After a short hiatus, The Rub is BACK! And just in time too, there’s a lot of fun new music this Friday. This week’s playlist features new music from Kim Petras, Charli XCX + Troye Sivan, Halsey, Mariah Carey, AlunaGeorge, Alessia Cara, Wizkid, Bantu, Jonas Blue + Liam Payne, Major Lazer, LANY, Anderson Paak, Jaden Smith, Sigrid and more!!!
Singles
- Halsey insulting her true fans for not making “100 Letters” a single, offers “Without Me”, an excellent Justin Timberlake-sampling breakup song. It has the tragic melancholy of her usual fare, but this time around, Halsey’s delivery is a bit more R&B influenced (thanks to Timbaland’s production) and it seems she may be trying to hit a new segment of black fans, something “Alone” failed to properly do. Our Tri-Bi queen is coming for total radio domination, while her last album is still selling well, as well her recent guilty pleasure omen “Eastside”. Anyway, “Without Me” is basically “Eyes Closed” with more backbone, which is great for Halsey and even better for us.
- Charli XCX teams up with a noticeably chipper Troye Sivan on “1999”. It’s one of Charli’s best one-off releases this year, and definitely Troye’s happiest song since “My My My!” We were like 6 in 1999, so I’m not sure how realistic singing about it is, but it’s fun anyway, right? Charli’s spunk powers through the nostalgic single in a much more fun way than Anne-Marie’s “2002” did. Sadly, Anne’s Ed Sheeran-helmed chorus was a bit too dour to break into the US market. Hopefully “1999” fares better. True fans will notice the echoes of the bridge Charli’s song “No Angel” in the pre-chorus here. It’s the little things that make each song great, right? Anyway, bop away!
- Alessia Cara releases “Trust My Lonely”, which is 1000% her best song since Stay. She sings confidently, “I found my footing on my own,” thank God she did before we all fell asleep of boredom from her most recent pandering singles. Miss Alessia is having fun, her vocals sliding slyly over the tongue-in-cheek song, with an 8-bit production and afrobeat meld that may just be the most forward-thinking pop release of the week.
- Jack & Jack a personal favorite of mine, are back with “Nothing Compares to You.” Be forewarned, their sound is remarkably basic. And this song is a completely unspecial trop-pop EDM song by two white boys. The lyrics are vapid, essentially devoid of any true emotion. The vocals are like diet-Conor Maynard. It’s like Maroon 5 for Kidz Bop. And you know what? It’s absolutely amazing. In this house, we stan Jack & Jack!
- A notable mention, if you’re tired of white people led trop-pop, might I suggest the highly talented Nigerian artist, Wizkid. He’s a real afrobeat, dancehall, and hip-hop artist. You may have heard his collab with Dua Lipa and Wale, but he’s a star in his own right. This week he gives us “Master Groove,” a song truly worthy of its title, and as far as dancehall goes, it’s the best track of the week.
- Speaking of African dancehall kings, Bantu is back with another superb single, “Remedy.” It seems there’s a lot of good songs entitled “Remedy” lately (hey Alesso!). Anyway, Bantu has literally never made a bad song and this proves. His voice is light, airy as he glides over the club-ready production, with a catchy chorus to boot. When is going to collab with Rihanna?! I need it!
Albums
- Kim Petras takes a creative detour this week with her phenomenal, horror-themed EP, “Turn Off the Light, Vol.1”. While most pop stars are clamoring to get a traditional holiday hit, our fav Kim decides to make Halloween her bitch. It’s really something else. The album listens like a Daft Punk meets 80’s rave. Kim’s voice shines boldly as ever, over heavy synths, pound basslines, and a surprisingly cohesive collection of transitions. Each song melds into the next as the singer takes on a fright-filled journey. There’s wolf howls, ominous organs, an ELVIRA feature, a song entitled “TRANSlyvania” (we love an LGBTQ icon), and one song features Kim singing in her native German– “ScheiBe” is shaking! This EP has something for everyone, but above all, it’s just loads of fun.
- AlunaGeorge is back with a new EP, which follows their absolutely underrated 2016 album, I Remember. The electro-pop(?) is stronger than ever. Sensual vocals companioned with poeticism, memorable hooks, and frenetic production makes for a great listen. Their music continues to lean towards pop-R&B constructions, landing the duo on solid footing, cemented by the beautiful Bryson Tiller collab. We need more of this!
- Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s soundtrack to A Star is Born is out. I won’t review the film or album until I see it in theaters, and if you’re one of those people who listen to all the music before seeing the film, you need serious help.
Dis-honorable Mention
- Jonas Blue teams up with Liam Payne and someone named Lennon Stella for “Polaroid.” The lyrics are wildly clunky, but Liam sounds totally unconvincing and this Lennon Stella person will suffer from Elley Duhey comparisons (and even she is basically a nobody in pop). All in all, this is a horrible trop-pop track. Hopefully, Liam can dig himself out of this awful music release streak and give us the bops he knows we deserve. I’m still rooting for my fav ex 1D boy.
The Fall season is off to a great start, can’t wait to see what else is in store for pop music as we close out the year!
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