The hype train has been strong all week, but this is what we get? Three repeated chords and an incessant, excruciatingly irritating guitar hook of three notes. The yearning chorus melody is nice and the lyrics - a wistful look at the past and allowing yourself to grow old in your late 20s (!) - do have some truth. But the song literally goes nowhere. Nowhere.
Don't bother.
Charli XCX - 5 In The Morning
Her two mixtapes have been criminally under-appreciated, but this new single from Charli XCX is sadly not a banger. Instead, it's a woozy trap-inspired snapshot of being pilled-up in the club in the early morning when you're feeling yourself more than you probably should be. Will we get a decent pop song next or has it all gone to her head?
Worth a listen.
Lily Allen - Lost My Mind
This is already the third single to be released from Allen's yet-to-be-released album 'No Shame'. Neither Trigger Bang or Higher actually charted though, and Lost My Mind will probably follow suit. It's a more pop sound than her recent dalliances with grime, but the floating falsetto vocals and minimalist production are too lightweight to stick.
Don't bother.
MNEK & Hailee Steinfeld - Colour
It's Pride month, so it makes sense that pop's most slept on gay singer-songwriter should release a new single about colour. "All I see is colour / Like a rainbow in the sky" is a fitting lyric for the month, the uptempo beat is infectious, the lyrics rinse the metaphor for all its worth, and the joining of MNEK and Steinfeld is a match made in pop heaven. Anne-Marie, who rejected the song, must be kicking herself.
Worth a listen.
James Arthur - You Deserve Better
Few artists have had the career turnaround of James Arthur, from arrogant loudmouth to apologetically humble. You Deserve Better is perhaps the zenith, with self-deprecating lyrics that see Arthur pathetically playing the victim. "Deep down you know I ain't even worth it," he sings, "all I do is make you cry." Thing is, this is actually a well-constructed pop song: a double chorus, lyrics and melody in rhythmic symbiosis, infectious funk production. Chin up mate.
Worth a listen.
All Saints - Love Lasts Forever
The return of All Saints in 2016 re-affirmed their status as an edgy girl band unafraid of experimentation. That continues with Love Lasts Forever, from forthcoming album 'Testament'. It's beautifully crafted: the slow intensity of the verses before the uptempo chorus that layers up with majestic strings, handclaps and skittering percussion; the song's gradual crescendo that deconstructs in the middle eight before its sinuous, dying ending. Best song of the week.
Add to playlist.
LOOΠΔ/yyxy feat. Grimes - love4eva
For those of us still dying for new music from Grimes, here's another feature after she cropped up on Janelle Monae's Pynk. This time she's joining K-pop group LOOΠΔ/yyxy for a vibrant, computerised track that's a huge amount of fun.
Worth a listen.
Allie X - Focus
You can recognise a great pop song when it encapsulates a world of complex feeling in a single, compact lyric. "You make me focus," sings Allie X in a heady whirl of slow-motion synths, "when you love someone the rest just falls away." Focus makes you stop in your tracks; it sinks your heart into a warm bath; it fizzes and flutters deep in your belly. It was love at first listen.
Add to playlist.
