On the lookout for some motivation to assist energy you thru the beginning of one other work week? We really feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve acquired you coated. These tracks from artists together with Jorja Smith, Amy Shark, Tiësto and extra will get you energized to tackle the week.
Coolest Pop Music of the Week: XG, “One thing Ain’t Proper”
It’s been fairly a couple of weeks for followers of Asian pop music within the U.S., with the historic Billboard 200 bows of Stray Youngsters and Jimin’s respective tasks this week (following the No. 2 debut of ENHYPEN’s new album the prior week), YG Leisure’s announcement that 2NE1 will reunite for a world tour, and the return of KCON L.A. boasting a mixture of new and veteran stars. There’s a whole lot of new music to understand now, and extra to sit up for; let’s add XG’s high-velocity new single, “One thing Ain’t Proper,” and the Japanese lady group’s second mini-album, which is due out Nov. 8, to that listing.
XG arrived in 2022 with a wholesome quantity of promise, as singles like “Tippy Toes” and “Mascara” demonstrated the pop collective’s means to mix hip-hop, dance, pop and R&B in ways in which recalled the fashionable Ok-pop superstars however felt particularly tailor-made to their singular expertise. Cocona, Maya, Jurin and Harvey can rap their faces off as wanted, and Juria, Chisa and Hinata possess the vocal energy to commerce off hooks and harmonies. “Taking pictures Star” and “Left Proper” elevated XG (quick for “Xtraordinary Women”) forward of their first mini-album, final 12 months’s New DNA, and after a handful of stopgap singles in 2024, “One thing Ain’t Proper” broadcasts the invigoration subsequent iteration of the group’s id.
The one nods towards storage and home music, however “One thing Ain’t Proper” most viscerally harkens again to late ‘90s rhythmic pop, with a beat that artists like Mya, 3LW and Blaque would have devoured again within the day. As an alternative, XG revamps that workout-ready bounce for a brand new tackle “Say My Title”-esque relationship suspicions: “One thing ain’t proper/ You’ve been appearing humorous currently/ You ain’t gotta lie/ Received mе out right here wanting loopy!” Chisa wails, the ultimate phrase spinning upward and out of her grasp.
“One thing Ain’t Proper” hits the fuel early and glides by rolled-eyes rap verses and pleading bridges, environment friendly in its synthesis of romantic betrayal. But the strongest facet of the observe is how rather more we perceive XG, and the best way that its seven members are deployed individually and collectively. After ramping up their streams and followers over the previous two years, the group has returned with a longtime sense of self and an understanding of the pop mode wherein they’ll greatest function. It’s a crowded panorama, however XG is value searching for out and appreciating.
Listed here are some extra new pop songs value testing this week…
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Jorja Smith, “Excessive”
Jorja Smith has earned a large viewers by oscillating between soulful R&B and extra uptempo dance fare; “Excessive” is squarely within the latter class, an entrancing flooring filler with breathless percussion and vocals that skitter and echo with ardour.
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Amy Shark feat. Tom DeLonge, “My Solely Buddy”
Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge doesn’t drop by a ton of different artists’ tracks, however one hearken to “My Solely Buddy,” — on which Australian singer-songwriter Amy Shark reaches out to a beloved one who’s struggling — is sufficient to perceive why DeLonge hopped on an touching tribute with a finger-picked guitar lick.
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Tiësto feat. Alana Springsteen, “Sizzling Honey”
Nation-adjacent collaborations are all around the pop charts nowadays, and right here legendary trance DJ Tiësto tries on a cowboy hat with “Sizzling Honey,” a thumping showcase for Alana Springsteen that kicks into excessive gear in the course of the post-chorus and neatly by no means overshadows Springsteen’s vocal subtleties.
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The Knocks feat. Yelle, “All of the Time / Tout le temps”
Want a brand new French bop to totally respect the Paris 2024 Olympics? The Knocks have supplied such a present by teaming up with Yelle on a observe that blends languages, incorporates a plinking synth run paying homage to La Roux’s “Bulletproof” and efficiently will get your head banging.
