Nothing Exudes the Painful Indelicacy of 2020 Like Bebe Rexha and Doja Cat's 'Baby, I'm Jealous'
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It’s a no from me, dog: Bebe Rexha and Doja Cat, “Baby, I’m Jealous” – In the music video for “Baby, I’m Jealous,” Bebe Rexha and Doja Cat reimagine the 2003, Lindsay Lohan-led reboot of Freaky Friday with some help from social media stars Charli D’Amelio, Avani Gregg and Nikita Dragun. It is painfully of its time, an egregiously contemporary and painfully indelicate read on what pops in 2020. The song, too, is obsessed with a different kind of doom-scrolling—an Instagram-bred body dysmorphia—all around a Rexha hook about feeling jealous. At least she is playful, and at least the song is catchy… albeit unmemorable. —Maria Sherman
Obviously, yes: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, “Little By Little” (Dusty Springfield) – Normally, I’m skeptical of posthumous releases, but Daptones Records’ forthcoming release of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings covers album, Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Rendition, is such a wonderful joy in an otherwise remarkably desolate time, and a reminder of what a talent Jones was and continues to be, as tracks recorded prior to her death in 2016 continue to prove. Not everyone could do Dusty justice, but here, Jones’ husky ebullience is enough to mood elevate. I’m grateful for it. —MS
I welcome it: Domo Wilson, “You’re Too Good For Me” – Save for the piss poor acting half-way through this music video, I’m not mad actually at YouTuber/musician Domo Wilson’s “You’re Too Good For Me”? It’s a consistently slow burning, emo-R&B ballad that I hope inspires a million more energetic, similarly hybrid copy-cat acts. And while its monotonous, that hook simply doesn’t quit—so why not compose an entire song around it? —MS
Y: IAN SWEET, “Power” – Ian Sweet, once a band, now the solo moniker of Jilian Medford, has only improved as songwriter—“Power,” is a stripped-down celebration personal agency in isolation, a gorgeous vocal performance that builds into dreamy distortion and collapses into itself in unexpected moments of growth. It’s devastating, as if Medford is at will to her own desires, frustrated with the awareness that she will achieve solace, but it is a journey. “‘Power’ is a manifestation of strength. Something I was looking up and looking towards,” Medford said in a statement. “I wrote this song to try to get closer to trusting the magnitude of myself as a solitary being.” A noble ambition, surely. —MS
Without a doubt: The Green Child, “Double Lines” – A supergroup to a few Aussiephiles and myself, The Green Child is a new duo of Grass Widow’s Raven Mahon and Total Control’s Mikey Young, a delightfully ambient synth-pop project meant to feel meditative. “Double Lines” makes me think of driving aimlessly on empty rural roads in the Pacific Northwest, but it could really evoke any image of mobile calm. I adore it. —MS
Yes, I’m sorry, it’s a message from the White Witch: Stevie Nicks, “Show Them The Way” – My own stupidity led me to believe that Stevie Nicks has stopped making music, but imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this, uh, hm. It’s a weird one. She talks a bit about Martin Luther King, but also the Kennedy assassination? She mentions the Hamptons. I can’t quite parse the lyrics, but the chorus is a plea to God to show someone the way—the “them” in question I think are Zoomers, but I’m really just trying to figure this shit out as I go along. Anyway! Sounds like classic Stevie to me, all jangly guitars and a raspy-voiced Nicks singing her little heart out. If you close your eyes and really give in to the spirit, you can smell the incense and feel the soft velvet of one of her many capes as she twirls in ecstasy, eyes closed, face raised to the afternoon sun. —Megan Reynolds
Obviously, yes: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, “Little By Little” (Dusty Springfield) – Normally, I’m skeptical of posthumous releases, but Daptones Records’ forthcoming release of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings covers album, Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Rendition, is such a wonderful joy in an otherwise remarkably desolate time, and a reminder of what a talent Jones was and continues to be, as tracks recorded prior to her death in 2016 continue to prove. Not everyone could do Dusty justice, but here, Jones’ husky ebullience is enough to mood elevate. I’m grateful for it. —MS
I welcome it: Domo Wilson, “You’re Too Good For Me” – Save for the piss poor acting half-way through this music video, I’m not mad actually at YouTuber/musician Domo Wilson’s “You’re Too Good For Me”? It’s a consistently slow burning, emo-R&B ballad that I hope inspires a million more energetic, similarly hybrid copy-cat acts. And while its monotonous, that hook simply doesn’t quit—so why not compose an entire song around it? —MS
Y: IAN SWEET, “Power” – Ian Sweet, once a band, now the solo moniker of Jilian Medford, has only improved as songwriter—“Power,” is a stripped-down celebration personal agency in isolation, a gorgeous vocal performance that builds into dreamy distortion and collapses into itself in unexpected moments of growth. It’s devastating, as if Medford is at will to her own desires, frustrated with the awareness that she will achieve solace, but it is a journey. “‘Power’ is a manifestation of strength. Something I was looking up and looking towards,” Medford said in a statement. “I wrote this song to try to get closer to trusting the magnitude of myself as a solitary being.” A noble ambition, surely. —MS
Without a doubt: The Green Child, “Double Lines” – A supergroup to a few Aussiephiles and myself, The Green Child is a new duo of Grass Widow’s Raven Mahon and Total Control’s Mikey Young, a delightfully ambient synth-pop project meant to feel meditative. “Double Lines” makes me think of driving aimlessly on empty rural roads in the Pacific Northwest, but it could really evoke any image of mobile calm. I adore it. —MS
Yes, I’m sorry, it’s a message from the White Witch: Stevie Nicks, “Show Them The Way” – My own stupidity led me to believe that Stevie Nicks has stopped making music, but imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this, uh, hm. It’s a weird one. She talks a bit about Martin Luther King, but also the Kennedy assassination? She mentions the Hamptons. I can’t quite parse the lyrics, but the chorus is a plea to God to show someone the way—the “them” in question I think are Zoomers, but I’m really just trying to figure this shit out as I go along. Anyway! Sounds like classic Stevie to me, all jangly guitars and a raspy-voiced Nicks singing her little heart out. If you close your eyes and really give in to the spirit, you can smell the incense and feel the soft velvet of one of her many capes as she twirls in ecstasy, eyes closed, face raised to the afternoon sun. —Megan Reynolds
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