Pop
Every Song Ranked on Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’: Critic’s List
Below, Billboard ranks every track on Lorde’s third album: 12. “Dominoes” “Dominoes” is a pretty little song, it’s just not the one you go back to again and again after hearing it for the first time. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios with the doors open, one cool feature of this track is that some of the ambient noises from outside fill up the background. “You can hear a lot of sirens because there were a ton of protests that summer,” she wrote for Spotify. “I like that it sounds like how that summer sounded.” 11. “Leader of a New Regime” This track is a quick, just slightly confusing break from the world where most of the other songs on Solar Power take place. Lorde harmonizes with herself in stacked, crackling vocal lines — now a certified hallmark of ...
James Blake Unveils New Song “Life Is Not the Same”: Stream
James Blake has dropped the aching new song “Life Is Not the Same.” The track appears on his upcoming album, Friends That Break Your Heart, which is due out September 10th. WIth his customary mix of emotional directness and computer wizardry, Blake has sketched out a tale of long-distance longing. You know how it goes: Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder, or whatever that proverb says. Here, he layers his own voice into a vibrant chorus that then pulses with the heartbeat of a machine. “Life is not the same,” he sings, “If we’re miles away.” Check it out after the jump. Pre-orders for Friends That Break Your Heart are off and running. Also check out the lead single, “Say What You Will.” Late last year, Blake unveiled a six-track covers EP featuring songs by the likes of Beyoncé, Billie ...
Skrillex, Justin Bieber & Don Toliver Team Up for ‘Don’t Go’: Stream It Now
“Don’t Go” is the most recent Skrillex/Bieber collab since Skrillex co-wrote “2 Much” on Bieber’s March LP, Justice. That song followed “Sorry,” which Skrillex produced for Bieber’s 2015 album, Purpose. “To be honest,” Skrillex told Zane Lowe of first linking with Bieber, “before I even worked with Justin Bieber, in that era, I didn’t really pay attention to pop music that much and I wasn’t really paying attention to what was current and relevant, and I knew his music and I knew who he was…So for me, it’s similar to when Korn called me up earlier in my career and I was just honored to work with people who were great. “The thing about Justin,” Skrillex continued, &...
Lorde’s Unleashes New Album ‘Solar Power’: Stream It Now
The new LP, Lorde previously explained in a statement, is “a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors.” Speaking with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show in June, the Aucklander went a little deeper, explaining that her latest was a “joyful and big” recording, “and such a good thing to experience with a bunch of people.” From early next year, bunches of people will get the opportunity to experience the album in a live setting, when Lorde embarks on a global tour, kicking off March 1 in her homeland. Fans can check out what’s to come when Lorde headlines the GMA Summer Concert Series today (Aug. 20) in Central Park, followed by a weeklong residency on The Late Late Show with James Corden, starting next Mo...
Lorde Releases Long-Awaited New Album Solar Power: Stream
Begin your sun salutations because Lorde has finally unveiled her long-awaited third album, Solar Power. Stream it below. Arriving more than four years after the pop star’s 2017 sophomore studio offering Melodrama, the sun-drenched LP contains pre-release singles “Solar Power,” “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” and “Mood Ring.” In shaping the sound of the Jack Antonoff-produced album, the 24-year-old New Zealand native cited — in an interview with the New York Times — artists that represented “turn-of-the-century beachside optimism” as inspiration, including S Club 7, All Saints, Nelly Furtado, and Natalie Imbruglia. “I would almost value people not understanding it at first,” she said of her hopes for Solar Power upon first listen. “I think I’m still giving something that’s really digestible, b...
Britney Spears Basks in the ‘Fountain of Youth’ for Latest Topless Photo
The 39-year-old pop superstar, who’s been supporting the #FreeBritney movement in the midst of her ongoing battle to end the conservatorship that has controlled her life and career for the last 13 years, explained earlier this week why she’s been freeing her body more and posting racy pictures on social media. “I bet you’re wondering why I’d expose my body NOW,” she captioned a series of similar topless photos. “Well it’s because I was born into this world naked and I honestly feel like the weight of the would has been on my shoulders and it’s made me view myself that way !!!! I wanted to see myself in a lighter way … naked … like the way I was born and to me looking back at my pictures when I shoot it’s insane the psychology in seeing myself in my purest...
9 Memorable Covers of Billie Eilish Songs
In August 2019, the 15-time Grammy champ offered her stripped-down take on Eilish’s debut song. In a video shared on Instagram, Keys sings emotionally while playing the piano, giving “Ocean Eyes” a soulful feel. A few months later, she covered the tune once more, this time recording it for Spotify’s Single Series. Vitamin String Quartet, “Bad Guy” There have been several notable covers of this Billboard Hot 100 hit, which spent 49 weeks on the chart. But one of the most memorable is VSQ’s take, which soundtracked a scene in the third episode of Bridgerton‘s steamy debut season. The quartet may have made the song suitable for a ballroom scene in a period romance series, but it also added to the fun with its bouncy strings, even sans vocals. Le...
Camila Cabello Says Taylor Swift ‘Goes Out of Her Way’ to Be a Great Friend
The two have taken the stage together multiple times, including their performance of “Shake It Off” at the 2019 American Music Awards alongside Halsey. Cabello also opened for Swift during her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, performing “Shake It Off” every night with fellow opening act Charli XCX stepping in to complete the trifecta. Cabello thanked the Folklore star for letting her join her at the AMAs when Swift received the Artist of the Decade honor, saying, “You have always been my biggest inspiration on my own journey in music as a writer and artist,” and telling Billboard that touring with her “was a really full-circle moment.” Three years before, Cabello was just another Swiftie in the crowd during the 1989 World Tou...
Woman Claims She’s Married to Michael Jackson’s Ghost
Kathleen Roberts has a lot going on: she’s a medium, a self-declared “reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe,” and the alleged wife of Michael Jackson’s ghost — or at least she claims they’re married in an essay she penned for the Daily Star. According to Roberts, she and Jackson’s ghost have been married ever since he proposed “clairvoyantly” with a pink engagement ring. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. allegedly officiated the ceremony when she was getting out of a bathtub, because why not. Roberts believes Jackson’s ghost sought her out because of her resemblance to his longtime fascination Marilyn Monroe; reports claim Jackson displayed a large, painted, fiberglass figure of Monroe in his private Neverland office and kept a photo of her on his bedside table, too. “I feel special that he chose me f...
Barbra Streisand Makes Chart History With ‘Release Me 2′ Billboard 200 Debut
The only other act with a new top 20, or top 40, set in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, ’10s and ’20s is Bob Dylan. He most recently visited the region with the No. 2-peaking Rough and Rowdy Ways (July 4, 2020-dated chart). Streisand and Dylan not only share sustained success on the Billboard 200, but also a longtime label home: Columbia Records. Dylan’s debut album arrived in 1962 and Streisand’s first set bowed in 1963, both on the label. Nearly every one of both act’s charting albums has been released through Columbia. For Streisand, who has been signed to Columbia her entire career, her only non-Columbia efforts were the 1964 Funny Girl original Broadway cast recording, on the Capitol label, and the Funny Lady film soundtrack, on Arista, in 1...
Drew Barrymore Weighs in On Britney Spears’ Conservatorship Battle: ‘She’s the Key to Her Freedom’
Because she doesn’t have a personal relationship with Spears, Barrymore said she didn’t feel right discussing the issue in public, deciding that the best way to respect Spears’ wishes was to not post about it on social media. “This is too big for that,” she said. “But I also think on the other side of the coin, the noise had to be made in order to start to have change here. Social media is a very tricky animal. It can lead to great outcry and people listening, and it can also be a place that has a little bit of empty calories.” In the midst of what was described as a mental health crisis, Spears was placed into a strict conservatorship overseen by her father, Jamies Spears, in February 2008, giving him control over his daughter’s life an...
Lorde Shares New Single “Mood Ring”: Stream
Lorde has today released “Mood Ring,” the third single from her forthcoming album, Solar Power. Watch the music video for the Jack Antonoff-produced track below. “Mood Ring” is full of references to practices of new age mental wellness, though Lorde notes it’s meant to be an “extremely satirical look at all of those vibes.” “Ladies, begin your sun salutations/ Pluto in scorpio generation,” she sings on the bridge. “Love and light/You can burn sage/ And I’ll cleanse the crystals.” Further explaining the song’s inspiration in a press statement, Lorde said, “This is a song I am very excited about, it’s so much fun to me. Obviously when making this album I did a deep-dive into ’60s, Flower Child culture. I wanted to understand the commune life, dropping out from society and trying to start aga...
