Top Song of the Week
Song of the Week: Phoebe Bridgers Delivers the Christmas Gift of Seasonal Affective Disorder on “So Much Wine”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Phoebe Bridgers leads us into the holiday season. Many people will tell you that the holiday season officially begins on Black Friday, which ushers in a frenzy of consumerism and renewed debate about whether Love Actually is a good or bad movie (it’s the latter) in an eggnog-soaked sprint to December 25th. Those people are lying to you. The holiday season officially begins whenever Phoebe Bridgers says it does. Advertisement With “So Much Wine,” Bridgers adds a new entry to her annual tradition of releasin...
Song of the Week: Avril Lavigne and YUNGBLUD Team Up for the Tender “I’m a Mess”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Avril Lavigne links up with YUNGBLUD for an heartfelt anthem. Fresh off dozens of US tour dates in support of Love Sux — as well as a major appearance at last month’s When We Were Young Festival — Avril Lavigne has returned with a new song, “I’m a Mess,” featuring fellow pop punk juggernaut YUNGBLUD. Avril’s 2022 album may have been titled Love Sux, but “I’m a Mess” is a love song through and through, and finds both Lavigne and YUNGBLUD longing for each other (or their respective partners) in a s...
Rap Song of the Week: BROCKHAMPTON Celebrate the End on “Big Pussy”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down all the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. Today, BROCKHAMPTON return with their new single, “Big Pussy.” BROCKHAMPTON have announced their final album, The Family, and on lead single “Big Pussy,” Kevin Abstract builds a funeral pyre and sets the band on fire. The track begins with a sample containing the words, “Fuck you,” and while it doesn’t appear to be directed at anyone in particular, if there were any doubt about Kevin’s feelings, he opens his first verse the same way: “Fuck you to anyone that claim that they got me/ When my heart was low, it turn to kami-kami-kamikaze.” With those words ringing in your ear, “Big Pussy” starts to feel like a final suicide mission. It’s one of the few BROCKHA...
Song of the Week: Rihanna Returns to Music After Six Years with “Lift Me Up”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Rihanna returns with a song written for the new Black Panther movie. It’s been over six years since Rihanna released new original solo material, 2016’s ANTI. Contrary to what some might have expected, though, the latest from the artist and business mogul isn’t an explosive comeback to introduce us to 2022 Rihanna — rather, the gentle, tender “Lift Me Up” features her singing over a sparse instrumental. Co-written with rising Nigerian artist Tems, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, and director Ryan Coogle...
Rap Song of the Week: Lil Uzi Vert Heads to the Club on “Just Wanna Rock”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down all the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Lil Uzi Vert hops on a Jersey club beat with “Just Wanna Rock.” Lil Uzi Vert takes pride in acknowledging their roots in North Philadephia’s Francisville neighborhood. With Jersey club recently breaking out from its origins in Newark — just an hour or two away from where the rapper, who uses they/them pronouns, was born and raised — it was inevitable that the always-experimental artist would dip a toe into the genre. The result is “Just Wanna Rock,” an uptempo dance track with gothic keys that Uzi Vert dropped after it went viral on TikTok. Co-produced by MCVertt, a frequent collaborator with Jersey drill pioneer Bandmanrill, and Synthetic, who is kn...
Song of the Week: Taylor Swift Is the “Anti-Hero” of the Story After All
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Taylor Swift doesn’t hold back with the hyperaware, self-loathing “Anti-Hero.” Ahead of the release of her new album, Midnights, Taylor Swift shared a video to Instagram providing some insight into the subject of “Anti-Hero.” “This song really is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself,” she said plainly. Somehow, that feels like a bit of an understatement for how fully Swift digs into her own paranoia and need for control with this song. She leans all the way into the theatrica...
Song of the Week: The 1975 Make Romantic Desperation Sound Fun on “Oh Caroline”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, The 1975 unravel the messiness of love with “Oh Caroline.” “I’ve been suicidal” is a hell of a way to open a song, but Matty Healy and The 1975 have never shied away from blunt honesty. It’s present in the group’s 2016 track “She’s American” (“If she says I’ve got to fix my teeth, then she’s so American”); it’s all over 2018’s “Be My Mistake” (“The smell of your hair reminds me of her feet”); and it’s tucked into various corners of the band’s latest album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. The album is refresh...
Song of the Week: Fiona Apple Reads Tolkien Poetry on “Where the Shadows Lie”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Fiona Apple makes a fantastical return with “Where the Shadows Lie.” The music of Fiona Apple has a way of making itself feel suspended in time. From the straightforward, piano-heavy compositions of her 1996 debut Tidal to the raucous, ramshackle qualities of 2020’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, the iconic musician might’ve been a spokesperson of turn-of-the-century doom — but her sound is void of a specific era. Really, it’s a trait that Apple shares with the Lord of the Rings franchise...
Rap Song of the Week: Quavo and Takeoff Move Forward as a Duo with “Two Infinity Links”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down all the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Migos members Quavo and Takeoff push on as a duo on “Two Infinity Links,” the opening track from their new album, Only Built for Infinity Links. After months of speculation, Quavo and Takeoff essentially admitted Migos are done (for now) earlier this week. During an appearance on DJ Scream’s Big Facts podcast, Quavo alluded to family loyalty and explained the situation was “something to do with the three brothers” rather than Offset’s recent label issues. Meanwhile, Takeoff left the door open for the return of Offset, mentioning they told him to fix “whatever ain’t right.” Regardless of what went down, Quavo and Takeoff are determined to prove their ...
Rap Song of the Week: Smino and J. Cole Light It Up on “90 Proof”
Rap Song of the Week runs down all the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Smino gears up for his upcoming album Luv 4 Rent with “90 Proof” featuring J. Cole. Since dropping “24-8” earlier this month, Smino’s been teasing his next album, Luv 4 Rent, with the hashtag “droptober.” To close out September, the St. Louis native has reunited with J. Cole for his confessional new single, “90 Proof.” Over a soulful groove co-produced by frequent collaborator monte booker and Groove, Smino uses a singsong flow to plead patience from a woman he hasn’t been able to commit to. Admitting he’s not “great at relationships,” Smino expresses his feelings the best way he knows how. In addition to opening up with lyrics like, “My heart start be...
Song of the Week: Paramore Gives Us a Reason to Leave the House with “This Is Why”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Paramore make a huge return with “This Is Why.” It’s been 20 years since Hayley Williams moved from Mississippi to Tennessee, met the Farro brothers, and began the story of Paramore, one of the most exciting bands of the new millennium. Paramore has outlived most of their contemporaries, not just by continuing to exist as an entity, but also in terms of their enduring cultural relevance. While many bands of the Warped Tour Era flamed out or carried on by catering to nostalgia, Paramore have managed to remain vi...
Song of the Week: Cardi B and GloRilla Fire Back at the Haters on “Tomorrow 2”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, GloRilla and Cardi B join forces for a hard-hitting collab. Cardi B has always been a generous collaborator, and now she’s hopped on the remix for fast-rising Memphis rapper GloRilla’s hard-hitting track, “Tomorrow.” The two artists are a natural fit, with aggressive rapping styles and the ability to tear through sparse beats based on shit-talking and charisma alone. Produced by GloRilla’s frequent collaborator Macaroni Toni, “Tomorrow 2” brings out the best in both of them. GloRilla, who broke out with her vir...
