Songs
Lizzo, “Juice”
January 4
Lizzo entered the year with “Juice,” a song that piggie-backed off the themes and momentum from singles like “Boys” and “Truth Hurts.” Starting out with a synthy keyboard riff reminiscent of 80’s and 90’s home workout videos, “Juice” employs the same production to create a positive mental attitude as on songs like “Truth Hurts.” The lyrics read like a mirror version of yourself viciously pumping you up at the start of the day. This is Lizzo’s bread and butter. What makes “Juice” the definitive Lizzo song is the combination of this great production and funk throwback with the uplifting confidence of the lyrics.
James Blake, “Where’s The Catch? (feat. Andre 3000)”
January 18
A somewhat surprising feature on James Blake’s new album, André 3000 takes over on “Where’s the Catch?'‘ The song stars with Blake’s innocuous singing over an even more lowkey melody. Slowly the song builds louder with more instrumentation and vocals until the Outkast singer rockets in with his verse. The drums explode in this moment as the song opens up a bit to the listener. “Where’s the Catch?” represents a perfect blending of Blake’s hip-hop influences with the electronic work that made him famous.
Sharon Van Etten, “Seventeen”
January 18
“Seventeen” is at the emotional and sonic core of Sharon Van Etten’s new album Remind Me Tomorow. Van Etten is no stranger to emotional anthems (see “Every Time the Sun Comes Up” or “I Don’t Want to Let You Down”) as her wails of “I used to be free / I used to be seventeen” ooze of longing and nostalgia. Besides her own self pity and reflection, Van Etten seems to be taken into this emotive state by seeing someone of unwavering youth. Somewhat wiser, Van Etten shifts her goggles of nostalgia to a more disillusioned view of her formal self knowing what this person will become. What makes this song so insatiable is her gripping vocal performance combined with the 80’s inspired instrumentation. On many previous Van Etten projects, she seems to completely rely on her voice and go with a more spacious background. On “Seventeen” she lets the instrumentation and her vocal performance share the emotional load to make a truly lovely song.
Billie Eilish, “bury a friend”
January 30
Billie Eilish exploded into 2019 with the release of the lead single from her upcoming album, “bury a friend.” While the popularity of this song has waned a bit since its release due to the memification and trap beat of “bad guy,” “bury a friend” remains as the highlight of Eilish’s first album. While “bad guy” has a tongue and cheek attitude towards the Edward Cullenesque goth nature, “bury a friend” embraces it. The instrumentation is haunting but extremely catchy at the same time and Eilish’s trademark whisper vocals enhance the spooky atmosphere. “bury a friend” was most of the world’s first look at Billie Eilish and it proved to be the genesis of a budding and unique artist.
Ariana Grande, “NASA”
February 8
Its not often that NASA gets shout out in a pop hit let alone be the metaphorical crux of one. “NASA” by Ariana Grande represents both the unabashed confidence that defines many modern female pop stars. The song simultaneously has the cliche of distance makes the heart grow fonder and a chorus that yells “get off world / Imma need space.” These feelings are very multi-dimensional and it takes someone with great confidence to shout them from the rooftops and ultimately reconcile them.
Karen O & Danger Mouse, “Lux Prima”
March 15
The title track of the project from Karen O and Danger Mouse, “Lux Prima,” is a space epic of cinematic proportions. The albums works well on two fronts: spacey synth music and catchy indie rock. “Lux Prima” has sections that excel in both. The beginning sequence feels straight out of a Hans Zimmer poject with Karen’s harrowing voice populating the cosmos. The song has a night-and-day switch as it turns into a more straight up rock song. Karen O’s range is on display as she seamlessly can master both the space cadet and punk rocker. “Lux Prima” meaning first light in Latin serves as a overture of sorts displaying many of the musical themes that play throughout the album.
Weyes Blood, “Movies”
March 19
While much of Weyes Blood’s new album is comprised with sparse chamber pop, “Movies” is filled to the brim with synths and strings that create a sound of wonder. The sound of the song is fantastic but it is accompanied by one of the most emotional vocal performances on the whole album. The music video for “Movies” starts out as a somewhat cliche of us watching people watching a movie. This (along with the change in aspect ratio) is suppose to make us self aware to some extent of us being in our own movie or some other stark realization (see the ending of The Wolf of Wall Street). The mood in the song and video shifts somewhat as sharp strings speed up the tempo towards the middle of the song. What follows is Weyes Blood belting the lines “I wanna be the star of mine / My own my own [movie].” Instead of pointing us to some jumbled social realization, “Movies” makes us look inward at our life with a childish yearning for more.
Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road (feat. Billie Ray Cyrus) [Remix]”
April 5
Whether or not it’s a good thing, “Old Town Road” will go down as one of the most significant songs of all time. There is so much history packed into this song that is ever being extended by Lil Nas X himself. The story starts with Billboard making a questionable decision to pull “Old Town Road” from the hot 100 country songs citing “not [embracing] enough elements of today’s country music.” This unto itself was a microcosm of subtle racism in the music industry and rose the song to prominence. Riding of this, “Old Town Road” pivoted and became a meme song for the ages. The remix with Billy Ray Cyrus is close to becoming the third song every to spend 15 weeks at the number 1 spot on the billboard hot 100. It will stay as week in week out, Lil Nas X lengthens its life span with an abundance of new memes (the latest being a remix video piggie backing off the area 51 meme). “Old Town Roads” domination of the music world for the better part of half the year signals a shift in trap/hip-hop but more importantly signals a shift in how music is consumed.
Bruce Springsteen, “Hello Sunshine”
April 26
Bruce Springsteen didn’t know that when he made the cover for Western Stars he was hopping onto a cowboy trend. The sad thing is I think this cover is way more emblematic to what Springsteen did with his new album compared to Lil Nas X’s never ending road. It was reported that Springsteen was inspired by glittery California pop like the beach boys when creating his new album and it shows. The lead single “Hello Sunshine” packs all the emotional punches of a “In My Room” with a country twist. The sparse piano and guitar riff create a instant mood of a relaxing but tear-jerking sunset. The lyrics are just soul crushing. This is Springsteen’s best song and material in years and it proves he still has the songwriting chops to ride with the best of them.
Vampire Weekend, “Sympathy”
May 3
While the great riff in “Sunflower” is easily a highlight of Vampire Weekend’s new album, Father of the Bride, “Sympathy” brings both of the band’s worlds together seamlessly. Aesthetically Father of the Bride is minimalist in nature, shying away from the lavish instrumentation that flows through Vampire Weekend’s discography. While this is definitely an interesting choice, “Sympathy” gives a peak into what meshing this sound with their old one would sound like. Straight off the bat the song is more heavily filled with sound. But its not layers upon layers of instruments, it’s a funky guitar riff and a backing choir (a middle ground of sorts). Latter in the song you get more signature voice melding and other Vampire Weekend peculiarities but in a very minimal way. In essence “Sympathy” is the most Vampire Weekend type song on the entire album.
Denzel Curry, “Ricky”
May 9
ZUU takes Denzel Curry back to basics with stripped down instrumentation and straightforward rapping. While I prefer the more complex instrumentation and vocals on his previous project, TA13OO, there are some tracks on ZUU that hit the emotional mark. The straight forward rapping works as a way to highlight what is being said. This can be heard on the first single, “Ricky,” a song all about family. Curry, in a very roundabout way, is exploring why he is the way he is. What nurture and advice did his family provide that shaped him into the man he is today. “Trust no man but your brothers” and “Treat young girls like your mother” are just some of the mantra that Curry’s parents bestowed upon him to mold him into a just man. The story told along with the gruff confidence in Curry’s voice make “Ricky” a fantastic old school hip-hop track.
Tyler, the Creator, “Are We Still Friends?”
May 17
Choosing one song from Igor is near impossible as they’re are so many songs that embody all that is good about the album. It also comes down to which side of the Igor coin do you prefer? The funky, 70’s inspired glitz or the gruesome lo-fi cuts. While thematically the album seems to end with the anger of “I Dont’t Love You Anymore,” we see another stage of grief being hit (denial) with “Are We Still Friends?” The song is beautifully upbeat with samples from Al Green’s “Dream” baked into it. While the question the song poses is ripe with regret and denial, the instrumentation and mood make you feel like no matter what the answer, everything will be alright.
Hot Chip, “No God”
June 21
While A Bath Full of Ecstasy is Hot Chip out of their prime, it is still a solid album with some good cuts. The highlight is the droning album closer, “No God.” A kooky electronic melody provides the foundation for the song while Hot Chip utilize every form of instrumentation to create a vibrant soundscape. The piano that plays throughout the middle of the song gives it a more “stadium rock” or Queenesque organic feel that carries the emotional weight of the song. The song builds to a large crescendo that provides a huge emotional payoff. “No God” shows that Hot Chip still have the production and vocal might to make stellar synth-pop tunes.
Thom Yorke, “Dawn Chorus”
June 27
While much of ANIMA is devoted to Thom Yorke’s eerie fascination with electronics, “Dawn Chorus” sees him focus on the emotional atmosphere. “Dawn Chorus” is very aptly names as the soft background electronics and synths give the emotional allusion to the sun slowly rising in front of you. There’s something about the combination of this atmosphere and Yorke’s vocals that make the song so emotionally charged. I would say the emotional beauty is on the same scale as “Pyramid Song” or “Videotape” from the Radiohead catalog. “Dawn Chorus” proves that even on his electronic escapades, Thom Yorke is still able to deliver some enthralling, mind numbing music.
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