Una cosa del diablo: Billie Eilish and Rosalia “Lo Vas a Olvidar” – I can watch Rosalia riding around in the darkness with 3D crystal nails all fucking day. However, the mix of Billie Eilish and Rosalia singing this track sounds like two ghosts decided to possess two human bodies in order to begin a ritual that will summon the anti-Christ to earth. I would usually describe this style of ghostly singing as haunting but the Spanish and the higher pitch Rosalia is hitting takes it to a different level of unpleasantness. I want to like this but every time I listen to it I just get a striking visual of being pushed over a seaside cliff as a blood offering to Satan. —Shannon Melero
Hell Fucking Yeah: Deb Never, “Someone Else” – I was a huge fan of Deb Never’s “Stone Cold,” a song which effuses so much cool I thought it might be hard for Deb to top it with this next spate of singles. That suspicion was thankfully incorrect. “Someone Else” has the vibe of a song you listen near a window, or on the walk home from the subway, when it’s quiet and you feel not so good at being alone. It’s slow climax and drum and base finale are only helped all that much more by everything Deb wears in the video above. Give me the pants! Give me the chunky belts and jackets and sweater vest with tiny little bears on it!
Whatever: Years & Years, “It’s a Sin” – The proceeds from Years & Years’s cover of Pet Shop Boys’ iconic single “It’s a Sin” will be donated to HIV charity George House Trust, which is an ostensibly good thing. Problem is: Just how many singles will this sell, exactly? The cover is fine, as far as covers go. They’ve slowed it down considerably, stripping away the frantic ‘80s ennui that soaked the original. But in doing so, it loses much of its original impact, instead becoming a ballad about something sad, instead of something sad that could also be danced to—arguably much more demanding achievement. Hopefully, though, Years & Years can pass along a good chunk of change from this. —JS
Hard No: Tate McRae, “rubberband” – Are you bored? I’m bored. Even thinking about this song bores me almost too much to even type a coherent thought out about it. The music video sure is expensive though. At least McRae’s team has that to hold on to. —JS
Absolutely: Angel Haze, “Weight” – Rapper Angel Haze is back with her first track in four years, but I’m not gonna lie: The last time she was on my radar was way back in 2012 when she dropped “New York.” But I’ve followed her on social media for years, which is why I was curious when the video for her new song “Weight” popped up on my feed. Listen… Angel Haze did what she had to do. The sinister-sounding production and gorgeous visuals were enough to draw me in, but when Angel started going I was reminded that her flow rules. What really sold me, however, was one line in which she innocently intoned, in a dulcet Valley Girl tone, “Ever since I was a little girl, yeah, I knew that I had the potential” before immediately turning the ferocity up and saying, “TO BE A KILLA, NIGGA, what the fuck you thought?”
Hell Fucking Yeah: Deb Never, “Someone Else” – I was a huge fan of Deb Never’s “Stone Cold,” a song which effuses so much cool I thought it might be hard for Deb to top it with this next spate of singles. That suspicion was thankfully incorrect. “Someone Else” has the vibe of a song you listen near a window, or on the walk home from the subway, when it’s quiet and you feel not so good at being alone. It’s slow climax and drum and base finale are only helped all that much more by everything Deb wears in the video above. Give me the pants! Give me the chunky belts and jackets and sweater vest with tiny little bears on it!
More of this, Deb Never. Please. I’m begging you! —Joan Summers
Whatever: Years & Years, “It’s a Sin” – The proceeds from Years & Years’s cover of Pet Shop Boys’ iconic single “It’s a Sin” will be donated to HIV charity George House Trust, which is an ostensibly good thing. Problem is: Just how many singles will this sell, exactly? The cover is fine, as far as covers go. They’ve slowed it down considerably, stripping away the frantic ‘80s ennui that soaked the original. But in doing so, it loses much of its original impact, instead becoming a ballad about something sad, instead of something sad that could also be danced to—arguably much more demanding achievement. Hopefully, though, Years & Years can pass along a good chunk of change from this. —JS
Hard No: Tate McRae, “rubberband” – Are you bored? I’m bored. Even thinking about this song bores me almost too much to even type a coherent thought out about it. The music video sure is expensive though. At least McRae’s team has that to hold on to. —JS
Absolutely: Angel Haze, “Weight” – Rapper Angel Haze is back with her first track in four years, but I’m not gonna lie: The last time she was on my radar was way back in 2012 when she dropped “New York.” But I’ve followed her on social media for years, which is why I was curious when the video for her new song “Weight” popped up on my feed. Listen… Angel Haze did what she had to do. The sinister-sounding production and gorgeous visuals were enough to draw me in, but when Angel started going I was reminded that her flow rules. What really sold me, however, was one line in which she innocently intoned, in a dulcet Valley Girl tone, “Ever since I was a little girl, yeah, I knew that I had the potential” before immediately turning the ferocity up and saying, “TO BE A KILLA, NIGGA, what the fuck you thought?”
I felt that in my chest, which, I expect, is precisely the impact she wanted. —Ashley Reese
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