Now that I finally had my Confessions Of A Broken Muu moment, I feel like I can breathe again, Toni style.
First order of business on the New Muugenda? Annie.
Annie is such a welcome, needed light in the dark of today’s pop dullness, at a time when no one else is making these sounds on the radio. (How does it feel to hear your songs on the radio?)
This week, the Norwegian Queen of Chewing Gum has graciously returned to us with a 4-track EP of Richard X-produced confections, nostalgically (and appropriately) titled Endless Vacation.
Each song is special— all four of ’em: “Cara Mia” is a romantic slice of tropical-pop that embodies the feel of the EP’s title and squeezes perfectly between “Anthonio” and 2013’s “Hold On,” “Dadaday” is a loving throwback to early ’00s Eurodance (ATC, anyone?), “Out Of Reach” provides lush, exotic soundscapes for a brief moment of wistful longing, and the über-fierce “Work X2” serves all sorts of ’90s RuPaul/Britney employment/runway-serving motivation. Work.
I mean, the album artwork alone. Seriously. You kidding me? Annie’s just the best.
As for the current pop princesses…well, hmm.
Demi‘s Confident is incredibly bad. All reductive attempts to capture the sound of radio hits (mostly “Dark Horse”), an Iggy Azalea feature and so, so much wailing. “Cool For The Summer,” and her many #Confident photo shoots, are the only good things to come from this era. I really like Demi. I really admire what she stands for. go ask alice book I just wish the music sounded as strong as the message.
Whisper-chanteuse Selegend‘s Revival is better: “Sober,” “Hands To Myself” and “Me & The Rhythm” are standouts, along with “Good For You,” of course. “Kill ‘Em With Kindness” is a good inspirational anthem for Gay Twitter, but would have been 90% better if she called it “Kill ‘Em With Subtweets.” She remains a trainweck live.
Also, none of these young Disney princesses have outdone Hilary Duff‘s Breathe In. Breathe Out.
And then, there’s the small matter of this article inThe Cut called, clickbait-ily, “What Is the Point of Katy Perry, Even?”
Now, I’ve thrown my fair share of shade at Katy in the past (some of it warranted — I’ll never forgive “Ur So Gay”), so I was more than happy to give it a read.
This article could have been good, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a mostly mean, presumptuous, metaphor-filled “nothingburger” (?) about how “nothingburger” (?) Katy Perry is.
Get real. “Teenage Dream” is one of the past decade’s best pop songs, and she’s given us at least two dozen more solid pop gems (“Walking On Air”!), regardless of how politically charged her career is, which…does it really need to be? Not everyone is Madonna. And, c’mon, you’re really going to skewer Katy for being a generic, non-feminist, non-feather ruffler while revering Taylor Swift in the same breath? Consider your argument invalid.
Katy’s eye-rolling, wink-wink sarcastic pop stick is often obnoxious, yes, and she can be offensive to the point of cringeworthy, but this article, tied with Tay’s “Bad Blood” childishness, just makes me root for Katy to come back swinging.
What I’m really trying to say is I think I might be a KatyCat now.
Happy #NationalKatyCatKomingOutDay, everyone.
Speaking of coming out, I hope you, your loved ones, and all your discreet NSA #Masc4Same hook-ups wore purple this week, per the blur(REFERENCE)ry 11-second instruction of our savior. I KNOW I DID.
Tireless LGBT Warriorney. Anti-Bullying Angel. Queen of Queer.
What else is Godney up to, aside from advocating for safe spaces for gay youth and chalking her tips? Lots!
She just wrapped up her Cameoney on Jane The Virgin and hit the recording studio for some B9 sessions with Burns, which is suuuuuper casual news (just kidding — PANIC), and now she’s back in Las Vegas for yet another round of Piece Of Me dates.
She’s also just rediscovered her middle finger, resulting in some major rebellion_snippet.mp3 Instagram moments, including:
https://instagram.com/p/8taLXIG8Ph/?taken-by=britneyspears
And…
https://instagram.com/p/81P8V1m8Ai/?taken-by=britneyspears
“But in rebellion, there’s a sparkle of truth…”
Judging by Brit’s Instagram prior to the first show, the Living Legend is also really, really excited to get to work again, bitch…
https://instagram.com/p/81jf0DG8A7/?taken-by=britneyspears
Same, B. Same.
Until next week, stay updated with me on MuuTunes. And Twitter. And all the other things, too.
💜B