'Motivation': Normani Provides Hope for the New Generation of Pop Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXSh14svlQ Finally, the promise of a new pop supreme. Just last week, I was leaning heavy into my Bitter Aging Gay feelings and bemoaning the demise of the Pop Spectacle - apart from a rare handful of standouts and rising stars, obviously. Throw down your swords…
Kelly Osbourne's 'One Word' Is Finally on Streaming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXctSjshB1M The year was 2005: Mimi was emancipating herself, Gwen Stefani was dressed as a cheerleader teaching the world how to spell "bananas," Kelly Clarkson was leading the pop-rock revolution and so moving on, Lindsay Lohan was feuding with Hilary Duff over…
Megan Thee Stallion & Nicki Minaj Supply the 'Hot Girl Summer' We Deserve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS7cHwAmjV4 "Your actions make you a 'hot girl.' You have to be someone who is like energetic, the life of the party, just really nice, you know what I'm saying? You have to be able to put that confidence in other people and get along with all the girls and just like…
'Tonight': Alice Chater Keeps on Dancing Till the World Ends
About over a year ago, I posed a very simple question: Is Alice Chater going to save pop? I was half-kidding, because the concept of "saving pop" is largely subjective, and there's plenty of good music coming out all the time. But I was also half-not kidding, because there's a very real void in…
'Pero No': Sofi de la Torre's Latest Is Moody, But It'll Make You Move
At this point, Sofi De La Torre should probably just carry a pillow around, because the world has stayed sleeping on her for years. From 2014's "Vermillion" and 2015's Mess EP to "$" and her 2017 debut full-length Another Me. Not Me. I'm Done, the Spanish singer's continued to supply breathy bouts…
'Contaminated': BANKS Is Addicted to the Agony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwZMHkYTvhY BANKS is back, and just as brooding as ever. She's been back for a while, actually: she returned with her jagged, fierce "Gimme" at the end of April (it's great), followed by "Look What You're Doing To Me" with Francis & The Lights. (Life happened -…
Zara Larsson's 'All The Time' Deserves to Be a Song of Summer 2019
From the breaking of the day to the middle of the night... The Song Of The Summer™, objectively, comes down to charts, sales and streams (so, the most demanded song of the season). But the song(s) that hold the most memories and replay counts for you are every bit as valid (so, subjectively, Las…
'Flying On My Own': Celine Dion's Heart Goes Onto the Dance Floor
Celine Dion, coming to an EDM festival near you. Of all the directions Céline Marie Claudette Dion could have opted to go musically in 2019, dance-pop probably wouldn't have been the most obvious choice. "Flying On My Own" is the first taste of the iconic Canadian chanteuse's upcoming album Courage…
'I Trance': Swedish Dance-Pop Diva Agnes Returns to the Discotheque
Agnes Carlsson, singularly known as the Agnes, is back. The "Release Me" Swedish dance-pop legend and Idol 2005 winner last left us with her incredible collection Veritas, originally released in 2012 in Sweden (one of the best pop albums released that year), which was later released in other…
'Push': Kazaky, the High-Heeled Ukrainian Boy Band, Returns
You hear that? The faint click-clack, click-clack of a troupe of muscly Eastern European men somewhere not so far off in the distance? Yes, that's right: Kazaky is back. The Mortal Kombat-gone-gay dressed, high-heeled Ukrainian hotties have been around for a while now. I first wrote about them all…
'In My Bed': Sabrina Carpenter Remains Today's Most Reliable Post-Disney Pop Princess
There are few objective truths in this world: death, taxes, and the pop supremacy of post-Disney princesses. Of all the new girls on the scene, Sabrina Carpenter remains one of my favorites - and it all comes down, obviously, to the music. Consistently, she's supplied nothing but quality since…
'Number One Fan': MUNA Finds the Bliss in Stanning Yourself, For Once
So, here's the bad news: this life is not easy. Harder, still, is getting through the day without being entirely consumed by your own crippling insecurities and/or anxieties that still need to be ironed out in therapy, which you can't afford right now - let alone taking into consideration the…