"A Second to Midnight": Kylie Minogue & Years & Years Shine Like a Light in the Dark (And Do Drag!)
Kylie™ made the dreary days of lockdown a whole lot brighter last year with her 15th studio album Disco, a loving ode to the genre, and a most necessary nostalgic escape in the bleakest of days. One year later, things aren't...worse necessarily, but we're not back to normal yet, either. Whatever…
Kelly Clarkson Kicks Off Christmas With a Festive Middle Finger
Kelly Clarkson is having a very different kind of Christmas this year. Maybe you are too. As nice as it'd be if everyone was feeling lovey-dovey this coming holiday season, the sober(REFERENCE)ing truth is that some of us just don't get that warm and fuzzy feeling at the thought of snuggling up…
"Good Ones": Charli XCX Enters Her Evil Main Pop Girl Era
"I always let the good ones go..." Charli XCX is a sell-out. Or, well, that's the goal. Over the past few months, our dearest Charlotte Aitchison, She of Track 10 Fame, has been distancing from left-lane, artsy-fartsy, experimental alt-hyper-pop princess sonic territory and not-so-subtly…
"One Night": Griff Tries to Dance the Darkness Away
"Can I have one night, one night, one night where it's just me alone?" Griff's still got the good stuff - arguably more than ever. The 20-year-old Chinese-Jamaican UK singer-songwriter's been on my radar (on my ray-duh) for a minute now - at least over a year now - and she's been steadily…
"Burning Bridges": Sigrid Sings the Pop Praises of Self-Preservation
"Can't love somebody who loves burning bridges..." Alright, Miss Sigrid is not playing around. To be fair, it was made abundantly clear upon the release of euphoric disco-pop smash "Mirror" back in May that the 24-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter was breaking out the big guns for her…
Lorde, Stoned at the Nail Salon, Sees the Bigger Picture
"Well, my hot blood's been burning for so many summers now / It's time to cool it down, wherever that leads..." Lorde is not old. But she's always felt old, right from the start. "I've never felt more alone / It feels so scary getting old," she confessed on 2013's "Ribs" from her critically…
Sweden's Kadiatou Has a Summer Bop for Overthinkers
Meet Kadiatou Claudine Holm Keita, if you're not already formally acquainted. The 19-year-old Stockholm-born Swedish singer first rose to fame as one of the finalists on Idol - the Swedish version of the Idol franchise - coming in as the runner-up against Sebastian Walldén in 2018. Look at how…
"Pink Blood": Hikaru Utada Is on a Sexy, Self-Assured Journey
The Utadaissance continues. Hikaru Utada - Utada, if you're nasty - is having quite a moment already in 2021. With a mere tweet here and there and a live Instagram Q&A or two (yes, English music is coming, no, she still hasn't played Kingdom Hearts, you nerds), Hikki's still managed to strike a…
"Live To Survive": The Triumphant Return of MØ
MØ's back. (Everyone kind of just says "mo," but it's technically pronounced like meu.) The Danish superstar singer-songwriter, who you surely know and love best from the inescapable "Lean On" with Major Lazer and DJ Snake (at one point, the most-streamed song of all time), as well as "Cold Water"…
Sigrid's "Mirror" Is a Self-Assured Disco Pop Smash
"I love who I see looking at me in the mirror." Not so fast, Olivia Rodrigo. While the sound at radio might be steadily shifting towards something that resembles an early '00s pop-punk revival (which is great in its own right), last year's wave of disco-inspired pandemic pop ushered in by the…
Kylie Minogue Still Believes in "Magic"
"Tomorrow don't matter, we'll make the night last forever..." Kylie Minogue believes in you - and magic, too. Do you, do you, do you? After coming back into our world (REFERENCE) in July with her gorgeous, wistful dream of being less socially distanced one day soon, "Say Something," the pop icon…
Billie Eilish Got Everything She Wanted, For Better or Worse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm0MGnuRnH0 "I had a dream. I got everything I wanted. Not what you'd think. And if I'm bein' honest, it might've been a nightmare." There was a Vanity Fair video that came out last year, called "Same Interview, One Year Apart" with Billie Eilish. The concept was…