to rising artists, just not rising artists with as much at stake as former boy/girl group members.

Cabello track is mediocre pop but elevated by her wonderful Scherzingeresque performance

agreed the liam payne record is p awful

surprisingly (she's usually the worst thing about any fifth harmony track) I like the Camila track even though it's pretty much a watered-down "Work"

New Shakira album's good.

case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ivG4Ew-Lk

surprisingly (she's usually the worst thing about any fifth harmony track)

curious as to how you came to this conclusion

bad and/or cutesy oversinging

"work it out" was more ~forward-thinking than "crazy in love"! (futuristic version of '70s funk vs actual sample of '70s funk.) but the most ~forward-thinking pop comes a couple of albums in, at least, and if it doesn't it often ends up in the act being somewhat niche.

it feels like camila cabello has been releasing solo stuff for months, mostly guest spots i guess, and she's the worst thing about all of those too.

the problem with liam payne and camila cabello is that i never had great expectations for them in the first place. sensible liam choosing this direction is hilariously ill-suited, presumably because harry gazumped him with the boring serious guitar singer-songwriter shit. i think the pop album i'm most disappointed by in 2017 is zara larsson. high hopes emphatically not met.

shakira album is good, yes, jumping on reggaeton (at last? has she done much of it before? i don't follow her career closely) is a good look.

love zara larsson and agree zl in 2017 feels a bit rushed, her 2016 success necessitating a bunch of tracks to put on an album with too little thought given to which and what

<i>at last? has she done much of it before? i don't follow her career closely</i>

just la tortura & hips don't lie, which r reggaeton classics

I'm impressed by this new(ish) Norwegian singer Sigrid, who may well be able to atone for the staidness of most of the Zara Larsson album.

Her EP has 3 straight up bangers and an acoustic version of another: https://open.spotify.com/album/1fUJMrFtZMbtDS8c2dklb2

That Sigrid stuff is pretty good. But god I loathe Spotify.

Perhaps I should've included an Apple Music link as apparently she is one of their new poster acts.

Re: Norwegian singers: I've been following and enjoying Gabrielle (Leithaug)'s releases ever since The Singles Jukebox featured her back in 2011. Her latest, "Nye Joggesko", is another good one (and yes, it's in Norwegian, like all her stuff):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW_Db4_AGjs

Julia Michaels trying out some new things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP-xRiPX3Bg

wouldn't say i love her music but she seems to have a lot of potential

love "uh huh" so much

GO
ING
IN
FORTHEKILL

also enjoying new dagny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rReRtMbQq18

love the dua lipa record, despite havin songs from 3 years ago

Chart-pop sucks again.

Julia Michaels song reminds me of 90s Tori Amos

i love halsey now

the halsey record is extremely boring

i like "100 letters"... and "walls could talk" is a great pink song. otherwise it's still pretty shit.

I don't mind it as much as everyone in the world seems to

but people on twitter think I'm a "junior writer" for not hating the album so fucking cool

I like the new single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3hjpNuvapQ

i don't even hate the record (and i like "strangers") but there just isn't a lot there imo. your review is great katherine

who cares about people on twitter. most of them are pretty stupid and/or blowing off steam about shit unrelated to what they're talking about.

how hard is WITNESS going to flop? is the cover's resemblance to BIONIC a portent?

she'll have her artpop without "do what you wnt"

Big novelty dance hits historically the territory of male djs, but Norwegian DJ Kamferdrops has produced - and she sings on - a cover, reworking of an old dansband tune. It is currently #1 in Sweden, should be a song of summer 17 there and in Norway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9L1w3hwLOU

https://www.girlcultfestival.com/

terrible name, decent lineup

Girl Cult? I assume its a festival started by R Kelly.

Short for "Girl Culture" apparently but yeah, I agree with Maura.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWdzL955qnI

it's very 90s Bristol

Billie Eilish - Watch

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

probably the best Lorde song not written or performed by Lorde

she's pretty good! i like her EP

sigrid's new single is fabulous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fm7mll2qvg

New Madison Beer song "Tell It To My Face" contains a pretty shameless rip of "Vitamin C" by The Can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCyl9GBlM-M

whoops "SAY It To My Face"

and they say poptimism is dead

(i like this, just being salty)

this project is deeply weird but it has quite a few good songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLSmY7c9dY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4vUxVwb_G8

this album rules

i remember being very unimpressed by her music when she first got attention for having a weird channel but the new stuff is better. the shtick with the lyrics gets old fairly quickly though

nice catch on that madison beer btw

For those compiling your year-end lists, this playlist includes all the available tracks on this thread, organized roughly chronologically in order of mention:

ILM's 2017 Rolling Pop Thread Spotify Playlist

BTW, this is a gem that was on singles jukebox that needs more love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxFS8L6AlQ

oh man that is gorgeous

right? it's the #2 single of the year, pointwise, from SJ. Would love to get a voting bloc to push it for the ilx 77.

it's really such an achingly beautiful song. it was getting me on the verge of tears even before i looked up what the lyrics mean.

read the blergs when it came up, completely forgot so thanks for the reminder :)
amazing track

.... man do i love the new rita ora song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdAs4LBRq8

^ incredible song
been doing the rounds over here

first time hearing that Rita Ora song: "this is nice but those backing vocals are a bit Mumfordcore WAIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED" I wish not everything had to be a banger in 2017

she was utterly abysmal hosting America's Next Top Model too. I know it's so cliche to make "who is she" jokes about her rapid and unexplainable ascent to top-tier star but I can't understand why she hasn't had the career arc of eg Pixie Lott

i'm a little embarrassed to admit it but i actually prefer the rita ora song from earlier this year that ed sheeran wrote

I like the Rita Ora/Avicii song, it feels like a lost Robyn track.

the 212 of 2017?

https://open.spotify.com/track/1P3l3WXZ3JbeBJ61DA0bjK?si=Y-Rle87aRCKXt0-zb4e6fw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XBTI3semU

Looking forward to her Melodifestivalen entry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9uietTqkU