rolling pop 2020s

enjoying j0rdan’s new column https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/z3b353/tame-impala-has-pop-aspirations-that-dont-make-sense

yeah this one he wrote on today's shifting tides in pop was great too https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7kz8xq/justin-biebers-yummy-struggle-to-hit-no-1-proves-roddy-ricch-is-a-new-kind-of-pop-star

thank u guys

as far as tik tok crossover songs go, i think ant saunders "yellow hearts" is pretty dope. for the official single it looks like they've turned it into a duet but i think it's an improvement, the girl sounds rly good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVKUW3cu_lY

or maybe this is just another version... anyway good track

definitely prefer that to arizona zervas or trevor daniel

I think this is a nice/interesting track (Madison Beer - "Selfish"):

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

"Madison Beer" also an all-time great artist name, IMO

she could earn 1000 nerd hit points by titling her second album More Beer

whenever i see her name i think of the character from the bad-but-amusing teen thriller swimfan

What do you guys think of "Stupid" by Tate McRae? I heard it on a top 40 station yesterday. Haven't really focused that much on the songwriting but the guitar line interested me enough to stop and listen. The sound itself reminded me a little of In Rainbows-era Radiohead and the overall production has an interesting atmospheric quality. Apparently, she's a teenager from Calgary who works with Billie Eilish?

"Selfish" was nice. The way the progression moves from the IV to the borrowed iv was interesting and reminded me a bit of some Beatles ballads. I like the ascending melody in the pre-chorus.

This song is somewhat of a trifle, but the beat/vibe are sticky... it's a real "turn it up immediately" track for me:

Josie Dunne - Back To It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnqX4ZbjGuQ

FYI, Josie's entire EP (where that track appears) has a similar sound, and is similarly good...

https://66.media.tumblr.com/1643d2639444771102422cdd0d82aeb8/b9d39cd930d41df4-9b/s500x750/e8380ec680d41e3717fe615200e8b39c548250cf.jpg

Loving the new Allie X album, Cape God. Previous releases showed potential, but it's fully realised here. Her voice (and sometimes the songs) reminds me a lot of Inara George / the bird and the bee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-R4BMBJCKw

Sometimes I listen to that “Yellow Hearts” track posted above... the guy’s voice/“singing” is irritating to me (but I know it’s probably supposed to be). I like the part with the girl. It’s a nice, lightweight, pleasantly cheezy song for 15-yr-olds hanging at the mall, or whatever.

Also, doubling down on my rec of that Josie Dunne EP... I’ve played it soooo much. The songs hit some kind of sweet spot for me, and I like her singing a lot (and I usually don’t get into artists in that “style”).

Selena Gomez released a new single that doesn't appear on her (very) recent album(!) It's not great, but not bad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Th0EwFmkLA

Thanx to “Yellow Hearts,” YT is now serving me up new songs by this guy... gotta admit, I kinda like this, too:

Ant Saunders - u know it’s real

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

apparently there’s a whole mini-genre of this stuff... I guess it’s like, extremely chill music for clean-cut college kids in a beach town? sort of a Jack Johnson function, plus lite beats and minus the soulful grit? tidal can hook u up

more like zoomers on tiktok

that one is a bit dopey for me but i like him generally

yeah the one rando i've seen irl queuing up "yellow hearts" et al does not fit that demographic description at all

Well, college kids are Zoomers!

Admittedly my quick evaluation above may have been based more on “related” artists that Tidal was throwing up, such as “Ruel,” “Khai Dreams,” and “Thomas Headon.”

The general vibe I’m getting is — “friendly preppy guy in your high school chemistry class; captain of the soccer team; maybe you’re friends with his younger sister,” etc.

been digging this kid deaton chris anthony, this song "1999 she" is pretty hot rn... this is a goofy internet-y sorta track but if you peel it back a bit it's a dope play on 90s house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9K6-M9gUjY

this rap song w/ clairo is also goofy but i find it charming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMMshdy-0gw

Well, college kids are Zoomers!

Admittedly my quick evaluation above may have been based more on “related” artists that Tidal was throwing up, such as “Ruel,” “Khai Dreams,” and “Thomas Headon.”

― Murdered-Out Highlander XLE (morrisp), Saturday, February 29, 2020 12:50 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

right yeah, this is just my suggesting that tidal is not really the source of this

hm i kinda like those two xp

I dig this soapy, soundtracky tune:

Charlotte Lawrence - Joke's On You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=532k3IdHSZ8

^she is now one of several artists to announce a COVID-19 diagnosis :(

oh no! i interviewed her last year and she was very sweet.

I confess I don't dislike this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07RHI4MDQ-U

ugh that cover looks way too much like covid 19 stock art

not to judge a song by its etc but

The Ant Man released an EP:

https://antsaunders.lnk.to/BUBBLE

He’s a very interesting interview subject, lol: https://www.idolator.com/7906247/interview-ant-saunders-talks-yellow-hearts-future-plans

i think it's fair to say that the tiktok hit pipeline is unrelenting at the moment

two of the earlier-breaking ones on the charts right now are lil mosey's "blueberry faygo" and surfaces' "sunday best." they're both trifles but the former has a pretty simple appeal to it imo -- and i can't help but appreciate the johnny gill "my, my, my" sample. the latter embodies the same energy as spring breakers in florida last month.

certainly the biggest of the most recent-to-break tiktok hits is megan thee stallion's "savage." while i'm glad to see her, talented as she is, scoring such a substantial success, i wish it had been with a different song -- like "b.i.t.c.h.", which is currently a hit at urban radio but running out of streaming steam. "savage" is not bad, but for me there's not a lot to it aside from the effortlessly catchy hook. i'm generally not one to be amused by dance challenges, but i did enjoy seeing a clip of the 'god warrior' dancing to it.

i appreciate that "supalonely" by new zealand singer benee at least sort of defies expectation as to what hits of this sort should sound like, but i'm not entirely won over by the song itself yet, and the dude on the track is nearly intolerable.

'in these uncertain times' (to use a phrase currently favored by advertising copywriters) it seems tiktok users are connecting with powfu's "death bed," a rap-ballad fantasy about dying young. the sample that comprises the hook is definitely the focal point: pitched up, distant-sounding, like a fading memory replayed in one's head. the song it's derived from, beabadoobee's "coffee," has been out since 2017 but now has a new music video -- perhaps someone is hoping it can be the "thank you" to powfu's "stan."

of course drake had to swoop in with his own. i'll be honest: i was fully prepared to be among the apparently many online bemoaning its crass cynicism, its lack of justification for existing beyond the potential to inspire predictable social media activity -- but oops, i actually like it, certainly more than some of the drake singles that critics have deemed classics, and more than any of the other songs i've mentioned in this post. i have a strange affinity for putatively upbeat 'party' records that have a touch of moroseness to them, and the sustained tones in this one's backing track push it into that territory for me. the synth noodling also has an inexact, uncertain quality that i find vaguely intoxicating; even paying the lyrics little attention, it's a track i can find myself lost in. those particular lines meant to inspire the inevitable dance videos are so brief and inconsequential, but i wouldn't consider myself above trying the steps if i found myself at a gathering, were it advisable for me to gather anywhere. it will probably crash in at #1 on the week after next's billboard charts and may remain there a while.

Great post, dyl. I agree the Drake song is catchy (when I let him borrow my house to shot the video, I made him promise it would be a hit).

I remember that Surfaces video from the “Worst Music of 2019” thread. So it finally “broke through,” huh?

The “Supalonely” song has a nice sound, but the lyrics stink...

Several of the songs dyl mentioned are name-checked here (plus “our own” Glenn McD.): https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-04-07/benee-supalonely-powfu-deathbed-pop-songs-coronavirus

i appreciate that "supalonely" by new zealand singer benee at least sort of defies expectation as to what hits of this sort should sound like, but i'm not entirely won over by the song itself yet, and the dude on the track is nearly intolerable.

it's a good song, but for all its idiosyncrasies it seems like a calculated attempt to create a meme: goofy adlibs, OTT autotune, self-deprecating sadboi-isms, prominent curse word in the hook to make the 12-year-olds feel edgy, trigger words (thinkin 🤔, drinkin 🍻) that lend themselves to tiktok hand gestures/dance moves. it reminds me of Superorganism in that respect even though they don't have much in common musically. I prefer Benee's first EP to her second because the novelty factor is a little less pronounced. Gus Dapperton's verse is awful and I really wish there was a version without it

What do you guys think of "Stupid" by Tate McRae? I heard it on a top 40 station yesterday. Haven't really focused that much on the songwriting but the guitar line interested me enough to stop and listen. The sound itself reminded me a little of In Rainbows-era Radiohead and the overall production has an interesting atmospheric quality. Apparently, she's a teenager from Calgary who works with Billie Eilish?

― With considerable charm, you still have made a choice (Sund4r), Wednesday, February 19, 2020 9:11 AM (one month ago)

her 'I Wrote a Song' video and Clairo's 'Pretty Girl' refused to leave my youtube sidebar for what seemed like a month toward the end of 2017. Billie and Finneas wrote one of her songs ('Tear Myself Apart') but they haven't worked together directly, and Tate's own songwriting style owes more to Alessia Cara than to Billie. I like that song and 'Stupid' and 'Happy Face', but as a whole her EP is a little awkward: the production is all sparse reverby beats and ominous bass drops, which doesn't really suit all her artless confessions about crushes and backstabbing friends. but of course it's 2020 and teenpop is expected to be grimdark rather than just plain moody. fwiw she's probably one of the best competitive dancers in the world, so this is sorta the equivalent of Shaq having a music career on the side

as misposted in the indiepop thread:
this comes via breastcrawl in the afro thread, where i would rather it didn't lie unnoticed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEI0U55rM-I

i feel like this should hit a lot of ILM's pop tastes dead-on. it certainly got me!

yeah, that's great. I really need to lurk on the Afro thread more often

Lennon Stella - Save Us

hopefully this isn't too downbeat for the pop thread. really elegant interpolation of that one overplayed nineties hit

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

It’s a nice track, but I’m not sure about the strategy of reminding the listener of a better song as your song wraps up.

This country song was released nearly a year ago, but just recently stormed the charts (including the Hot 100):

Gabby Barrett - I Hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlPfN4heqBo

There's also a poppier remix feat. Charlie Pluth.

this new yungblud song is actually pretty dope... it's like all american rejects trying to do a 1975 song. the production team behind it also did the poppy album from this year which has at least one amazing song on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWALAgvz2U

This one's a bit of a rush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO-U2WlgroQ

"somebody" is fine but it's funny that this sort of scandipop hasn't changed at all in the past decade

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

This is a good place for it! I like to see this thread revived… :)

I've got this vibey jam on repeat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBlOxyB3sU

Audrey Nuna ft. Teezo Touchdown - Starving