HOLDING
#1 TRUTH HURTS / Lizzo
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I had a feeling this song would blow up at the beginning of the school year. It’s catchy and sassy. Lizzo is having a real moment right now and it’s well earned.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" Obv a fun-time banger. So much potential in her swagger. Looking for a laugh? The Kidz Bop kids trying to dish that Lizzo attitude will put a smile on your face.
UP 1
#2 SEÑORITA / Sean Mendes
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Snoozefest. I can’t find anything interesting in this song. It feels like a track that is just fun enough compared to whatever else is happening on the radio that it’s topping the charts. I like both artists in their own right and have included both of them on my playlists, but something happens when they collaborate that just puts me to sleep.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Everyone knows exactly what this song is and where it's going, and that familiarity makes it very easy to listen to. (See Justin Timberlake's song of the same name.) Compare to their 2015 duet "I Know What You Did Last Summer" to see the trajectory of these two. Not sonically ambitious, but execution is tightening. Most notably for me is Cabello's verse with how she plays with tension and release. It starts off in regular cadence, then drifts off into he "la-la-la," only to rip back into a double-time cadence which is caught back into the on-time groove with the aid of Mendes' backing vocal, all brought to a head with he punctuating "don't stop."
DOWN 1
#3 BAD GUY / Billie Eilish
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Billie Eilish is great to have on the charts and certainly fills a need. This debut album is great but I’m surprised that Bad Guy is the hit single. The more I try to guess which track will be hot, the more I’m realizing that I’m not maybe as in touch with the general American pop music population as I used to be.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" If this is on your radio it's probably the best thing on your radio. Not a bad place to stop and wait for the ads on the other stations to end.
NEW
#4 RANSOM / Lil Tecca
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" If you’ve been reading my reviews, you guessed I would rate this low. Rap is just not my wheelhouse. I’m very picky about cadence and timbre and Lil Tecca is doing nothing for me. There’s no interesting hook for me to sing along to and by the time you realize what’s happening with the song, it’s over.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" This is the type of light-weight post-trap soundcloud sound the radio needs. Barely clears two minutes, doesn't do much but it doesn't act like it's doing much. Pleasant.
NEW
#5 HIGHEST IN THE ROOM / Travis Scott
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Travis Scott is at it again. While not a song I would put on my playlist on purpose, I understand the appeal. Unlike Tecca, I like Scott’s timbre and he does some fun melodic stuff occasionally. It’s a good vibe, too.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" Where does trap go from here? I think it follows Travis Scott. Like DJ Rashad (refer to his 2014 landmark recording Double Cup), Scott takes the tropes of a dark and rhythm-heavy genre mostly known for its effectiveness in the dance club, and flips it into deep-listening excursions. What's remarkable is how much this song does in under three minutes. Remember, "SICKO MODE" clocked in over five (though its radio edit was brilliant).
NEW
#6 PANINI / Lil Nas X
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I don’t know why I like this song so much but I do. The short run time certainly helps. The melody on “Say to me what you want to me” reminds me of Nirvana’s In Bloom – “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs,” and that is definitely working nostalgia for me.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" We didn't need "Old Town Road." We certainly don't need a weaker, somehow stupider song.
NEW
#7 YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN / Taylor Swift
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" I think there’s a lot of negative energy around this song for being a bad LGBTQ theme song, but that’s not the point. It’s not supposed to be an LGBTQ theme song, it’s about unnecessary negative attention and some of that is aimed at the LGBTQ community. Generally, I like this song and the fact that Taylor is at least trying to not be the Alt-Right’s sweetheart.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Sort of a "get off my lawn" / "holier than thou" vibe. It's fine, though, and it's a good reminder in an anxious world that we should all probably calm down. And not just on Twitter.
NEW
#8 SOMEONE YOU LOVED / Lewis Capaldi
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" What am I missing here? It’s a fine song but to get #1? I thought it might have been a debut single from someone who just won a show but it’s not Capaldi’s first single and it’s not a bop. It just feels like an audition song for The Voice.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Completely not my vibe, but it seems like every once in a while we need a song like this. The one hundred repetitions of the chorus really lets you wallow.
NEW
#9 LOVER / Taylor Swift
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I did an audible double take the first time I heard this song; I could not believe it was a Taylor Swift track. I’m not generally a huge Swift fan, but this album is my favorite of hers. I’m not surprise; it’s produced by Jack Antonoff which accounts for the style and sound change that resonates with me.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Almost purely one star for my discomfort with the word "lover." IDK why, it's just not romantic at all to me. Swift claims that she and producer Jack Antonoff were trying to make songs that could be played on a 70's wedding reception stage. It's probably true, but then we need to ask ourselves if we need new old music, or if the old old music is good enough.
DOWN 6
#10 TALK / Khalid
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" This track loses a star for age. Very into it from the beginning and I always appreciate a change of pace on the radio, but I’m ready to forget about this track for a while.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Fine, but worn. This one can exit the airwaves. I've only once understood Khalid's vocal delivery, which sounds like he medically cannot open his mouth past a certain point, and that was on benny blanco's "Eastside" with Khalid and Halsey. A song I believe will sound fresh 10 years from now.
#1 TRUTH HURTS / Lizzo
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I had a feeling this song would blow up at the beginning of the school year. It’s catchy and sassy. Lizzo is having a real moment right now and it’s well earned.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" Obv a fun-time banger. So much potential in her swagger. Looking for a laugh? The Kidz Bop kids trying to dish that Lizzo attitude will put a smile on your face.
UP 1
#2 SEÑORITA / Sean Mendes
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Snoozefest. I can’t find anything interesting in this song. It feels like a track that is just fun enough compared to whatever else is happening on the radio that it’s topping the charts. I like both artists in their own right and have included both of them on my playlists, but something happens when they collaborate that just puts me to sleep.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Everyone knows exactly what this song is and where it's going, and that familiarity makes it very easy to listen to. (See Justin Timberlake's song of the same name.) Compare to their 2015 duet "I Know What You Did Last Summer" to see the trajectory of these two. Not sonically ambitious, but execution is tightening. Most notably for me is Cabello's verse with how she plays with tension and release. It starts off in regular cadence, then drifts off into he "la-la-la," only to rip back into a double-time cadence which is caught back into the on-time groove with the aid of Mendes' backing vocal, all brought to a head with he punctuating "don't stop."
DOWN 1
#3 BAD GUY / Billie Eilish
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Billie Eilish is great to have on the charts and certainly fills a need. This debut album is great but I’m surprised that Bad Guy is the hit single. The more I try to guess which track will be hot, the more I’m realizing that I’m not maybe as in touch with the general American pop music population as I used to be.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" If this is on your radio it's probably the best thing on your radio. Not a bad place to stop and wait for the ads on the other stations to end.
NEW
#4 RANSOM / Lil Tecca
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" If you’ve been reading my reviews, you guessed I would rate this low. Rap is just not my wheelhouse. I’m very picky about cadence and timbre and Lil Tecca is doing nothing for me. There’s no interesting hook for me to sing along to and by the time you realize what’s happening with the song, it’s over.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" This is the type of light-weight post-trap soundcloud sound the radio needs. Barely clears two minutes, doesn't do much but it doesn't act like it's doing much. Pleasant.
NEW
#5 HIGHEST IN THE ROOM / Travis Scott
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Travis Scott is at it again. While not a song I would put on my playlist on purpose, I understand the appeal. Unlike Tecca, I like Scott’s timbre and he does some fun melodic stuff occasionally. It’s a good vibe, too.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" Where does trap go from here? I think it follows Travis Scott. Like DJ Rashad (refer to his 2014 landmark recording Double Cup), Scott takes the tropes of a dark and rhythm-heavy genre mostly known for its effectiveness in the dance club, and flips it into deep-listening excursions. What's remarkable is how much this song does in under three minutes. Remember, "SICKO MODE" clocked in over five (though its radio edit was brilliant).
NEW
#6 PANINI / Lil Nas X
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I don’t know why I like this song so much but I do. The short run time certainly helps. The melody on “Say to me what you want to me” reminds me of Nirvana’s In Bloom – “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs,” and that is definitely working nostalgia for me.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" We didn't need "Old Town Road." We certainly don't need a weaker, somehow stupider song.
NEW
#7 YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN / Taylor Swift
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" I think there’s a lot of negative energy around this song for being a bad LGBTQ theme song, but that’s not the point. It’s not supposed to be an LGBTQ theme song, it’s about unnecessary negative attention and some of that is aimed at the LGBTQ community. Generally, I like this song and the fact that Taylor is at least trying to not be the Alt-Right’s sweetheart.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Sort of a "get off my lawn" / "holier than thou" vibe. It's fine, though, and it's a good reminder in an anxious world that we should all probably calm down. And not just on Twitter.
NEW
#8 SOMEONE YOU LOVED / Lewis Capaldi
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" What am I missing here? It’s a fine song but to get #1? I thought it might have been a debut single from someone who just won a show but it’s not Capaldi’s first single and it’s not a bop. It just feels like an audition song for The Voice.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Completely not my vibe, but it seems like every once in a while we need a song like this. The one hundred repetitions of the chorus really lets you wallow.
NEW
#9 LOVER / Taylor Swift
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" I did an audible double take the first time I heard this song; I could not believe it was a Taylor Swift track. I’m not generally a huge Swift fan, but this album is my favorite of hers. I’m not surprise; it’s produced by Jack Antonoff which accounts for the style and sound change that resonates with me.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Almost purely one star for my discomfort with the word "lover." IDK why, it's just not romantic at all to me. Swift claims that she and producer Jack Antonoff were trying to make songs that could be played on a 70's wedding reception stage. It's probably true, but then we need to ask ourselves if we need new old music, or if the old old music is good enough.
DOWN 6
#10 TALK / Khalid
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" This track loses a star for age. Very into it from the beginning and I always appreciate a change of pace on the radio, but I’m ready to forget about this track for a while.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Fine, but worn. This one can exit the airwaves. I've only once understood Khalid's vocal delivery, which sounds like he medically cannot open his mouth past a certain point, and that was on benny blanco's "Eastside" with Khalid and Halsey. A song I believe will sound fresh 10 years from now.
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