rolling pop 2018

i did not like "attention" v much (the instrumentation is great but the vocal melody is diet zayn) and "the way i am" is def what i wanted it to be

great, i may like this whole record, what the hell

i guess it should surprise no one that i'm mesmerized by derulo-esque pastiche but the "what a fool believes" chords working in and out of this, jeez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFVtb5_Pec4

omg i thought positive opinions about charlie puth were going to be safely contained in his new dedicated thread

i would also call the bazzi song 'interesting' but mainly because it sounds like two different songs spliced together. like, okay, we need this verse so the viral marketing ppl and streaming kidz can work w/ it but we also need this completely different chorus so we can sell him to radio as a 'pop' artist instead of something resembling a rapper.

the bazzi song became a hit due to a snapchat filter? lol

i like it though it feels a bit slight at only 2 minutes, the individual parts are good enough that they could surely be stretched out a bit more to make it feel more substantial

This new track "Girls" (Rita Ora feat. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX) seems to be generating discussion/controversy. Sexual politics aside, it's... not a good song, IMO. Despite the talent involved.

i usually don't mind her idiosyncratic voice but bebe rexha in particular sounds terrible on this

Feels like a weird stylistic swerve for Rita, after the sophistication of Your Song and Anywhere.

i like a small handful of her songs but at this point it seems clear that rita ora has basically no identity as an artist or performer and will likely never develop one

Rita Ora's career is very confusing - it's been 6 years since her debut album and she hasn't released a second album despite continuing to have hits in the UK. that seems to be mostly due to label drama where they wouldn't let her release an album and she eventually sued to get released from her contract - but that sort of thing usually only happens when the pre-album singles flop badly (often partially due to poor promotion etc.) which isn't the case here at all? Anywhere last year was decent but the new song is quite dull and 'taking inspiration from "I Kissed a Girl"' seems like an obviously bad idea?

as a self-confessed Charli superfan, "Girls" is fucking dreadful and an embarassment to everyone involved (except Ora who should be embarassed all the time)

Kehlani's tweets on it have been a mix of grace and shady hilarity <3

okay this is incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK_OAW47Brw

sorta weird what happened w/ them... all set to take over the world & then they kinda fell off the face of the earth in america. feel like BTS kinda hijacked their spot as the foreign boy band made the centerpiece of second-tier award shows

i don't particularly like this song... the first single was pretty good but also i'm not sure what they're supposed to be now. they totally dropped the pop punk shtick in favor of vague post-1975 tasteful guitar pop a la shawn mendes essentially? there's a little bit of a rock edge to "youngblood" that is like "ey remember us??" but idk i feel like some ppl in some conference room somewhere decided that they could be the next one direction & it hasn't seemed to take at all

i didn't realise their second album's singles had flopped everywhere. post-1975 tasteful guitars is preferable to their pretty dire pop punk but there's a lot of this stuff around now and it doesn't really stand out

this single's gone to #1 in Australia FYI.

i'm pretty sure i must have listened to at least some of their singles since "she looks so perfect" (which i loved) but for whatever reason now i can't remember anything about them

this is more Bruno Mars-y than anything this Disney-affiliated deserves to be, and I actually like it a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hes1pOSLeYE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FCqPtfJWl0

idk what thread she fits in but i love the new album by amy shark

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

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

that's lovely in a glossy justin vernon way

i heard kim petras's latest "heart to break" and it's really good, i think the best i've heard from her so far

Faded, Heart to Break, and Can't Do Better are all fantastic but her latest, All The Time, is pretty weak

oh i didn't realize she had put out anything after "heart to break"

has she denounced or stopped working with dr luke yet

No — https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/dr-luke-kim-petras-kesha/568639/

great article

the song caught me in the wild and i had to know what it was, hear it again. it's unfortunate.

i should prob make my own thread for "new shawn mendes singles i enjoy" but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGzy8FE1Rhk

h/t maura for that one

jason derulo's new single sounds like leftover black eyed peas-type trollwave from 2010/2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-mZwL4Bh6E

("time to say goodbye" is a legit lovely tune tho. personally i especially enjoy the chris botti orchestral version lol)

oh my god wait are you fucking serious don't tell me it samples t hat

this song is trollwave in that it exists to troll me specifically

so rita ora return to her run of surprisingly good tunes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCQK6LmhYqc

The vibe is similar to “Your Song,” but it’s not as good IMO.

Some very big-80s sounding tracks I've been digging lately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy-WhOVbKZ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOlVELlP2jk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3yoXph7fgU

yep love all three of these
still need to check out the aces album actually

Rolling most 2018 sound:

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

DJ Snake feat. Selena Gomez, Ozuna & Cardi B • Taki Taki

(Don’t know where Snake got this beat from, but kudos, it’s a great track)

think I'd enjoy it more without the Ozuna guy

Really? What is it you don’t like about him?

i like ozuna. selena gomez is the weak link for me. song is just okay overall.

xp I guess his voice comes across very... loud in the mix, slightly grating

maybe I'll grow to love it

Selena is probably the weakest here (although the Cardi verse surely isn't the best she's done) but I've a lot of sympathy for her and always like to see her have a hit single

shawn mendes track from upthread has been remixed by zedd, who repurposes the 'let's get lost tonight' bridge from the original into a buzzy instrumental hook. it got performed at an awards show and it's the only version i've heard on the radio so far. i'm not sure if i like it better or not? the tweaks are pretty slight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTCDijrze8

oh and i like the new halsey song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ienljU834

idk if there's been any poppy discussion on these boards or even if this is the right thread for this, the best song i've ever heard

this is getting some push from someplace and I'm sure someone could potentially complain about TEH ALGORITHMS but if TEH ALGORITHMS are swapping out faux-tropical whatever for Kylie/Gaga then they are good actually

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ_IXA-x4hA

xps ah bunch of my friends saw poppy the other night and i had to miss it :(

surprised there isnt a poppy thread tbf, deffo been discussed somewhere - probs big enuff for her own thread now

loving that chater tune too

Miya Folick's album (Premonitions, out last week) is an impressive debut. I hear Fiona Apple in the way her voice flutters sometimes - but it's also a serviceable replacement (like the October album from earlier this year) for the 2018 Sky Ferreira record we're probably never going to get.

Couldn't find a 2019 thread

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

justice for yvonne elliman

groovypanda, i was just searching a thread to post the same video.
never cared much about shawn mendes (besides 'nervous') but i'm really enjoying this new one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UToVr_vLnI8

did the 2019 thread never get made?

this is only really notable because the slowed down "better off alone" sample somehow ends up with an air france-esque vibe which is hilarious and incredible and i wish the rest of the track was anywhere near as good as those first few seconds when those dual realisations hit

this bangs :D

the new camila cabello record is excellent

I just can't with her voice :(

i love her voice!!!! but i get it's divisive