Another Great Cardi B Anthem, a New Song to Fuck to, and a Bittersweet Love Song From Hatchie
EntertainmentMusic
Yes: Cardi B, “Drip” feat. Migos — Cardi has blessed us with another terrifically rugged party song (from her debut album Invasion of Privacy) that feels like someone aggressively knocking on your door before deciding to just bust the door down. She admits she has to get a hold of her emotions here (that’s the first step), so as to “not kill a bitch with my fangers.” I can’t help but hear this and think of the legendary song “Drip Drop,” but this is way better. –Clover Hope
Y: SZA, “Broken Clocks” — There’s a pretty, hazy filter to this video, reminiscent of summer camp days when crushes were dumb and joyful and then gone. I’m still in love with the lyrics and the comparison of never going back to a shitty job or person: “I’ve had a thing for dirty shoes since I was 10/Love dirty men alike.” –CH
Y: Hatchie, “Sugar & Spice” — This Aussie dream-pop band Hatchie, who will hit a sweet spot for fans of ’90s Brit bands like Lush or The Sundays, has been on my radar since they released their debut song, “Sure,” last year. Their latest, “Sugar and Spice,” is a similarly beautiful and bittersweet love song, as lead Harriet Pilbeam sings that even though “the brightest stars burn out the fastest, but maybe we could still outlast it all.” –Hazel Cills
???: Calpurnia, “City Girl” — This is the debut single from Finn Wolfhard’s band, Calpurnia. Ever notice how Wolfhard looks like Timothée Chalamet’s looper? Have you ever seen the two of them in the same room? The song is neither good or bad, but features lyrics like these:
Y: Say Sue Me, “Coming to the End” — Say Sue Me is an irresistible indie-pop, surf-rock, sometimes shoegaze, certainly a hybrid of all those sub-genre signifiers, band from Busan, South Korea. “Coming to the End” is the latest from their 2018 LP, Where We Were Together, a hazy, seven-minute, slow-burning epic perfect for fans of Mazzy Star and all those who appreciate dream-y, reverb-touched whisper-singing. I recently played “Coming to the End” while doing dishes and it made the entire process deceptively romantic. Just wait for the four-minute mark. –Maria Sherman
Y: Grouper, “Driving” — I’ve always thought of Grouper as the perfect seasonal artist, for clutching a blanket while the sky empties itself outside, and what do you know…there’s a new Grouper album due in a few weeks. “Driving” follows “Parking Lot,” which followed 2014’s Ruins, a near-perfect collection of hushed, frighteningly intimate piano ballads that almost evaporate on contact. Despite some of the most utilitarian song titles of her career, Grouper again leans on those layered harmonies and sparse arrangements with such a gentle touch. She’s still finding new ways to make the smallest spaces feel enormous. –Shawn Cooke
Hell yeah: Hinds, “Finally Floating” — This single from the Madrid-based garage-rock girl-group Hinds is every bit as sunny as songs off their first album, but also angsty, which is new for them (but really great). Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials sing over each other but seem to be complaining about the same space: lying in bed, feeling useless (probably thinking about a crush), feeling life slip through your fingers. “I know what this dream’s gonna be about!” they belt, and I can’t tell if that’s good or bad! But I know this song is very, very good. –Frida Garza
Yesss: Sasami Ashworth, “Callous” — I’m unreasonably excited for Sasami Ashworth (formerly of Cherry Glazerr) and her debut album after hearing this song. It’s pretty much a perfect five minutes. Ashworth’s lyricism is razor-sharp (“You were born with a spoon in your throat/And a gun in your hand/And a plan for yourself,” she deadpans), and I’m like, gurrrrrrl yes, tell ’em. When she sings, “Heaven knows I’ve tried” on loop over unspooling synth and guitar, it feels like it could go on forever. Keeping this on repeat, durr. –FG
Y: Sabrina Claudio, “All to You”— This video comes off simultaneously sexy and spooky, a nearly three-and-a-half minute declaration of desire and submission that slowly unwinds and which you can’t help being sucked into. The song serves its purpose of setting the mood: “When did this bed turn into water?/Is it that good?/My love, my flower, is it that good?” . This is the aforementioned “song to fuck to.” –CH
Sure: Ozuna f. Ele A El Dominio, “Balenciaga” — I’m not crazy about the song; the “Puer-Dominican” superstar Ozuna seems like he’s underachieving here, though Ele’s molasses flow has a hypnotic appeal. But the video, out this week, features a cartel of badass women luxuriating in a mansion, eating cupcakes, walking very expensive dogs around a pool, and generally projecting ferocity. Can’t be mad at that. –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
ABSOLUTELY NOT: The Chainsmokers, “Everybody Hates Me” — My negging corporate nemeses are back with a visual for their nefarious emo statement single about blaming, yet again, a cheating woman for their problems/depression. The weird part about their steez is that it still feels trapped between the Obama and Trump eras, the domain of MRA Reddit threads, not quite overtly hateful but with an undertone of it. Perfectly, the video is a tribute to getting over by doing the absolute least, before blowing up a 1990s Range Rover for no real narrative purpose but just to show they can. They are my nemeses!!!! –JES
Y: SZA, “Broken Clocks” — There’s a pretty, hazy filter to this video, reminiscent of summer camp days when crushes were dumb and joyful and then gone. I’m still in love with the lyrics and the comparison of never going back to a shitty job or person: “I’ve had a thing for dirty shoes since I was 10/Love dirty men alike.” –CH
Y: Hatchie, “Sugar & Spice” — This Aussie dream-pop band Hatchie, who will hit a sweet spot for fans of ’90s Brit bands like Lush or The Sundays, has been on my radar since they released their debut song, “Sure,” last year. Their latest, “Sugar and Spice,” is a similarly beautiful and bittersweet love song, as lead Harriet Pilbeam sings that even though “the brightest stars burn out the fastest, but maybe we could still outlast it all.” –Hazel Cills
???: Calpurnia, “City Girl” — This is the debut single from Finn Wolfhard’s band, Calpurnia. Ever notice how Wolfhard looks like Timothée Chalamet’s looper? Have you ever seen the two of them in the same room? The song is neither good or bad, but features lyrics like these:
When you have an artistic view
It’ll rub off on your take
When you answer to a bunch of dudes
You should run away
I am a city boy
You are a city girl
You date the city tool
I am a city fool
Congratulations, Finn. –Megan Reynolds
Y: Say Sue Me, “Coming to the End” — Say Sue Me is an irresistible indie-pop, surf-rock, sometimes shoegaze, certainly a hybrid of all those sub-genre signifiers, band from Busan, South Korea. “Coming to the End” is the latest from their 2018 LP, Where We Were Together, a hazy, seven-minute, slow-burning epic perfect for fans of Mazzy Star and all those who appreciate dream-y, reverb-touched whisper-singing. I recently played “Coming to the End” while doing dishes and it made the entire process deceptively romantic. Just wait for the four-minute mark. –Maria Sherman
Y: Grouper, “Driving” — I’ve always thought of Grouper as the perfect seasonal artist, for clutching a blanket while the sky empties itself outside, and what do you know…there’s a new Grouper album due in a few weeks. “Driving” follows “Parking Lot,” which followed 2014’s Ruins, a near-perfect collection of hushed, frighteningly intimate piano ballads that almost evaporate on contact. Despite some of the most utilitarian song titles of her career, Grouper again leans on those layered harmonies and sparse arrangements with such a gentle touch. She’s still finding new ways to make the smallest spaces feel enormous. –Shawn Cooke
Hell yeah: Hinds, “Finally Floating” — This single from the Madrid-based garage-rock girl-group Hinds is every bit as sunny as songs off their first album, but also angsty, which is new for them (but really great). Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials sing over each other but seem to be complaining about the same space: lying in bed, feeling useless (probably thinking about a crush), feeling life slip through your fingers. “I know what this dream’s gonna be about!” they belt, and I can’t tell if that’s good or bad! But I know this song is very, very good. –Frida Garza
Yesss: Sasami Ashworth, “Callous” — I’m unreasonably excited for Sasami Ashworth (formerly of Cherry Glazerr) and her debut album after hearing this song. It’s pretty much a perfect five minutes. Ashworth’s lyricism is razor-sharp (“You were born with a spoon in your throat/And a gun in your hand/And a plan for yourself,” she deadpans), and I’m like, gurrrrrrl yes, tell ’em. When she sings, “Heaven knows I’ve tried” on loop over unspooling synth and guitar, it feels like it could go on forever. Keeping this on repeat, durr. –FG
Y: Sabrina Claudio, “All to You”— This video comes off simultaneously sexy and spooky, a nearly three-and-a-half minute declaration of desire and submission that slowly unwinds and which you can’t help being sucked into. The song serves its purpose of setting the mood: “When did this bed turn into water?/Is it that good?/My love, my flower, is it that good?” . This is the aforementioned “song to fuck to.” –CH
Sure: Ozuna f. Ele A El Dominio, “Balenciaga” — I’m not crazy about the song; the “Puer-Dominican” superstar Ozuna seems like he’s underachieving here, though Ele’s molasses flow has a hypnotic appeal. But the video, out this week, features a cartel of badass women luxuriating in a mansion, eating cupcakes, walking very expensive dogs around a pool, and generally projecting ferocity. Can’t be mad at that. –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
ABSOLUTELY NOT: The Chainsmokers, “Everybody Hates Me” — My negging corporate nemeses are back with a visual for their nefarious emo statement single about blaming, yet again, a cheating woman for their problems/depression. The weird part about their steez is that it still feels trapped between the Obama and Trump eras, the domain of MRA Reddit threads, not quite overtly hateful but with an undertone of it. Perfectly, the video is a tribute to getting over by doing the absolute least, before blowing up a 1990s Range Rover for no real narrative purpose but just to show they can. They are my nemeses!!!! –JES
Join the discussion...