It's Taylor Swift's big return after the ill-received 'Reputation'. And it sounds like the soundtrack to a straight to DVD Dreamworks film. Critics wondered if this new song would be a return to her country roots, a continuation of the synth-pop from '1989', or perhaps a more political take following on from recent posts and interviews. Instead we've got a spelling bee in song, together with Brendon Urie to complete the 'Greatest Showman' carnival theme. This is sugary bubblegum pop at its most insipid and childish. Even Shake It Off was better.
Don't bother.
FKA Twigs - Cellophane
"Didn't I do it for you?" questions FKA on this comeback track. It's one of those simple lyrics that's loaded with sentiment, her yearning falsetto quivering with emotion and vulnerability. As with the music of her debut album, the production is minimalist - as much about the space between as the sounds themselves - but Cellophane is an intimate, achingly beautiful ballad that takes us beyond the fierce voguer. Stunning.
Add to playlist.
Lauv - Drugs & The Internet
Drugs & The Internet is Lauv's first new music since the release of his debut album last year. It's a song about anxiety and social media, which feels like a very 2019 topic for a song. Yet from Lauv it's a potent and personal exploration, following his own struggles with mental health. "I traded all my friends for drugs and the internet," he quips in the chorus over squelching production, while his verses are all too relatable.
Worth a listen.
Bastille - Doom Days
This is a short one, but it packs a punch. Taken from their forthcoming album of the same name, Doom Days is a two minute apocalyptic take on today - a world of echo chambers, online horror shows, and fucking up the planet until it burns. It runs like a stream of consciousness, an acoustic start hurtling inevitably to its urgent, electronic end. The final sentiment to put our phones down and fall into the night seems rote, but really what else can we do?
Worth a listen.
ionnalee - SOME BODY
For all her eccentricities, SOME BODY is a more straightforward disco synth track from ionnalee. It, too, is apocalyptic - "come on bring the age of sorrow," she sings in the second verse - but in the chorus she asks us to "remember the good times...[before] the end of humankind" as the production (from long time collaborator Claes Björklund) swells and struts. The effect is intoxicating.
Worth a listen.
Zara Larsson - WOW
This doesn't quite make your jaw drop as Larsson implores in the chorus, but it's a fun time all the same. The downbeat verses bely lyrics loaded with sexual tension, before bursting into an ecstatic, otherworldly chorus of shifting vocals, blaring horns and infectious beats. Less jaw drop, more slut drop on the dancefloor.
Worth a listen.
