Y: While I recognize these girls, who I guess are technically 4H now, are trying to replicate “Work From Home” here (and failing, of course, in comparison) Fifth Harmony’s“Down” is already stuck in my head today after a few listens. Also, I can’t say no to a ridiculous lyric about lying for love during an “FBI interrogation.” —Hazel CillsY:Ne-Yo, “Another Love Song” — His cheery summer backyard BBQ single is something that I and lots of elder relatives will be compelled to slide and two-step along to, and that title perfectly describes Ne-Yo’s dedication to simple, if predictable, pleasant R&B. —Clover Hope
N: While I’d give it a “yes” for moving Lauren Jauregui out of Fifth Harmony for a spell, this new Halsey song “Strangers” borrows the same, ‘80s synth-pop sound that Taylor Swift, The Weekend, and Carly Rae Jepsen have already used to death. —HC
Y: I’m into this very noisy, early Speedy Ortiz demo “Meat of Contract” from Sadie Dupuis, which reminds me of The Frumpies and is off of a new benefit compilation for incarcerated women. – HC
N: Liam Gallagher, “Wall of Glass” – The Oasis lead singer’s debut solo single is exactly what you think it is—vintage Oasis spit-shined for modern times. It sounds like “Supersonic” but glimmering, and with a gospel choir thrown in. I wish more people would ask themselves “Does the world really need this?” before releasing songs. —Rich Juzwiak
Y: SZA, “Broken Clocks” – At first blush, this most recent offering from SZA’s upcoming debut studio album Ctrl sounds like a sex jam. Then you might notice a bittersweet undercurrent of longing for a past love (or at least acknowledging unfinished business). And then, after you’ve listened to this thing of beauty on repeat for a half hour, you understand that this song is about all of these things and more, as it unveils a litany of reasons for this intricate mood of one of contemporary R&B’s most vivid songwriters. Stunning, stunning, stunning stuff. —RJY: I love this gorgeous, grandiose synth-pop song “Reborn” from English singer Rae Morris, with a sound and video that clearly borrows a lot from Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” – HC Y: It has been entirely too long since London producer/Night Slugs label scion Bok Bok dropped a solo joint—three years, to be exact—and so I’m over the moon for “Island Hopping,” the first single off his reportedly more grime-influenced forthcoming EP. It reminds me why he’s one of my favorite producers working: even when he throws in a hooky melody, which he’s not afraid to do, he tempers it with endless grit, bass or otherwise. This joint has a syncopation of finger-snaps that are so breezy I can’t imagine dancing to this indoors. Pure vibes. —Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
