Sorry to say yes: The Weeknd, “Hardest to Love” – Look, we’re all in this together, which means giving people more consideration than you otherwise might under normal circumstances. So I sampled the Weeknd’s new album After Hours this morning and landed on its third track, “Hardest to Love,” a dulcet slice of pop-jungle that probably would have taken the U.K. by storm in the mid-’90s. Let Abel Tesfaye’s bittersweet crooning over frenetic breaks whisk you back to a time of shiny low rise pants and plastic wraparounds with painted silver frames. This reminds me a little of the gentle drum ’n bass that Everything but the Girl dabbled with on Walking Wounded. How could I do anything with this but love it to pieces? —Rich Juzwiak
Y: Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird” – What prophetic potion has Miranda Lambert been drinking? It’s almost as if she knew it was time to release something life-affirming—any bit of levity, I’ll take it. On “Bluebird,” she somehow makes singing about having a bird in your heart sound empowering? If it’s a resilient country song you’re after in time’s like these, you’ve found it. —Maria Sherman
Ja!: Beverly Kills, “Seven Sisters” – No musical style is better than any other, but if I could only listen to one forever, it would be Swedish indie-pop/post-punk. Gothenburg’s Beverly Kills has become a recent obsession of mine, and not only because its vocalist Alma Westerlund frequently recalls Makthaverskan’s Maja Milner—they’re more immediate-sounding and textured than immediate contemporaries, no doubt elements of the band member’s background in hardcore punk. According to Brooklyn Vegan, the band took a trip to Copenhagen and saw the Little Mermaid statue, which inspired this song, “Seven Sisters.”
Let it crush me: Perfume Genius, “On the Floor” – The best Perfume Genius songs serve as powerful meditations on human experience, and nothing is more human than gassing up a crush so much, you divorce who they actually are from the reality you’ve constructed in your head. Such is the message of “On the Floor,” Mike Hadreas’ funkiest number to date. It is both joyful and devastating, and a deep understanding that there can be something quite lonely about loving a person you’ve constructed and not the human themselves. —MS
Yeah, man: Daði Freyr, “Think About Things (Daði og Gagnamagnið)” – On Wednesday, the annual Eurovision Song Competition was officially canceled due to the covid-19 outbreak. While this year’s finalists can reapply next year, they can’t use the same songs, which seriously sucks for Iceland’s entrants, Daði Freyr, whose song “Think About Things” is a fucking banger. While the video was uploaded back in February, the song is going viral this week amid the news of Eurovision’s cancelation, and there’s even a petition to crown the song the honorary winner. Honestly… fair enough. This song takes the best of Metronomy, Hot Chip, and Chromeo to create a devastatingly catchy track. Plus, take a look at that video. I mean, the dance moves are better than what some of the pop girls (not including K-pop, of course) are offering us these days. I’m here for it, guys. —Ashley Reese
Y: Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird” – What prophetic potion has Miranda Lambert been drinking? It’s almost as if she knew it was time to release something life-affirming—any bit of levity, I’ll take it. On “Bluebird,” she somehow makes singing about having a bird in your heart sound empowering? If it’s a resilient country song you’re after in time’s like these, you’ve found it. —Maria Sherman
Ja!: Beverly Kills, “Seven Sisters” – No musical style is better than any other, but if I could only listen to one forever, it would be Swedish indie-pop/post-punk. Gothenburg’s Beverly Kills has become a recent obsession of mine, and not only because its vocalist Alma Westerlund frequently recalls Makthaverskan’s Maja Milner—they’re more immediate-sounding and textured than immediate contemporaries, no doubt elements of the band member’s background in hardcore punk. According to Brooklyn Vegan, the band took a trip to Copenhagen and saw the Little Mermaid statue, which inspired this song, “Seven Sisters.”
“Alma started writing the lyrics based around her and found inspiration in Ariel’s desperation to break free and to find love at whatever cost necessary,” the band stated. “In the original fairy tale, she sacrifices everything she has for a romantic interest but eventually fails, which the lyrics mainly revolve around. It’s certainly a tragic love story, but even though it’s almost 200 years old, its theme remains timeless.” For fans of folklore. —MS
Let it crush me: Perfume Genius, “On the Floor” – The best Perfume Genius songs serve as powerful meditations on human experience, and nothing is more human than gassing up a crush so much, you divorce who they actually are from the reality you’ve constructed in your head. Such is the message of “On the Floor,” Mike Hadreas’ funkiest number to date. It is both joyful and devastating, and a deep understanding that there can be something quite lonely about loving a person you’ve constructed and not the human themselves. —MS
Yeah, man: Daði Freyr, “Think About Things (Daði og Gagnamagnið)” – On Wednesday, the annual Eurovision Song Competition was officially canceled due to the covid-19 outbreak. While this year’s finalists can reapply next year, they can’t use the same songs, which seriously sucks for Iceland’s entrants, Daði Freyr, whose song “Think About Things” is a fucking banger. While the video was uploaded back in February, the song is going viral this week amid the news of Eurovision’s cancelation, and there’s even a petition to crown the song the honorary winner. Honestly… fair enough. This song takes the best of Metronomy, Hot Chip, and Chromeo to create a devastatingly catchy track. Plus, take a look at that video. I mean, the dance moves are better than what some of the pop girls (not including K-pop, of course) are offering us these days. I’m here for it, guys. —Ashley Reese
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